I believe that was the wildest trade deadline in Major League Baseball history, and that feels doubly true for our Baltimore Orioles. Despite that, nothing that happened for the O’s was really unexpected.
Ryan O’Hearn, Ramon Laureano, Charlie Morton, Cedric Mullins, Ramon Urias, Andrew Kittredge, Seranthony Dominguez, and add in Gregory Soto and Bryan Baker and the Orioles have traded away nine players from their 26-man roster in recent weeks. In return, they picked up 16 prospects, 10 of which were ranked in teams’ Top 30, that should help push the Orioles farm system back to one of the very best in all of baseball.
But fans are feeling a wide array of emotions. O’Hearn and Mullins specifically are two fan favorites. Frankly, O’Hearn is my favorite baseball player of this decade. If you follow me on Twitter/X, then you know how much I love that guy. But I still understand what Orioles GM Mike Elias had to do. All of the nine players were on expiring contracts except for Laureano, who has a club option for next year. So the other eight players were more-than-likely not returning to Baltimore next season. By trading them now, even if it’s for mostly Single-A (and Double-A) prospects, the O’s add a ton of depth to a farm system that was lacking, and turned it into a powerhouse. That is what Elias does best… build a farm system.
For the rest of the season, we should now get a good glimpse of the Baby Birds, as they will need to call up a half dozen players or more from Triple-A to fill in the spots of the guys they traded away. That gives them two months to get acclimated to the Big Leagues, and as we know there is a huge jump from Triple-A to the Majors. Let the kids work out the kinks for the remainder of this season, so they know what they have and are ready to go for next year. It could get ugly for the rest of the season, but who cares? The Orioles are looking towards 2026 now.
This offseason is turning into the biggest offseason for this franchise in 25 years. This is a make-or-break offseason for Elias. If the Orioles do not win the American League in 2026, Elias should not see 2027 with the club. But to get there, he has an enormous about of work to do.
Most of the prospects that Elias picked up at the trade deadline will probably never see Camden Yards, and that should be the plan. Many of those prospects will be traded this offseason for top players that they need to fill their roster, like a starting pitcher or two, and an entirely new bullpen, plus a middle-of-the-order bat. Before making these trades, it would have been very difficult to trade for the players they will need in the offseason. But now they have the farm system to make the deals needed to compete.
But that’s where my mindset changes. I am in full agreement with the moves Elias made, but that doesn’t mean I’m optimistic that he will make the right moves to make the O’s a contender in 2026. The Orioles still have their “young core” of hitters, with a few more that we’ll see over the next two months. That’s great. But in order to be a legit contender next season, they will have to take risks and get ownership to spend some real money. Trading for players means assuming control of that player’s (large) contract. And signing free agents means spending a lot of money over multiple years… something we have not seen in a long time from the Orioles organization.
Mike Elias is backed into a corner now. After making all these moves, he is the only one that can fix this team. If he succeeds, then he will be GM of the Year and the Orioles will be going for a Championship. If he fails, he will be run out of Birdland. I’m hoping for the best, but not holding my breath because I have yet to see him do what needs to be done to succeed at the major league level.
