Yankees are not the only Blue Jays division rival trying to upgrade their rotation

Nobody in the American League is willing to make things easy on anyone else in 2026. Or so it seems that way with how the offseason has shaped up thus far. While the Toronto Blue Jays have arguably been the most aggressive and have spent the most money, their division rivals have made counter moves in an effort to compete with Toronto.

The one team that had so far been relatively quiet are the New York Yankees, although that seems like it could change. They were recently said to be getting aggressive in talks around Miami's starting pitcher Edward Cabrera and Freddy Peralta in Milwaukee. Cabrera has instead (reportedly) been shipped to the Chicago Cubs - which means the Yankees now have somewhat of a framework to deal from in any further negotiations for Peralta.

But the Yankees aren't the only division rivals who are zeroing in on pitching this week, and a couple of All-Stars are reportedly on the radar of the Baltimore Orioles.

Yankees are not the only Blue Jays division rival trying to upgrade their rotation

According to Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner, the Orioles are interested in left-handed free agent starters Framber Valdez and Ranger Suarez. Valdez and Suarez have widely been regarded as the next best pitchers on the open market this winter behind Dylan Cease. Depending on who you ask some would even put them ahead of Toronto's newest starter.

Both guys make sense for the Orioles who have already landed Pete Alonso to a $155 million deal this winter, and signed closer Ryan Helsley. But everyone knows the more depth you build in your rotation the more likely you are to succeed. Right now the Orioles would enter the season with a rotation that consists of Trevor Rogers, Kyle Bradish, Shane Baz, Dean Kremer and Zach Eflin.

Valdez and Suarez would be an upgrade an pretty much all of those names. The 32-year-old Valdez has a career 18.9 bWAR with a 3.36 career ERA and a 1.204 career WHIP. He's thrown at least 175 innings every season going back to 2022 with at least 165 strikeouts each of those years. The 30-year-old Suarez has been almost as good as Valdez over the same period of time. He's racked up a career bWAR of 17.8, a 3.38 career ERA and a 1.270 WHIP. Since 2022 he has thrown 588.1 innings pitched and has 544 strikeouts.

Both guys would bolster an Orioles rotation that ranked 24th in starters ERA last season (4.65) and should improve their K/9 rate which ranked 23rd in 2025 (7.82). Both the Phillies (Suarez) and the Astros (Valdez) ranked much higher in these areas thanks to the contributions of these current free agents.

The Orioles, who were 6-7 against Toronto last year, and who actually outscored the Blue Jays 80-70 in their head to head matchups, will already be a much more formidable opponent in 2026 thanks to the moves they have already made. If they were to add either Valdez or Suarez, the season series could take on even more meaning throughout next summer.