The Baltimore Orioles were one of the most talked about teams this offseason. This team has developed a great core of young position players, led by young stars Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman. Young players like Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg are also long-term, core pieces to this Orioles roster.
However, the roster falls short when it comes to starting pitching.
This offseason, the Orioles lost their ace from 2024, Corbin Burnes, when he signed a six-year, $210 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. After that, the Orioles could not bring in a pitcher who could provide the same value that Burnes did. This has led many fans and analysts to question how good this team can be. However, the Orioles can upgrade their staff by trading Ryan Mountcastle.
How a Ryan Mountcastle trade can help the Orioles pitching staff
Over the weekend, it was reported that the Orioles made Mountcastle available for trade. While it's uncommon for teams to discuss trades so early into the season, this is nothing new for Mountcastle and the Orioles. Back during the 2024 trade deadline, the Orioles made Mountcastle available. Then, during this previous offseason, Mountcastle's name again came up in trade discussions.
The Orioles are so open to a Mountcastle trade mostly due to the presence of Baltimore's top prospect, Coby Mayo.
According to MLB Pipeline, he's currently the second-best prospect in the O's system and the 14th overall prospect in baseball. After spending 154 games in Triple-A and putting up a slash line of .279/.375/.542 with 35 home runs and 124 RBIs, the Orioles are ready to see what he can do at the big league level. The easiest way to get Mayo in the lineup is to move Mountcastle and have him take over at first base.
Although these rumors do not paint Mountcastle in the best light, he still can add plenty of value to a big league team. Despite the slow start to 2025, he has been a very productive hitter over his career. In five big league seasons, he's slashed .264/.315/.448 with 91 home runs, 328 RBIs, a 113 OPS+, and a wRC+ of 111. He's also been praised as one of the best defensive first basemen in all of baseball, only committing 12 errors over his career while maintaining a fielding percentage of .997.
If he sustains numbers like that this year, the Orioles can acquire a good pitcher for their staff. Sure, they won't get a player of Burnes' caliber for Mountcastle alone. But they can get a good mid-rotation guy to help their weak rotation.
Zach Efflin and Charlie Morton are solid pitchers, but they cannot headline a rotation for a team that has playoff aspirations in the year of 2025. Mountcastle can land Baltimore someone who can take the "ace" role until a true ace potentially becomes available closer to the trade deadline.
The Seattle Mariners are a team to watch in a potential Mountcastle sweepstakes. The two sides match up perfectly for a trade.
The Mariners have one of the best pitching staffs in the MLB, but have a below-average offense. A hitter like Mountcastle would improve Seattle's lineup depth, while the Orioles can land one of the Mariners' back-end starters, who would immediately become the ace in Baltimore.
If the Orioles want to compete with teams like the Yankees and Red Sox, they must acquire starting pitching help, and fast. With the chance to do so in free agency now gone, a trade of Mountcastle may be their best path toward doing so.