Orioles pitching injuries: 10 potential trade candidates for Baltimore after losing John Means, Tyler Wells

The Baltimore Orioles received two pieces of bad news on Friday when they announced that starters John Means and Tyler Wells will require elbow surgery. Each pitcher has a damaged ulnar collateral ligament, although it is unclear at this stage whether they will require Tommy John surgery or an alternative internal brace procedure. Either way, they will miss the remainder of the 2024 season.

The Orioles, who are also without right-handed starter Dean Kremer due to a triceps strain, seem like a reasonable bet to seek starting pitching help before the July 30 deadline. As it stands, Baltimore’s rotation includes ace Corbin Burnes, Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez, lefty Cole Irvin and journeyman Albert Suárez. While this group has performed well as a unit — they entered Friday ranked third in the ERA rotation — it’s fair to have some reservations about the back end moving forward. (After all, Suárez had last pitched in the majors in 2017 before making his season debut this year.)

Who could the Orioles pursue? Below we highlight 10 potential commercial candidates of varying notoriety and probability. Keep in mind that this type of exercise is always more of an art than a science, especially when the deadline is just under two months away. (Also note that pitchers are presented in descending order of perceived availability.)

Luzardo will be high on many teams’ wish lists this summer. He’s young (Sept. 27), established (122 ERA+ since 2022), and controllable (free agent date: winter 2026). The Marlins, under new baseball operations Peter Bendix, have every reason to cash in on their value sooner rather than later — especially if it means restocking a depleted farm system with some promising young players. The only problem is that demand for Luzardo’s services could drive Miami’s asking price to a level where the Orioles simply don’t feel comfortable participating. Clearly, that wasn’t the case last winter with Burnes, so maybe Baltimore will win again.

We continue to include Blackburn in these articles. Eventually, it has to be traded, right? “Eventually” won’t be in the short term, unfortunately, as he recently suffered a stress fracture in his right foot that left him in a walking boot. Blackburn has been a league-average starter since his All-Star campaign in 2022 (you read that correctly). He’ll have one more season of team control after that, so it seems highly unlikely he’ll start a home game in Sacramento, much less Las Vegas.

The Orioles have the ability to leverage their deep farm system and empty books in a way that allows them to make money without giving up a lot of talent. That’s why we think Anderson (owed more than $20 million by next season) and Fedde (owed more than $12 million by next season) could make sense as targets. Both have pitched well so far, with Anderson bouncing back from a tough year and Fedde validating the improvements he’s made overseas. The Angels and White Sox would do well to land a positional prospect or two from the Orioles’ collection, even if the financial component leaves them picking at the second or third tier.

Think of this as a continuation of the two pitchers above. Martinez, who split the season between Cincinnati’s rotation and bullpen, has what amounts to a $12 million player option next year. If we had to guess, the Reds would like to avoid paying him that. The Orioles would probably do that too, but there’s no denying that he’s been an effective utility pitcher who has some traits in common (ahem, a rising fastball) with several current Baltimore pitchers. If the cost of talent is low enough, we could see the Orioles taking him and his money.

We are pairing these Rockies because they both pitched well and still have another year of team control. In theory, Colorado should absolutely listen to offers on them. In practice, the Rockies do not always take the expected or conventional approach to trade deadlines. It’s quite possible the Rockies intend to retain or both, with the intention of making a wild card move next year. We’re not saying they should, we’re just saying they could, based on their history.

8. Reid Detmers, LHP, Los Angeles Angels

It seems like every season Detmers improves his pitching model metrics while his ERA increases. That is, to paraphrase Joe Girardi, not what you want. He’s in the midst of what would be the worst full-season performance of his career, as he sports an ERA+ of 71 through the first 11 corners. Detmers has the kind of rising fastball that the Orioles tend to like in their pitchers, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone if they feel like they could get more out of their arsenal than the Angels. Furthermore, Detmers’ home run problems would likely be solved with a pitch in front of Baltimore. The Angels are a few years removed from where they were a few years ago, so no one on their roster should be considered untouchable.

Garrett has shown a lot of promise when healthy, accumulating a 119 ERA+ in 52 starts since the start of the 2022 season thanks to good control over a varied arsenal. He simply hasn’t been reliable in his availability, as evidenced by him already missing more than a month this year with a shoulder injury. The Marlins have every reason to shuffle their roster in the coming weeks, and Garrett’s injury history and lack of major league skills could make him more available than his large amount of remaining team control suggests.

Here is your lunar candidate. Crochet has fared much better in the rotation than could reasonably be expected given his track record, posting an ERA+ of 109 and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 6.07 in 12 appearances to date. It has a high-octane three-tone mix, led by a mid-to-upper 90s heater and complemented by a new swing-and-miss cutter and slider. At first glance, the White Sox don’t appear to have much incentive to move Crochet. Either way, we’re including him because of his injury history and the fact that the Orioles could attempt to rebuild the White Sox with an overwhelming prospect package. Still, if we had to guess, that’s not happening.