BALTIMORE -- The Orioles’ aggressive pursuit of starting pitching took them to conversations with an American League East rival, one who was willing to part with a high-ceiling right-hander for a hefty package of prospects in return on Friday afternoon.
Baltimore acquired righty Shane Baz from Tampa Bay in exchange for four prospects and a 2026 Competitive Balance Round A Draft pick (No. 33 overall).
TRADE DETAILS
Orioles get: RHP Shane Baz
Rays get: OF Slater de Brun (O’s No. 6 prospect per MLB Pipeline), C Caden Bodine (O’s No. 10), RHP Michael Forret (O’s No. 11), OF Austin Overn (O’s No. 30), 2026 Competitive Balance Round A Draft pick (No. 33 overall selection)
The O’s gave up quite a bit for Baz, so they clearly think the 26-year-old will bolster a rotation in need of upgrades. And there are reasons to believe that will be the case.
Baz, a first-round Draft pick of the Pirates in 2017, struggled to stay healthy early in his professional career, making only 23 big league starts for the Rays from 2021-24. He underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2022, causing him to miss all of the ‘23 season.
Although Baz had a 4.87 ERA this past season, he set career highs in starts (31), innings (166 1/3) and strikeouts (176). He’ll look to build upon that in Baltimore over the next few years, as he’s under team control through the end of the 2028 season.
It’s also worth noting that many of Baz’s struggles this past season came at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees’ Spring Training ballpark that served as the Rays’ temporary home for 2025. Baz had a 5.90 ERA in 16 starts at the hitter-friendly park and a 3.86 ERA across 15 road outings. Eighteen of his 26 homers allowed came at Steinbrenner Field as well.
Baz has a five-pitch mix (four-seam fastball, curveball, cutter, changeup and slider) with a four-seamer that averaged 97 mph this past season. He hit 100-plus mph 10 times, maxing out at 100.4 mph (twice).
With Baz joining the fold, the Orioles’ rotation landscape now looks like this:
- RHP Kyle Bradish
- LHP Trevor Rogers
- RHP Shane Baz
- RHP Dean Kremer
- RHP Tyler Wells
Depth: LHP Cade Povich, RHP Albert Suárez, RHP Brandon Young
Bodine and de Brun were both 2025 Draft picks, getting taken with the Nos. 30 and 37 selections, respectively. Coincidentally, de Brun was selected with a Competitive Balance Round A pick that originally belonged to the Rays, who sent the selection to the O’s in exchange for right-handed reliever Bryan Baker on July 10.
Baltimore and Tampa Bay have been frequent trade partners in recent years. The Orioles acquired right-handed starter Zach Eflin from the Rays on July 26, 2024, in exchange for three prospects (outfielders Matthew Etzel and Mac Horvath and righty Jackson Baumeister). Eflin is currently a free agent.
Forret (a 14th-round pick in 2023) and Overn (a third-rounder in ‘24) had both shown impressive development since joining the Orioles’ system. But the cost for controllable starting pitching is high, so Baltimore had to deal them to get an arm of Baz’s quality.
The O’s may not be done adding starters, though. They’ve been in the market for some of the top free agents (such as left-handers Framber Valdez and Ranger Suárez), and they could still use another top arm to take their rotation to another level.
It’s already been quite a busy offseason for the Orioles, who are aiming to quickly bounce back from their 75-87 showing this past season that resulted in a last-place finish in the AL East. President of baseball operations Mike Elias is showing increased aggressiveness, making bigger moves than at any previous time in his tenure (which began in November 2018).
Baltimore started by reinforcing its bullpen with the acquisitions of new closer Ryan Helsley and setup man Andrew Kittredge. Then, the club upgraded its outfield mix by bringing in Taylor Ward and Leody Taveras.
Most notably, the O’s made a major splash with the signing of slugging first baseman Pete Alonso, who inked a five-year, $155 million deal to become a centerpiece player.
That left the rotation as the most glaring need remaining on the Orioles’ offseason to-do list. They now have a solid piece with a good bit of upside in Baz, but there’s still room to improve the starting staff before Spring Training arrives.