The Baltimore Orioles have had one of the most active and successful offseasons in Major League Baseball, having already added Pete Alonso, Ryan Helsley, and Taylor Ward to their roster entering Friday.
Even so, Orioles PBO Mike Elias has remained under intense pressure to fill Baltimore’s most glaring need: starting pitching.
Baltimore has two talented arms at the top of its rotation in Trevor Rogers and Kyle Bradish, but beyond that, there are a ton of questions marks. That’s not going to get it done in the wildly competitive American League East, that’s for sure.
Well, it appears that Elias has been hard at work. He made a trade on Friday that strengthened Baltimore’s rotation.
The Orioles have acquired right-handed starting pitcher Shane Baz in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
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Baz, 26, logged a career-high 31 starts in 2025 for the Rays, posting a 10-12 record and 4.87 ERA across 166 1/3 innings. He struck out 176 batters with a 1.33 WHIP, though he allowed 26 home runs and faced some mid-season struggles. Baz finished on a solid note in September, including five scoreless innings against the American League champion Toronto Blue Jays and four hitless frames against the Orioles.
In his MLB tenure starting from a strong 2021 debut with three starts and a 2.03 ERA, Baz holds a 17-17 career record, a 4.25 ERA, and 293 strikeouts over 54 appearances and 286 innings. Tommy John surgery sidelined him for 2023 after a partial 2022 season, but he rebounded in 2024 with a 3.06 ERA in 14 outings. Baz remains a very promising arm, making this a notable trade for Baltimore.
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Featured image via Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports
