Framber Valdez turned down the Astros’ $22.05 million qualifying offer earlier this month, a move that felt less like drama and more like destiny.After years of doing the heavy lifting in Houston’s rotation, the 32-year-old left-hander has earned the right to pick his next stage, not settle for it. Valdez made 31 starts in 2025, struck out 187 hitters in 192 innings and and carried a 3.66 ERA with a 1.24 WHIP.The market for starting pitching is loaded, but the number of arms you genuinely trust to post 30 starts is short. And these three teams are where he makes sense right now, both on the field and on the ledger.1. Baltimore OriolesBaltimore has reached the part of the rebuild where the budget should finally match the ambition. The Orioles have a tidal wave of young position players but are still one stopper short in the rotation.Valdez would walk into Camden Yards, which is now more pitcher-friendly after the left-field wall shift, and instantly become the experienced presence at the front of a staff that needs one.The connection with GM Mike Elias, who was in Houston when the club originally signed Valdez, only adds credibility to the fit.And Baltimore needs someone who stops skids, gives them six-plus innings and lets their young arms stay in their lanes. Valdez does that without rewriting the development plan.2. San Francisco GiantsOracle Park is Valdez’s paradise. Big park. Heavy air. Ground balls rewarded. Home runs humbled. The Giants need multiple starters this winter, and Valdez’s skill set sinkers, cutters, weak contact, zero panic plays like a home game by May.Logan Webb covers the personality of the staff, but pairing Webb with a durable lefty who reduces damage rather than survives it is the easiest offseason math San Francisco can do.3. Toronto Blue JaysToronto has been in the conversation from the start, and it’s not nostalgia. The Blue Jays know better than anyone how much rotation stability is going to cost this winter.Valdez could give them a top-of-the-rotation arm who keeps the ball in the park, competes through traffic and bridges the present without jeopardizing the future.If Toronto wants to stay aggressive around its current core, this is the kind of swing that lets them do it without crossing its fingers.