Orioles Pitching Target Has Growing List of Pursuers
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Now that the Baltimore Orioles won’t be getting Kyle Gibson back, could they turn their attention to this year’s Cy Young runner up as a replacement.
The Orioles have previously been linked to pitcher Sonny Gray, who helped the Twins win the American League Central and win a playoff series for the first time since 2002.
But the competition to sign Gray is getting stiffer.
The St. Louis Cardinals signed Gibson to a one-year deal on Tuesday, and per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals may not be done signing pitching.
Gray is a veteran arm the Cardinals are considering, and they’re also considering tossing their hat in the ring for Japanese star Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
The Cardinals would join the Philadelphia Phillies, the Atlanta Braves and the Boston Red Sox as teams with reported interest in Gray.
Gray turned down the Twins’ $20.325 million qualifying offer earlier this month, which means the Twins will get draft pick compensation from the team that signs Gray.
Still, it might be worth it for the Orioles. Their only other veteran free agent is Jack Flaherty, who isn’t expected to return. That leaves the Orioles with a young and impressive rotation in Dean Kremer, Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez and Tyler Wells. That group helped the Orioles win 101 games and the AL East in 2023.
But, on paper, Baltimore still needs some veteran ballast, and Gray would give that to them.
The 33-year-old has played 11 Major League seasons, as he broke in with Oakland in 2013 and has also played with the New York Yankees, the Cincinnati Reds and the Twins.
He’s made three All-Star teams and has finished in the Top 10 in Cy Young voting twice.
He has spent the past two seasons with Minnesota, where he went a combined 16-13 with a 2.90 ERA. In 2023, in helping the Twins win the AL Central, he went 8-8 with a 2.79 ERA in 32 starts. He allowed an MLB-low 0.4 home runs per nine innings.
Gray has a career record of 98-85 with a 3.47 ERA, including 1,521 strikeouts and 544 walks in 1,571 innings pitched.
