SARASOTA, Fla. \u2014 The Orioles have not closed the door on additional acquisitions as pitchers and catchers reported to Florida on Tuesday, but president of baseball operations Mike Elias was noncommittal on that possibility and expressed confidence in the current group in camp.<\/p>\n
During a video conference call with members of the media, Elias reinforced his belief in the pitching staff despite Baltimore so far falling short of his stated offseason goal<\/a> of adding a top-end starter. When asked whether Elias would consider missing out on Framber Valdez and Ranger Su\u00e1rez, among others, as a disappointment, Elias demurred.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, I wouldn\u2019t. I think we\u2019ve put together a really strong rotation as it stands right now,\u201d he said. Elias was particularly bullish about right-handers Kyle Bradish and Shane Baz and left-hander Trevor Rogers, but he did concede that Baltimore would remain open to supplementing the pitching staff in the days ahead.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s a really strong group,\u201d Elias said. \u201cWe\u2019re staying plugged in with both the trade and free agent markets, as all teams are here as we ease into camp, so there\u2019s still a possibility for external [additions], but I think our rotation is very strong and very talented.\u201d<\/p>\n The best starter still on the free agent market is right-hander Zac Gallen, who has drawn interest from the Orioles this offseason. Right-handers Lucas Giolito and Chris Bassitt are also available. None of the three fits into an ace category, but each could boost the depth and raise the floor of the rotation.<\/p>\n There are as many questions surrounding the bullpen, particularly after the Orioles traded right-hander Kade Strowd<\/a> to the Arizona Diamondbacks for utilityman Blaze Alexander. Elias said the Orioles were in need of Alexander\u2019s defensive versatility, which made him a \u201cvery good roster fit for us.\u201d <\/p>\n The benefit of having Alexander on the roster outweighed the cost of losing Strowd, Elias said, despite Strowd posting a 1.71 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 26 1\/3 innings last year. Strowd was anticipated to be part of a Baltimore bullpen that performed poorly in 2025, with a 4.57 ERA (25th in baseball).<\/p>\n The Orioles added closer Ryan Helsley<\/a> and reacquired right-hander Andrew Kittredge<\/a>, but at this point, those are the lone introductions to a bullpen that will be without right-hander F\u00e9lix Bautista for most, if not all, of 2026 due to shoulder surgery<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019ve got a very strong bullpen,\u201d Elias said, \u201cand I think we have a demonstrated ability with our pitching program and our pitching coaches to bring in guys from the outside, hopefully coach them up a little bit, and continue to improve players. So, I think the bullpen\u2019s going to be very good.\u201d<\/p>\n Projection systems are less optimistic. For as strong as FanGraphs\u2019 Depth Charts projections deem the Orioles offense (31 WAR, third best), the pitching staff is projected to combine for 14.4 WAR, which is the lowest in the American League East. The bullpen\u2019s total projection is 2.8 WAR, which is also the lowest in their division.<\/p>\n