By james art 
The Baltimore Orioles have been a mixed bag thus far, as they have addressed some needs but also lost a lot of talent.
Early on, they made sense to add more righty power to their lineup, signing outfielder Tyler O’Neill and catcher Gary Sanchez.
O’Neal was signed to replace Anthony Santander, who agreed to a massive trade with the Toronto Blue Jays last week. Sanchez will take backup duties behind James McCann’s Adley Rushman and could find some at-bats as a designated hitter.
On the mound is where things get a little iffy for the Orioles, as their ace of the 2024 campaign. Corbin Burns, left in free agency.
He signed a six-year, $210 million deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Baltimore was unable to lure any of the top pitchers available in free agency to help fill that void, instead adding veterans Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano for solid depth.
It looks like they will be joining a rotation that already had Grayson Rodriguez, Zach Elin and Dean Kramer in place. Albert Suarez and Trevor Rodgers are two other options, while Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells are working their way back from injury.
The Orioles have an impressive amount of starting rotation depth, but they don’t have a bona fide ace to match the rest of the contenders in the American League, let alone the entire MLB.
However, that could change in a move with the Seattle Mariners.
On paper, the teams are perfect trading partners.
Baltimore is overflowing with young hitting talent. So many, they currently have no room to play them all at the League level.
The Mariners are incredibly short on hitting, but have the kind of starting pitching depth that teams dream of. They are right on the move as the best starting rotation in the sport.
Logically, trading a strength to improve a weakness makes a lot of sense, and both teams can fill a need for the other.
This is part of the reason why Jim Bowden of The athletic one has set Seattle up by making a push to acquire one of the Orioles’ current top prospects, corner infielder Kobe Mayo, in a deal that will dip into their pitching stable.
“To land him, they’ll have to give up one of their good young starters in Brian Waugh, but that’s the price they have to pay at this point given their dire need to upgrade the outfield corners.” , Bowden writes.
On the current major league logjam blocking Mayo from getting consistent game time. Ryan O’Hearn and Ryan Mountscale are anchored at first base, while Jordan Westburg looks ready to handle the hot corner.
The designated offensive spot isn’t a wide-open path to playing time, as former #2 Pick Heston Kjerstad will get reps there when he’s not in the outfield.
If Baltimore is intent on keeping Mayo, perhaps they can use Mountcastle as the centerpiece of a deal and bring back one of the Mariners’ lesser-rated pitchers.
But they need to make a splash and acquire Ace-level talent. Seattle has them, and if it means parting ways with Mayo, they should pull the trigger.