Former MLB Executive Shares How He'd Boldly Handle Orioles MLB Trade Deadline

The Baltimore Orioles have not done it yet, but they will be waving the flag on the 2025 regular season sometime in the near future.

With a 40-50 record, making a postseason push seems like nothing more than a pipedream at this point, with Baseball Reference giving them a 0.7% chance of qualifying for the playoffs.

The Orioles have been playing better baseball recently, but for the betterment of the franchise, they should be selling ahead of the trade deadline that is set for the end of July.

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There are several players who will garner interest on the team’s roster, mostly players who are on expiring contracts.

Designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn is an All-Star for the first time and in the midst of a career campaign. Center fielder Cedric Mullins offers a nice combination of power and speed along with strong defense.

Starting pitchers Tomoyuki Sugano, Charlie Morton and Zach Eflin are all on expiring deals and would have varying degrees of value. The same can be said about relief pitchers Gregory Soto and Seranthony Dominguez.

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Other offseason additions, such as outfielder Ramon Laureano, could have some value on the market as well.

General manager Mike Elias is under some pressure to make the most of what has been a lost campaign, and turning as many of their expiring contracts into prospects and long-term assets would be a great place to start.

However, Jim Bowden of The Athletic (subscription required) believes the team should take things a step further.

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In his opinion, the boldest move to would be making everyone available outside of a select few players and seeing what kind of value they can get back to help the team be in a position to contend in 2026.

“Offer everyone up in trades except Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jackson Holliday and Grayson Rodriguez. Don’t fall in love with your own players and prospects and be open-minded and wheel-and-deal until you have a contending pitching staff and an elite defense,” the former MLB executive wrote.

Based on Bowden’s plan, players who are under multiple years of team control, such as closer Felix Bautista and setup man Bryan Baker, and members of their young lineup core like infielder Jordan Westburg and outfielder Colton Cowser, could be on the move.

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That certainly qualifies as bold and would shock a lot of people, but there is a clear path to becoming a playoff team, as early as next year, that exists for Baltimore.

Improving the pitching staff and defensive alignment can be done with outside additions. After that, the Orioles would just have to hope their young core can get out of the funk they have been in this year and can get back to producing at a high level.

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