When the Rockies decide to start selling off high-priced veterans the Orioles figure to make a run at left-hander Jorge De La Rosa, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun.
Connolly reports that the Orioles “have been closely monitoring and gathering background information” on De La Rosa, who started on Opening Day for the Rockies and has posted a 4.70 ERA in 18 starts overall this season at age 33.
De La Rosa was much more effective last season and also had a very strong 2011 campaign in Colorado, but considering his age, injury history, and the $5 million or so remaining on his contract for the second half he seems unlikely to command a huge return in trade.
Baltimore came into the season with plenty of rotation depth, including top prospect Kevin Gausman at Triple-A, but Chris Tillman, Ubaldo Jimenez, Wei-Yin Chen, and Miguel Gonzalez all have ERAs above 4.00 and Bud Norris isn’t much ahead of them at 3.96. Still, for the Orioles to add a veteran starter like De La Rosa at the trade deadline there would seemingly have to be another move at play.