Final Look: Ranking the Baltimore Orioles Best Trade Deadline Options

The MLB trade deadline arrives on Monday evening, just two days from now. Many Baltimore Orioles fans have been wondering how president of baseball operations Mike Elias will approach this crucial time in the season.

In the past, specifically in the 2022 campaign, he went all out on selling, trading guys like Trey Mancini and Jorge Lopez. A year later, he picked up Jack Flaherty and Shintaro Fujinami, two pitchers that never quite panned out in an O’s uniform. Finally, in 2024, he continued to buy quantity if not quality, with pick-ups like Zach Eflin, Trevor Rogers (who Elias sent to AAA after four failed starts), Eloy Jimenez, and Austin Slater, to name a few.

Putting the previous years behind us, Elias will have to decide if he wants to totally sell, totally buy, do a little bit of both, or nothing at all. In a pre-trade deadline press conference on Friday, Elias had this to say: “We’re not going to have a strong bias toward being in one of those buckets, buyer or seller. I think we put ourselves in a position where we can’t have a bias in either direction.” In that same conference, he claimed that the team does have a shot at the ’26 playoffs but later said that he won’t put all the attention on that.

Let’s rank his four options from best to worst:

Totally Sell

The current roster is filled with rentals and underperforming players that are part of the reason this team is fighting for a wild card spot. Starting with the outfield, Taylor Ward sticks out like a sore thumb. The former Angel was known for his explosive middle of the order power until he joined the Orioles. In 400 at-bats, Ward has hit just seven home runs and is slugging .300 in his last 30 games. Moving to the infield, younger players in Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo haven’t lived up the hype either.

While many fans are divided on the Adley Rutschman situation, the O’s could score some major prospects if Elias is willing to give up his golden boy. Elias no longer ruled out trading Adley on Friday.

Elias went on the record saying he refuses to lean toward this approach, but this roster has proven that it can’t compete with top teams and selling is the best way to build for the future.

Little Bit of Both

AKA what Elias claims he wants to do.

He’s already sent away starting pitcher Dean Kremer for Twins prospect Jhomnardo Reyes, and if Elias lives up to his word, we could see a purchase in the form of a rental to finish out the season. This could be a veteran infielder, although recent call-up Christian Encarnacion-Strand has done his job well in filling in the void left by Blaze Alexander’s injury.

Elias could also look for a starting pitcher after losing Kremer, although AAA Norfolk holds Cade Povich and Trey Gibson, two guys that are looking for another shot in the majors.

Totally Buy

Should Elias decide to go all in on this season, there are plenty of players in the trade rumors conversation that the O’s could go after. The biggest name of all is Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal, and this isn’t the first time his name has come up within the organization. Not only is he a proven ace, but he’s stacked up the league’s top awards and performed at a dominant level for three years now.

Other top names include Padres closer Mason Miller (though Elias shouldn’t consider him with Felix Bautista slated to return next year) and CJ Abrams, another improbable purchase. The list is filled with middle infielders that just don’t seem realistic enough to buy, especially in a season where a deep run in the playoffs is highly unlikely.

No Show

The result that no one would expect and for good reason. Simply doing nothing at all feels like a real copout.

If Elias keeps the roster as is without picking up any prospects, the Orioles will undoubtedly face years of losing records with no hopes of developing players. It would almost be fitting, though, as it seems that no matter what kind of moves Elias makes, the O’s never have a succes in the postseason (no playoff wins in a decade).

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