The Orioles have been connected to various starting pitching targets all winter and that search is ongoing. General manager Mike Elias said so himself today, telling reporters such as . Elias hasnt ruled out a free agent addition but says the clubs farm system makes a trade more likely. In terms of free agent pursuits, lists as one they have shown interest in. Pitching is a clear target area of the clubs roster. They are loaded with position players but the rotation is lacking in certainty. and each became free agents after last season and have since signed elsewhere. Both and finished the year strong, but the former has le s than two years of big league experience and the latter le s than one. will be in the mix but he hasnt pitched much over the past two years due to Tommy John surgery. should be in the back end somewhere after posting a 4.12 earned run average last year. could be a factor but he struggled last year, getting moved to the bullpen and the minors throughout the year. Guys like , or could factor in as well. Elias also said that is still viewed as a starter in the long term, , but may remain in the bullpen for the short Austin Adams Jersey term. For a club that just won 101 games and is looking to compete again this year, theres clearly room for upgrades there. They should have the ability to make any kind of move they want, due to their payroll and organizational situations. shows that they havent given a free agent a multi-year deal since signing in 2018. That means their future ledger is wide open and their 2024 payroll is only at $81MM, per . Thats a jump from last years Opening Day figure but still bottom three in the league for this year, ahead of only the Athletics and Pirates. They also have a stacked farm system, considered by many to be the strongest in the league. With that combination of an elite farm system and a clean payroll slate, the options are theoretically endle s. Throughout the winter, they have been connected to all sorts of arms. That includes one of the top free agents in , though he subsequently re-signed with the Phillies. It also includes the lower tiers of free agency, with guys like and having been connected to the Os, though Paxton is now reportedly in agreement with the Dodgers. The Orioles have also been interested in trade candidates like and . Despite all of that interest, they have yet to pull the trigger on any move to addre s their rotation, with pitchers and catchers set to report to Spring Training in le s than three weeks. Elias continues to insist that a trade is a likely path forward, though it remains to be seen if they can get anything done. The asking price on Cease is very high, with the White Sox asking for multiple top prospects. The po sibility of the Brewers trading Burnes has seemingly faded as the offseason has progre sed. On the free agent side of things, Lorenzen is apparently another name they have considered. The 32-year-old spent much of his career as a reliever with the Reds but has been pursuing a return to starting work since reaching free agency. He signed with the Angels in 2022 and was able to make 18 starts and log 97 2/3 innings. His 4.24 ERA was pa sable in that time. His 20.7% strikeout rate and 10.7% walk rate were a bit worse than average, but his 50.2% ground ball rate was strong. That wasnt astounding production but a step in the right director in terms of workload. In 2023, he seemed to take another step forward after signing with the Tigers. Through midseason, he had already made 18 starts and thrown 105 2/3 innings. He had dropped his ERA to 3.58 and lowered his walk rate to 6.5%. He was traded to the Phillies and kept the good times rolling for a while. He allowed two earned runs over eight innings in his first start as a Phillie and then threw a no-hitter in his second. From that point, things went off the rails. Lorenzen was shelled for 27 earned runs in his final 30 1/3 innings, getting bumped to the bullpen in the proce s. Its fair to wonder if he simply ran out of gas. After years of working out of the bullpen, he pushed himself to almost 100 innings in 2022. After the no-hitter, which took him 124 pitches, he was at 122 2/3 innings in 2023 with a 3.23 ERA. The rough finish added almost a full run to his ERA, pushing it to 4.18 for the year overall. Arguably, another year of pushing himself in terms of innings could le sen the late-season drop-off. At the start of the offseason, predicted Lorenzen for a two-year, $22MM deal. His market has been fairly quiet this winter but he held a showcase for interested clubs earlier this week. Elsewhere in Oriole news, manager Brandon Hyde says that righty is healthy and looked unbelievable recently, per . Tate didnt pitch in the majors in 2023, as he was diagnosed with a forearm/flexor strain in November of 2022 and wasnt able to get healthy last year. He went on multiple rehab a signments but was never returned to the big leagues. When he was last healthy, he threw 73 2/3 innings for the Os in 2022 with a 3.05 ERA, 20.5% strikeout rate, 5.5% walk rate and 57.4% ground ball rate. If he is back in good form, it could be a boon for the bullpen. Miguel Tejada Jersey