Few teams have disappointed this season quite like the Baltimore Orioles. It has been a struggle for them pretty much right out of the gate.

It is a combination of many things, but above all else, it was putting too much on their young stars’ plates too soon.

In time, the likes of Jackson Holliday may be able to earn their stripes in MLB. For now, the Orioles are a team that is destined towards a rebuild.

Ken Rosenthal wrote about what could be coming for the Orioles in his latest for The Athletic. He argues that the Orioles could be selling high on starting pitchers like Charlie Morton and Trevor Rogers, as well as answering calls on reliever Felix Bautista.

Rosenthal’s argument is that Baltimore needs to reshuffle the deck a bit with its rotation, as they do not have a ton of innings-eaters on it.

Morton is firmly in his 40s and is playing on an expiring contract. Rogers initially struggled with the team, but has found himself of late. He does have one more year of team control. They also need to figure out what to do with roughly a dozen soon-to-be free agents, including All-Star Ryan O’Hearn. This is why now might not be the time for Baltimore to build back better around Jackson Holliday.

Baltimore needs reliable pitching next year to help bring Grayson Rodriguez and Kyle Bradish along.

Baltimore Orioles pitching concerns may prevent a bounce-back season

Rosenthal mentioned Boston by name as a team that could use a player like Morton.

As for Rogers, it seems as though Miami got the better end of that deal, or at least initially.

He spoke highly of All-Star Kyle Stowers and Connor Norby. Again, Rogers is under team control for one more year, so maybe he is not going to be moved.

The big concern is the overall health of Bradish and Rodriguez come 2026.

Rosenthal doubted their abilities to be workhorses in the rotation coming off major injuries. So what I am getting at is Baltimore seems to have far more pressing issues with it comes to the future of its rotation than it does about its lineup.

Both areas are constraints for this underperfoming team, but only one can be the bottleneck. The squeaky wheel is the one that gets the oil, as that is the rotation.

Overall, I think the Orioles need a new voice in the front office. Mike Elias has fallen out of favor in Baltimore at an alarming rate.

He has had so many bites at the apple when it comes to top-tier picks. What does he have to show for it? Historically, Baltimore is at its best as an organization with big boppers all throughout the lineup. That being said, it is hard to win without good starting pitching.

The quickest way back to prominence in Baltimore is to have a starting rotation it can rely upon.