O's free agent pitching additions could have familiar look

When he spoke to reporters early this month, Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said the club would pursue signing starting pitching this winter and heading into the 2021 season. They could add major or minor league free agents.

The Orioles rotation ended last season in a pretty good spot after Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer made their major league debuts. Jorge López had some nice moments as well, while John Means and Alex Cobb were both pitching well at the end of the year. For a brief time the O's rotation may have been in its best shape in years. And with other young pitching on the way, the future looks better for the starting five.

But that didn't keep Elias from talking about adding pitching in that Zoom press conference.

"I definitely think we'll be signing some starting pitchers," Elias said. "You can never have enough. We are definitely going to need to sign some outsiders. Whether it's a major or minor league deal will be a case-by-case and TBD."

It is probably a safe assumption that any of these signings will likely be for just a year and they could lean toward minor league deals. They could turn out to be similar to the additions of lefties Wade LeBlanc and Tommy Milone. And both those signings came late in the process last offseason, with LeBlanc signing Feb. 3 and Milone on Feb. 13.

When they signed they instantly became two of the oldest players on the team, with Milone 33 and LeBlanc 35. Each had made several appearances in 2019 as a bulk pitcher - a pitcher that followed an opener and was asked to pitch starter innings if they could get that far.

Both were with Seattle in 2019. LeBlanc went 6-7 with a 5.71 ERA but had pitched to an ERA of 4.09 as a bulk pitcher. From 2016-18, LeBlanc posted a 3.91 ERA and allowed 2.1 walks and 1.4 homers per nine innings. Milone went 4-10 with a 4.76 ERA for the 2019 Mariners and had finished the season strong, pitching to an ERA of 3.52 his last five starts.

LeBlanc's 2020 season with the Orioles ended with an elbow injury after he went 1-0 with an 8.06 ERA in six starts. He didn't pitch after Aug. 23. Milone went 1-4, but with an ERA of 3.99 over six starts. On Aug. 30 he was traded to Atlanta for two players to be named later. Milone had a 14.90 ERA in three starts with Atlanta. But before he flamed out there he did bring the Orioles two players.

On Nov. 5 the O's acquired infielders AJ Graffanino and Greg Cullen to complete that trade. MLBPipeline.com ranks Graffanino as the O's No. 30 prospect. Getting a top 30 for three starts with Atlanta by Milone was, to say the least, a nice return. Graffanino gets a 60 fielding grade at shortstop from the outlet, and he was rated by Baseball America as Atlanta's No. 25 prospect in 2019 and No. 27 earlier this year.

Who can they add this time around?

Could it be Trevor Cahill, who turns 33 in March? He went 1-2 with a 3.24 ERA with San Francisco. What about Tyson Ross? He hasn't pitched since producing a 6.11 ERA for the 2019 Tigers, but his career ERA is 4.04. Jake Odorizzi turns 31 in March and went 0-1 with a 6.59 ERA for the Twins. But his career ERA is 3.92. Ivan Nova turns 34 in January. After years of pitching respectably, he posted an ERA of 8.53 in four starts in 2020 for the Tigers.

We know the O's are unlikely to be signing anyone to a multi-year deal. Is this group of four their likely range of an addition and/or wheelhouse for adding a veteran pitcher this winter?