With Grayson Rodriguez figuring back into the mix, that gives the Orioles three promising young arms at the top of the rotation. The issue then becomes filling out the final couple of spots. Tomoyuki Sugano (now a free agent) was unimpressive in 30 starts, Dean Kremer was only okay in 29, and Cade Povich hasn’t broken out yet.
Raising the floor of the back end of the rotation with a pitcher as dependable as Bassitt could go a long way in improving Baltimore’s playoff odds. Not to mention, there’s precedent for the Orioles targeting arms with mileage, as they added Sugano along with Charlie Morton last winter.
Baltimore is one of the more underrated baseball markets in the league. When they’re good, that crowd shows out in droves. The lineup should see some positive regression in 2026, but the rotation needs a kickstart.
Texas Rangers
At the top, the Rangers have a very good rotation with Nathan Eovaldi and Jacob deGrom. Behind those two, however, they are very young.
Right now, FanGraphs projects Jack Leiter, Kumar Rocker and Jacob Latz to be the Rangers’ final three starters. Combined, that trio has 61 starts and 403.2 innings in MLB.
Nothing wrong with investing in the future, but with a veteran roster, it’s hard to imagine Texas lets Merrill Kelly, Tyler Mahle, and Patrick Corbin all walk without replacing any of them with an established veteran. The Rangers flirted with postseason contention throughout 2025, so retooling isn’t necessarily a priority for 2026.