This offseason, the Baltimore Orioles’ need for starting pitching was incredibly obvious. And yet, general manager Mike Elias settled for adding Charlie Morton on a one-year contract and signing Kyle Gibson in late March. Those acquisitions have blown up in Elias’ face.

To be fair! I like Morton! What’s not to like about him?Morton, 41, is one of the most decorated right-handed pitchers in baseball. For the first 17 years of his career, he was a strong and dependable option in the rotation. He was instrumental in the Atlanta Braves’ recent surge and was a leader for the organization’s young staff. But his underlying numbers from last season — mainly a 4.46 FIP, his worst since 2010 — painted a picture that he was beginning to decline.

To start this season, Morton has a 9.45 ERA in seven games. He’s allowed 28 earned runs in 26.2 innings pitched. He’s been relegated to the bullpen. There is still plenty of time for Morton to bounce back. But so far, the signing has been nothing short of a disaster.

Don’t let the Orioles off the hook for Kyle Gibson either

Then there’s Gibson. In fairness, he was signed right before Opening Day. He had no spring training to ramp up and it’s well-documented it takes awhile for pitchers to ramp up. But the Orioles knew this and they also knew they needed immediate impact options in the rotation.

So it should be no surprise that Gibson, a dependable veteran, struggled mightily in his first start with the Orioles, a 3.2 inning appearance against the Yankees in which he allowed nine runs and 11 hits.

I’m not going to blame Gibson. He was set up to fail and his struggles — and the Orioles’ rotation woes — fell directly on Elias. He’s struggled to identify quality rotation options. He’s missed continuously on giving the rotation quality options, even average options, that could get the organization past the first round of the postseason.

The Orioles have had such a unique opportunity with the young nucleus. They could invest meaningful dollars into the rotation on long-term pacts. They could extend some of those young players and follow the Braves’ model. They could do so much.

But they continue to rely on bandaid options and it appears primed to cost them once again in 2025, as they are 12-18 and in last place in the American League East. And it won’t change unless Elias is able to do something he hasn’t done in Baltimore: finally prove that he can sufficiently supply the rotation.

The Orioles have so much young talent on offense. Last year, it was still clear that they needed more pitching reinforcements even after adding Burnes and Trevor Rogers. The latter arrived in midseason trade that sent prospects Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers to the Miami Marlins.

The trade turned out to be the worst of the trade deadline — by far — and left the Orioles’ rotation in worse shape than it was before Rogers. The moves they’ve made since haven’t helped the situation.