The Orioles have expressed interest Justin VerlanderKen Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. Although the O’s are the first club publicly pegged for a future Hall of Famer beyond the reigning Giants, Rosenthal writes that it’s no surprise that Verlander has received interest from multiple teams.
Baltimore made some rotation additions this offseason. They sent four prospects and a draft pick to the Rays Shane Bazwho managed him for three years. Baltimore also delivered Zach Eflin back on a one-year, $10MM contract after an injury-riddled season. They are in decent shape from a depth perspective. It still feels a little light on the high end. They are still in the bank Kyle Bradish in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery. Trevor Rogers it was great at the start of 18 but was in Triple-A as recently as last May. Baz has shown great talent around the middle but very little consistency in first starts.
Framber Valdezwithout a doubt this free offseason bowl, remains unregistered. The Orioles have shown interest all winter. They have enough controllable position player talent to move forward in a trade if someone is willing Freddy Peralta or MacKenzie Gore it exists. Rosenthal suggests the Orioles could look at Verlander more as a fallback option if they don’t come away with an arm with a high ceiling.
At 43 years old, Verlander no longer has that type. He showed last season that he still has plenty left in the tank. He made 29 starts for the Giants and threw 152 innings of ball with a 3.85 ERA. Verlander recorded a 20.7% strikeout rate while walking around 8% of the batters he faced. His 11% swing rate was his highest since winning his third career Cy Young with the Astros in 2022. Verlander maintained a 94 MPH fastball average and pitched well after an early season pec strain cost him a month. He has turned in a 3.60 ERA behind a 22% strikeout percentage in his last 19 starts.
Like Valdez, Verlander has a relationship with Baltimore’s president of baseball operations Mike Elias. The former O’s front office leader was the assistant general manager in Houston during the pitcher’s first and a half season with the Astros. Verlander will also match Baltimore’s history in free agency under Elias. His front office has yet to sign the first free agent to a multi-year deal, and they tend to target older starters (eg. Kyle Gibson, Tomoyuki Sugano, Charlie Morton) to obtain short bonds. Verlander is looking to sign one-year contracts for the rest of his career.
Last winter’s rotation goes in the opposite direction. None of Morton, Sugano or Gibson lived up to expectations and the rotation’s poor early season performance marked a hole from which the Orioles could not recover. The O’s made a four-year commitment Corbin Burns and they picked up a year and a half of Eflin’s contract in a trade in 2024, so they aren’t strictly committing to a one-year commitment. Still, it’s true that signing Verlander would be more consistent with their previous career than a five- or six-year contract for Valdez.
The Orioles have opened the checkbook a few times this offseason, most notably to their $155MM. Pete Alonso to sign. RosterResource projects his 2026 payroll at $149MM, about $10MM below where he started the ’25 season. Alonso, Tyler O’Neill again Samuel Basallo they are their only players signed this season. O’Neill’s deal expires after 2027, while Basallo doesn’t get a salary north of $4MM until 2030 (the final year of Alonso’s contract).
