Three Trades That Make Too Much Sense for the Orioles

The Orioles are becoming the hottest team in MLB in the trade rumor department as a true seller, like we told you would be the case all along.

Once again, baseball operations failure Mike Elias tried to sell tickets by gaslighting you about his product and his intentions with it back in June, like he did throughout 2025 before selling en masse . You can’t get two names down The Athletic’s list of top 60 trade options and not find another prominent Oriole – their first-overall pick catcher, their first-overall pick “shortstop,” a kid selected fifth overall who can’t hit all just among the "young core," and the entire back-end of their bullpen and their Opening Day starter, too.

Elias knows when he has a losing hand and for the last three years that all he’s capable of building for himself, and he, as terrible as is he in just about every facet of his job, saves his most epic failures for the trade deadline.

No way he is buying given the state of his roster and farm system. So you have to think like the cynical baseball cyborg he is in times like this; not as a true steward for the franchise without a title since 1983 but a guy who specialized in saving billionaires money and lives to get promotions for him and his underlings.

So they are going to be sellers like we told you all along, and a risk-averse used car salesman doesn’t try to outbid people for a Porsche or Rolle Royce; he sheds salary in hopes of finding value in assets years away from arbitration in return for them, and sells the future as he shatters the present.

There are, minimum, five players he must move by Monday’s deadline: catcher Adley Rutschman, starter Trevor Rogers, right fielder Taylor Ward and relievers Rico Garcia and Andrew Kittredege. Tyler Wells, Yennier Cano, Jackson Holliday and Colton Cowser are rightfully being discussed and all or any should be gone too if the right options emerge.

The Orioles have been broken since June 21, 2024, and it ain't getting any better. Making two of these three trades would be a good start to changing their culture and hopefully changing their fortunes.

Rogers, Cano/Wells To Brewers For RHP Bishop Letson, C Jeferson Quero

The Brewers are making a push for a World Series and are in on top pitchers. But I suspect the Dodgers land the best starter available in Tarik Skubal. So send them the second-best lefty in Rogers and their pick of controllable relief arms (I suspect they’d want Cano). Letson has absolutely superb extension, he is 6-4 and toiled in the same elite farm system that pumps out starters and fixes young starters. Letson already doing great work in AA. This could be much more than an innings eater and could start helping in 2027.

The Brewers are so loaded with position player talent and with Cooper Pratt already making a dent in MLB you would love to try to do something to land one of their phenom IF prospects but this isn’t enough to think that big. Quero has dealt with some serious injuries and a labrum injury might mean his pop times are not as plus-plus as before, but he and Basallo could form quite a combination there and Quero’s defensive polish – even at a young ago – could give the O's skipper a lot of flexibility.

I’m willing to throw in Colton Cowser and others to expand the scope of this deal if I can land that battery.

Rutschman, Wells, Cowser To Rays For C Caden Bodine, SP Brody Hopkins or Michael Forret, OF Jacob Melton

I really want to get top CF prospect Theo Gillen from Tampa and maybe if you leverage the Yankees and Rays for Adley the right way you can get your hands on him. Felt a little rich in this package but who knows. And maybe I am overstating how deflated Rutschman’s value is, but I’ve also done the work and it ain’t pretty.

The Rays are the team Elias likes dealing with the most, they just fleeced him for Shane Baz and getting back some of the elite prospects he traded for that innings eater (Bodine, OF Autin Overn and Forret are all top-nine names in Tampa’s loaded system) would make a lot of sense. And I absolutely need a potential MLB SP in return here.

Melton has some of the swing and miss issues Cowser has, but Cowser has over 1000 MLB PA and the Rays are running fringy guys out there in the corner OF in a pennant chase and they probably think they can fix Cowser (he looks washed but dude did have a 24 HR/.765 OPS full season in MLB). And the Rays figure Elias can’t fix Melton.

Melton looked like he was going to be a thing in the Astros system and he’s had a taste of MLB and could start playing CF right away in Baltimore. Bigtime speed profile and I see the 2026 O’s playing a ton of smallball after the deadline (and they’ve already been leaning into it).

Rutschman, Cano, Ward to Yankees for SP Elmer Rodriguez, SP Henry Lalane, mid-tier prospect

They need to aim for high-ceiling arms at this deadline - who are close to MLB - and not a multitude of fringy teenagers like a year ago. Rodriguez has a frame and stuff you can truly dream on, the Yankees are loaded with starting pitching and love to sign UFA to mega-deals to head their rotation and keep pumping out pitching prospects; they can part with this kid who they stole from Boston via trade. Rodriguez would go right into Baltimore’s rotation based off what he’s done in AAA (especially if Rogers is dealt as he should be).

I like Lalane more than some other options because he is a lefty who probably doesn’t arrive until 2028 but looks like he can stay in the rotation. Ward can solidify a corner OF for Yankees, keep Aaron Judge as a DH sometimes when he comes back and Yankee Stadium could be just what he needs to get his power back. Giancarlo Stanton is cooked and Cody Bellinger is out long-term now too, and getting a switch-hitting catcher with power built for their park and an OF with power getting on base 40% of the time should carry value.

Maybe even more than what I am suggesting here.

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