The most painful trade Orioles and Mike Elias may actually lock in at Winter Meetings

The Baltimore Orioles enter the Winter Meetings with a main goal: they need quality starting pitching. Mike Elias has consistently said throughout the offseason so far that they are looking for an impact rotation arm to pair with Trevor Rogers and Kyle Bradish, but all the Orioles have to show for their search efforts is being down even more rotation depth after trading Grayson Rodriguez.

That said, it isn't like the starting pitching market has been moving at breakneck speed this offseason. The Blue Jays signed Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce and Sonny Gray was traded to Boston, but most of the top arms remain available along with a slew of starters from the next tier or two down as well that could be good fits for Baltimore. However, the Orioles' built-in desire to contain payroll could lead to the trade market which could prove to be painful.

There are certainly starters that, in theory, could be traded including Tarik Skubal (unlikely), Freddy Peralta, Hunter Greene, and Joe Ryan. If the Orioles are looking to take a big trade swing, it may require them to part with Adley Rutschman.

Orioles could be forced to trade Adley Rutschman if they want to close a deal at the Winter Meetings

Rutschman trade chatter is hardly new, but the idea lost a lot of momentum when Orioles officials attempted to throw cold water on the possibility. However, the fact remains that Rutschman's stature on Baltimore's roster is absolutely threatened by the recent call-up of Samuel Basallo and moving Rutschman now may be the best way to capitalize on his value before it dips further.

In fact, if the Orioles want to get a deal done at the Winter Meetings, that sort of grand gesture may be required. The free agent market outside of the very top of the market (who are going to get paid no matter what) feels poised to move pretty slowly. Teams are reluctant to spend freely with a potential labor stoppage and lengthy collective bargaining talks coming. That leaves the trade market as possibly the most fluid market for starters right now and teams are going to have to be blown away to sign off this early in the offseason.

Of course, this requires the Orioles to give up on a former #1 overall pick who was supposed to be a lineup cornerstone for years and that is not something Baltimore should do lightly. Yes, some aggression from Mike Elias would be nice, but that doesn't mean paying actively bad prices just because they can. Trading someone like Gunnar Henderson would almost certainly be more painful, but trading Rutschman in the name that would both inflict true torment on Orioles fans and that could actually get moved.