As the hot stove heats up, we’re going position by position to preview the 2025-26 class of free agents. So far, we’ve looked at catchers, outfielders, infielders and right-handed starters. Each player’s age during the 2026 season is listed next to his name.

Where would the Orioles be without Trevor Rogers?

The soft-spoken lefty delivered a memorable, out-of-nowhere season in an otherwise forgettable 2025 campaign. He posted a 1.81 ERA in 18 starts, won Most Valuable Oriole and earned a down-ballot Cy Young vote.

Rogers’ heroics came too late to save the season, but they cemented his spot in the 2026 rotation and made the Orioles’ search for pitching this winter a little less desperate.

Cade Povich, who has a 5.20 ERA in two big league seasons, is the only other left-handed starter on Baltimore’s 40-man roster. The Orioles shouldn’t let handedness guide their search for starting pitching, but having Rogers locked in means this matchup-focused front office won’t have to ponder an all-righty rotation.

Here are four free-agent southpaws who could wear orange and black.

Framber Valdez, 32

Kyle Tucker isn’t the only big-name free agent with ties to president of baseball operations Mike Elias, who was part of Houston’s front office when Valdez signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2015. Valdez’s rookie season in 2018 was Elias’ last as the Astros’ assistant general manager.

Valdez has been nothing short of terrific, compiling a 3.36 ERA and two All-Star appearances in eight big league seasons. An undersize sinkerballer, Valdez keeps the ball on the ground, finishing in the 91st percentile or better in ground ball percentage each of the last seven seasons. That kind of approach should work well in front of an infield headlined by Jackson Holliday, Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg.

The prospect of a long-term deal for a pitcher who just turned 32 can be nerve-racking, but the O’s have to take the plunge on someone. If they sign Valdez, you’d have to assume they’d have done their homework on the cross-up controversy from September, as well.

Ranger Suárez, 30

In a Philadelphia rotation with Zach Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Cristopher Sánchez, Suárez has been the unsung hero. The soft-tossing lefty has a 3.59 ERA since becoming a full-time starter in 2022. That season also marked his entrance onto the postseason stage, where he owns a 1.48 ERA in 42 2/3 innings.

A lack of top-shelf velocity — his four-seamer barely hovers above 90 mph — makes him prone to streakiness, and a nagging back injury, which forced him to miss time each of the last two seasons, is a concern. But none of the pitchers on this list comes without risk.

Jose Quintana, 37

Orioles manager Craig Albernaz should be familiar with Quintana, who made five relief appearances for the 2021 Giants, a team that employed Albernaz as its bullpen and catching coach. That season was a low point for Quintana, who had been plucked off waivers after struggling with the Angels. He bounced back in Pittsburgh the following year and has been good ever since, registering a 3.53 ERA with the Pirates, Cardinals, Mets and Brewers.

Quintana leaned all the way in on his 90-mph sinker in 2025, but maybe he shouldn’t have. Opponents hit .264 with 11 home runs off the pitch. Then again, none of his five offerings seemed to fool batters. His 16% strikeout rate in 2025 was the lowest since his rookie season. But we know the O’s are not averse to giving veterans one-year deals, and Quintana seems as good a candidate as any for that type of contract.

Tyler Anderson, 36

The good news for Anderson: 2026 is an even year. Anderson’s ERA goes from a pleasant 3.69 in even years to a grisly 5.08 in odd years, which surely means he’s due for a solid season.

Anderson has spent almost his entire career out west: Colorado, San Francisco, Seattle and most recently Los Angeles, with only a brief stint in Pittsburgh in 2021. The 2011 first-round pick has never had an elite fastball, but it’s been particularly ineffective the last three years. There may be gas left in the tank, but the O’s would probably be wise to let another team figure that out.