DALLAS — Last season, for the first time in his managerial career, Brandon Hyde had a true ace on his team.

Corbin Burnes, acquired in a February trade, threw 194 1/3 innings for the Orioles, pitching to a 2.92 ERA. He spun a gem in Game 1 of the wild-card series, allowing one run in eight innings.

Now that Hyde’s experienced the luxury, would it be hard to go back to not having a top-of-the-line starter leading his rotation?

“I think ideally you’d love to have that,” Hyde said. “There’s 30 teams that would love to have that, but there are only so many of those guys out there.”

There’s still time for the Orioles to make that happen — the winter meetings, which wrap up Wednesday, are only the midway point of the offseason — but free agent pitchers are flying off the board. Burnes tops the list of remaining names, but he comes with a high price.

Burnes is open to listening to any team, including the Orioles, his agent, Scott Boras, said.

“I think, for pitching, Corbin Burnes is kind of like Elvis,” Boras said. “He’s got that Burnes-ing love for a No. 1 starter.”

The Orioles, in their first offseason under David Rubenstein’s ownership group, have made two signings, adding outfielder Tyler O’Neill for three years at $49.5 million (with an opt-out after the 2025 season) and catcher Gary Sánchez for one year at $8.5 million.

“I think they jumped the market in that regard,” said Boras, who also represents O’Neill. “We have been in very close contact with Mike Elias and talking to him regularly. He’s made it very clear that under this ownership they are going to take steps forward that they haven’t in the past.”

Whether those steps include Burnes remains to be seen. The Orioles want another starter, but Elias said Monday that he is happy with where the rotation is and that the pitching staff doesn’t necessarily need to add an ace. There aren’t many left after Max Fried reportedly signed with the Yankees on an eight-year, $218 million contract and Nathan Eovaldi re-signed with the Rangers, a three-year, $75 million deal.

Jack Flaherty, who spent half a season with the Orioles in 2023, is still on the table. He did not do well with the Orioles, pitching to a 6.75 ERA in nine appearances, seven of which were starts, but rebounded last year with the Tigers and the Dodgers, making five playoff starts during Los Angeles’ World Series run.

Sean Manaea, a veteran left-handed starter, had a career year for the Mets, pitching a career-high 181 2/3 innings and finishing 11th in National League Cy Young Award voting. He declined the Mets’ qualifying offer, so if the Orioles signed him they would lose a draft pick, something Elias said he would be willing to do for the right deal.

Making a trade, as they did last year with Burnes, could be another avenue. The Padres are reportedly willing to part with right-handed pitcher Dylan Cease, and the Orioles could be a fit. The prices of such deals are high, too — it took four of Boston’s top 14 prospects to get Garrett Crochet from the White Sox.