Why Framber Valdez To Baltimore Would Be Ideal
A loaded AL East is good for baseball and baseball fans alike.
The American League East is so fascinating once again in 2026. The Toronto Blue Jays came up just short of topping the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series last fall, and they could be better. After winning 192 games combined in 2023 and 2024, the Baltimore Orioles finished last in the division in 2025, and they want to be better. The Boston Red Sox might be the most consistently perplexing team in the division, but they might be better or worse in 2026. The New York Yankees remain the Yankees, and they could be better in 2026. Even the Tampa Bay Rays, who have seen a gradual decline over the last two seasons, could be better or worse in 2026. You could make a great case for any of these five teams to make the postseason, something you cannot do in any other division in baseball.
Cody Bellinger is back with the Yankees. The Blue Jays acquired Dylan Cease. The Red Sox added Ranger Suarez. The Rays are back in Tropicana Field. The Orioles, however, have perhaps been the busiest with their headline addition of Pete Alonso, formerly of the New York Mets. Baltimore also traded for Shane Baz from the Rays and Taylor Ward from the Angels. All while general manager Mike Elias might have the best young core of hitters in the division.
Baltimore still has one more move to make, though. It’s the move all Orioles fans, and baseball fans, really, have been waiting for – Baltimore signing former Houston Astros starter Framber Valdez to fill out their rotation. Re-signing Eflin was good. Acquiring Baz was better. But Baltimore needs one more starter to fill out that rotation with Trevor Rogers, the aforementioned Baz, Kyle Bradish, and Dean Kremer.
Valdez’s 3.8 WAR in 2025 for Houston is higher than any current Baltimore projected starter in 2026. Fangraphs has Rogers with the highest projected WAR at 2.4 this season. Valdez pitched 192 innings last season – the closest Baltimore starter was Kremer at 171.2. Valdez struck out 182 batters last season, more than any Baltimore starter. Valdez is just one year removed from finishing seventh in Cy Young award voting. If you replace those 2025 Tomoyuki Sugano starts with 2025 Valdez starts, this Baltimore rotation looks a whole lot different in 2026 than it did in 2025.
Baltimore general manager Mike Elias has assembled a lineup that will feature former first-round picks all over the diamond. Six of Baltimore’s projected nine starters in the team’s projected lineup are former first-round picks. Only one is not an original Oriole draftee. The lone omission is Ward, who coincidentally was also a former first-round pick by his old team, the Los Angeles Angels. Alonso and Gunnar Henderson were not far behind as second-round picks. The lone outlier is Samuel Basallo, who has the potential to rake in his first full season in the majors.
I admire what Baltimore has done thus far this offseason. The Blue Jays are coming off a World Series run, and the Yankees made it the year prior. Both came up just short of beating the increasingly ridiculous Super Power that is the Los Angeles Dodgers, but they got there. If Baltimore can ink Valdez to a deal, whatever the years and AAV may be, why can’t Baltimore continue this streak for the AL East?
This team earned a Wild Card spot in 2024 and won the division in 2023. The Orioles won 75 games last season. Toronto won 74 games in 2024. Look what Lady Luck had in mind for the Blue Jays? Situations in sports can change on a dime, and it certainly has for the defending AL champions.
The Orioles have the firepower offensively, as Fangraphs projects six of their top hitters to register a WRC+ of 110 or higher this upcoming season. Does Jackson Holliday take a big step? Alonso was eighth in all of baseball in WRC+ last season – the highest Oriole was Henderson at 51st. A rotation of Rogers, Valdez, Baz, Braddish, and Kremer is not the best in baseball, but it’s certainly better on paper than what Baltimore had in 2025.
But nothing is guaranteed in this juggernaut of a division. Outside of the Yankees having a losing season, of course, which hasn’t happened since 1992. The Rays look the weakest on paper, but Tampa Bay hasn’t finished last in the division in a decade. Good luck trying to understand and project Boston. Toronto has reloaded. The Orioles should be in the mix, though. With or without Valdez, they should be in the mix.
As a neutral observer, Valdez and Baltimore are a partnership you root for. You want more teams going for it like so many are in the AL East. Valdez in Baltimore adds more pressure to the New Yorks, Torontos, and Bostons of the division. That’s what all baseball fans should want to see – a division madeup of Mostly Triers.
I don’t know if Valdez winds up in Baltimore, but, man, it’d be awfully nice for baseball and baseball fans if he does.