Where can the Orioles turn for an ace?

Looking at what they have available.

Coby Mayo 3B/1B/DH
Mayo is a poor 3B lined up with a cannon arm and serious power. He has nowhere to play right now with the Orioles. At some point it might push Westburg or Mountcastle out, but not yet.

Samuel Basallo C
With Rutschmann firmly entrenched behind the plate as one of the best young catchers in the game, Basallo is expendable. He was exposed when he faced older pitching at AAA, but he was nearly the youngest player at that level.

Either of these would be a good headline piece for Cease.

Then you have even more prospects of a lower level. Just outside the top 100.

Helton Kjerstad LF
They don’t believe Kjerstad is ready nor do they think he will be ready anytime soon because they signed O’Niell to a 3/50 deal. Kjerstad has 147 PAs, so ineligible as a rookie, but even before he got those final 17 PAs, he was out of the top 100 prospects in mid-season updates. In my opinion he is still an excellent young prospect.

Chase McDermott RHP
McDermott had a cup of coffee in the majors and struggled. His control issues followed him from AAA to the Orioles. He walked 5.6 per 9 in AA and AA over the last 2 seasons. Good stuff. Bad command. At 26 he is no longer young. The No. 1 Orioles prospect. 5, but not in the top 100 or close to it.

RHP Brandon Young
Another 26-year-old, Young is a 6’6″ pitcher who doesn’t have overwhelming stuff, sitting at 92.93 mph. Not what I expected when I saw his size. He’s the prototypical rotation-type back if he makes it to the majors.

Other than these two, there are no other pitching prospects who are nearly MLB-ready or near the top of their prospect lists

That leaves major league pitching.

Albert Suarez will turn 35 in 2025. That’s a no.
Kyle Bradish is injured. TJ surgery. And we won’t be back until June at the earliest. This is a no.

I’m not sure who else they have.

3 team trades that send Mayo or Basallo plus Kjerstad and another SP to the Padres and Cease and another prospect to the Orioles?