The 2014/15 MLB offseason will be ending soon and for teams like the Baltimore Orioles, they'll need to add at least one or two more pieces before the start of spring training.
Baltimore's offseason has been nothing short of disappointing for fans of the club, considering two major assets signed elsewhere at the start of free agency and no true game changers were imported into Baltimore aside from a few ho-hum positional fillers.
As it stands now, Baltimore is set with their rotation, having more than enough starters to fill out a competitive rotation with six potential candidates. One starter in particular could be moved, however, for a position of great need, but more on that later.
The bullpen has, for the most part, carried over from last season's personnel aside from the departure of Andrew Miller in free agency.
To fill the need for another lefty reliever, Baltimore went out and signed 29-year-old lefty Wesley Wright, previously of the Chicago Cubs, to a one-year, $1.7 million deal.
The low-salary signing definitely helped relieve some stress on the team's salary, considering that Baltimore needed to come to an agreement with several of their regulars who were up for arbitration.
Wright could be yet another under-the-radar value signing of general manager Dan Duquette's, as he had a career year in 2014, pitching to a 3.17 ERA and serving up just two long balls on the season.
With the pitching staff more than intact heading into the 2015 season and the return of superstars in Matt Wieters, Manny Machado and Chris Davis, the infield looks to be one of the most dangerous in the majors both offensively and defensively.
The glaring weakness the O's need to address are the corner outfield spots, which would as of now be manned by Alejandro De Aza in left field and possibly a platoon of Steve Pearce and David Lough in right field.
If the end of last season was any sign, De Aza seems to be the answer to fill in as the everyday left fielder and leadoff hitter as his numbers leading off were reminiscent of former Oriole Nick Markakis's, but with added steal potential.
With rumors still stirring about the Orioles seeking outfield help, it might be a sign that they feel Pearce either had a fluke season in 2014 or will not be able to hold up defensively.
If the Orioles are serious about addressing the club's inefficiency for getting on base, they'll want to turn their full attention to acquiring outfielder Charlie Blackmon from the Colorado Rockies.
According to Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com, Blackmon has been made available (h/t FOX Sports).
The Orioles haven't engaged in talks with Colorado in a potential deal for Blackmon, but they have been doing their homework on the leadoff man who had a breakout year in 2014.
The Rockies are in need of a starting pitcher and the Orioles would surely love to move Ubaldo Jimenez to get his contract off the books, even if they need to eat some of his salary up themselves.
If the Orioles need to throw in a mid-tier prospect as well, they should heavily consider it given that they are in win-now mode and Blackmon himself is under team control through the 2018 season.
In 2014, Blackmon put up a slash line of .288/.335/.440 in 154 games for the Rockies and led off in 135 of those games.
Granted, Blackmon did play in a hitter's haven, but Camden Yards isn't that far of a step down in regards to the best hitter's parks in the majors.
Blackmon nearly had a 20/30 season in 2014, coming just one homer and two steals short of accomplishing the feat.
With an offense such as Baltimore's surrounding him, Blackmon could emerge as one of the best leadoff hitters in all of baseball and garner his second career All-Star selection in two years.
If the Rockies want to sell high on Blackmon and if they believe they are not ready to contend in 2015, they should look to Baltimore as a potential trade partner in getting a deal done.
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