Orioles' lack of frontline starting pitcher exposed in AL East power ranking of arms

In a division that promises to be as competitive as the AL East, having the advantage on the mound to start each game will be critical to any team that hopes to win the division. Which is why the teams hoping to win the division are loading up. The two biggest pitching contracts this offseason were both handed out by AL East teams, and the Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, and New York Yankees combined to trade 12 prospects for various starting pitchers. Now that the dust has settled, it's time to see how they all stack up against each other.

1. The Red Sox

Last offseason, the Red Sox rolled the dice and traded for and extended Garrett Crochet. Their gamble paid off, and now they have the best pitcher in the division under team control through 2030. This offseason, the Sox doubled down on their rotation, trading for Sonny Gray and signing Ranger Suarez. The trio of Crochet, Gray, and Suarez is as good a trio as exists in all of baseball. Getting into a series and seeing those three lined up as the probable starters will not be fun for opposing teams.

The Sox also have a pair of top prospects that debuted last season who could be real X-factors for them. If Connelly Early and Peyton Tolle are good enough to force themselves into the rotation over known commodities like Brayan Bello and Johan Oviedo, that most likely means that they have an entire rotation made up of top-of-the-rotation arms.

2. The Blue Jays

Dylan Cease slides in at the top of the Blue Jays' rotation alongside ole reliable Kevin Gausman and postseason hero Trey Yesavage. If Yesavage's postseason performance carries over to 2026 and Cease gets his actual numbers to align more closely with his "expected stats," then it could be a great group. If it gets to July and Cease has an ERA north of four and Yesavage is experiencing growing pains, then it could get hairy in Toronto.

The depth is where Toronto has taken the biggest hit. It looks like Shane Bieber will start the season on the IL, and Bowden Francis will miss the entire season due to Tommy John Surgery. They signed Cody Ponce out of Korea, so he'll fill in there, but it's hard to be confident about what the Jays will get from him. They also appear to have patched things up with Jose Berrios, so he'll be in the mix, but he's been trending in the wrong direction for a couple of seasons now.

3. The Yankees

The Yankees are a bit of a rankings conundrum. The difference between what their rotation will be on opening day and what their rotation could look like at the All-Star break is unusually large. If Gerrit Cole comes back and looks like Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole, then the Yankees would suddenly argue that they have the best 1-2 punch in the AL with him and Fried. If Rodon comes back and looks like 2025 Rodon, then the Yankees might have the best trio of starters in the AL.

That's obviously compelling, but both of those pitchers are going to start the season on the IL, so it's hard to take their returns and ensuing success as a given. Without Cole and Rodon in the rotation to start the season, the Yankees will have to rely heavily on rookie Cam Schlitter, project starter Ryan Weathers, the always wild Luis Gil, and Will Warren to pitch a lot of innings for them in the first few months of the year.

Despite their many additions, the Orioles rotation is among the worst in their division

4. The Orioles

It was disappointing that the Orioles once again failed to bring in a top-of-the-rotation arm to supplement their rotation, but there is a lot that could go right for this Orioles rotation. If Kyle Bradish is fully back and healthy, he's one of the best right-handed pitchers in the AL. Trevor Rogers was one of the few bright spots of the 2025 season, and if he can even he 80% of the pitcher he was in 2025, that would give the Orioles a great 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation.

Once you get past Bradish and Rogers, the Orioles don't have a clear-cut third guy to give the ball to in a pivotal game three. They do, however, have a surplus of arms, and they should feel good about giving the ball to every five days over the course of the regular season. Shane Baz, Chris Bassitt, Dean Kremer, and Zach Eflin are all guys who give the team a chance to win on their start days.

A high-floor, low-ceiling rotation combined with the Orioles' offense could be enough to get them to the playoffs, but the lack of upper-end talent is going to hold them back from achieving their ultimate goal. Look for the Orioles to be active at the deadline to try to add a difference-making arm.

5. The Rays

The Rays are in the middle of a mini-rebuild, but their rotation is very strong for a team projected to finish a distant fifth in their division. The only reason their rotation ranks fifth is the injury status of their best pitchers, outside of Ryan Pepiot.

Drew Rasmussen and Shane McClanahan are two of the best pitchers in baseball when healthy, but that's been very difficult for both of them. Rasmussen, to his credit, just made it through a 31-start season, but the Rays had him on a pretty funky innings limit that a contending team might have the luxury to impose. McLanahan appears to be finally healthy and participating in Spring training this year, but hasn't pitched since 2023, so it'll be interesting to see what he looks like now.