MLB Trade Deadline: 5 best spots for Andrew Cashner

1. Baltimore Orioles

No contender needs starting pitching more desperately than the Baltimore Orioles. They could use more than one rotation upgrade, so Andrew Cashner’s likely low price makes him a perfect target for the Orioles. San Diego and Baltimore have reportedly discussed Cashner in the past. Andrew Cashner would be a significant risk to trade for with his alarming 1.5 home runs per nine innings rate. But do the Orioles really have much of a choice?

Chris Tillman has been the lone consistent starting pitcher for the Orioles this season. Kevin Gausman has an ERA+ of 110. While wins and losses are hardly meaningful in today’s game, he still only has a 1-7 record and a 4.05 ERA. Tyler Wilson (85 ERA+) is a fringe starting pitcher, but he’s looking like the Orioles third best starter at this point. That’s scary.

Andrew Cashner’s home run rate is a career high. Perhaps it goes down because he doesn’t allow a ton of fly balls (0.92 ground ball to fly ball ratio). His walk rate is a bit alarming at 3.5, but with his ability to force ground balls and miss bats, he can make up for that.

With the Orioles’ bullpen, the O’s don’t even need Andrew Cashner to be their savior. They just need him to give them six decent innings. That would be a significant upgrade to what they usually get from three of their five starting pitchers.

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