Baltimore Orioles trade deadline LIVE SHOW – Mullins, O’Hearn, Laureano, Urías, Kittredge all traded

Baltimore Orioles trade deadline LIVE SHOW – Mullins, O’Hearn, Laureano, Urías, Kittredge all traded

And with that, I think we can all finally breathe. A wild trade deadline day, not just for the Orioles, but for teams around the league. But the O’s dealt away a whole lot of big league talent. We’ll talk about why they did it and break down every prospect coming back to Baltimore. Coming up on this live trade deadline episode of the Locked Orioles podcast. You are Locked on Orioles, your daily Baltimore Orioles podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Hey there, Orioles fans. Today is Thursday, July 31st, 2025, and welcome back in to a special live trade deadline edition of the Lockdown Orioles podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. your team every day. As always, I am your host Connor Nukem. Thank you everyone who is joining us here live on the Locked on Orioles YouTube page. While you’re here, remember to like, comment, and subscribe. And if you’re listening afterwards, we thank you so much, too. Remember, we are on any audio platforms as well. Make sure to subscribe and like over there. Leave a fivestar rating and review, Apple Podcast, Spotify, whatever it may be. It all certainly helps the show. If you have further thoughts about today’s deadline, you can always put them right here in the YouTube comments section. Everybody popping off in the comments section right now, but you can also always email me locked [email protected]. So, this is going to be a special live episode. This is not even going to count as the Friday episode of the podcast. I already did a Thursday episode which broke down the Orioles crazy loss to the Blue Jays yesterday. And we’re gonna get another episode coming out Friday morning where I kind of break down, okay, what will the Orioles roster look like after the deadline because they just traded away a lot of big league players. We’ll discuss on tomorrow’s pod who is going to jump in and really fill in for just in the last 24 hours. The Orioles ended up trading six big leaguers. And all in all, they traded away nine players from their big league roster, starting with Brian Baker and getting to now. And on today’s episode, every trade that was made in the past 24 hours, I’m going to break them down one by one, talk about why the Orioles made the deals and traded those players away. And we’ll talk about each prospect that they got. So, probably be longer than my usual 30 minute episodes, but uh let’s lock in for this one. Thank you all so much for being here. And if you do throw some questions in the comments, I may have some time to get to those at the end here live on YouTube. So, let’s let’s I was going to go in chronological order, but I feel like that’s probably not the best way to do that because if you go in chronological order, you don’t hit on the biggest trades that were made by the Orioles here on deadline day. If you want to hear about the Brian Baker trade, the Gregory Sodto trade, or the Seranti Dominguez trade, there are separate episodes back in the feed about those. Let’s start with the biggest deal that was made today, the Orioles. We knew they were going to trade Ryan O’Harn. We thought they might trade Raone Lauraniano. And another thing we talked about was, hey, will the Orioles with any team package two of these players? Because a lot of them are rentals. Rental guys meaning they’re going to be free agents after this season. Teams only get two plus months of them. They don’t have a lot of value. If you package them together, you can get more value back. And that is exactly what the Orioles did with the Padres’s on Thursday. Let’s start with the biggest deal of the day so far. Ryan O’Harn and Raone Lauraniano traded to the San Diego Padres’s for six prospects. So, let’s start with why would the Orioles trade away these two guys? And we begin with Ryan O’Harn. For Ryan O’Harn, it’s it’s kind of simple why you would trade him away. He is a rental bat who I don’t think the Orioles are are absolutely firm that they were going to extend. They’re not absolutely firm that they’re going to keep him here for multiple years. The Orioles are out of it at 50 and 59. They’re not making the postseason. They’re a selling team. And he is one of the best bats on the market. A 134 WRC plus this season. high walk rate, low strikeout rate, hitting 283, has 13 homers, playing better and better defense at first base, is even okayish in the outfield if you want to put him out there. Like, he’s made 20 starts in the outfield this year for the Orioles. Even though he is kind of a platoon player, he’s not great against lefties. He’s the strong side of the platoon. He can hit in the middle of a playoff order, something he’s done the last two seasons, and really, really help a team win some ball games. Now, the one thing I will say about Ryan O’Hurd is among all these players that the Orioles traded away, not just today, but the nine big leaguers they dealt away, starting with Brian Baker, Ryan O’Harn is the one I would most like to see in an Orioles uniform. Again, that is not just because I like Ryan O’Harn. I think he’s a cool presence on this team. I think he fits the best and is the most important to this roster construction. The big thing with Ryan O’Harn is not only is he a super productive hitter, not only did the Orioles fix him, right? They get him from Kansas City in basically a waiver claim in the winter after the 2022 season. The Royals just give up on him. Orioles get him, try him out in spring training. He ends up getting on the roster for good in May and kind of takes off as just a really useful platoon bat for this team. has a really good year last year and then takes an even further step forward and and starts playing even more often this year. To put it in perspective, Ryan O’Harn had 368 plate appearances back in 2023. He was a good hitter, but the Orioles basically hid him full-time against lefties. He has played with two months left to go in the season. He already has 361 played appearances this year. He’s only seven shy of what he did two years ago. And that is with two months to go of the season and 20 fewer games played because he’s just starting more games, starting against lefties, and is more of an everyday player for this Orioles team. The reason why he’s like the number one guy I would want to stay with this team is that he brings a different look than a lot of the other Orioles in this lineup. Adley Rutman is probably the closest guy to Ryan O’Harn when Rutman’s going well. And hopefully that will happen for the final two months of this season. But for Ryan O’Harn, he brings power. It’s 13 homers. It’s not incredible power, but it’s power. But he adds to it very, very good swing decisions. And you could say this about Ali Rutman. You can say this about Gunnar Henderson. Those guys at their best are superstars, right? Ryan O’Harn’s not a superstar, but he was an all-star this year. And it’s because he does so many things differently. There are not a lot of players in the big leagues who have as high of a contact rate as O’Harn does, who hit the ball as hard as consistently as O’Harn does and run such a low strikeout rate, which sits at just 17% this year, and still walk 12% of the time. That’s not a batted ball profile from a hitter that you see very often. He’s left-handed, which is better to play at Camden Yards. And, you know, he’s a little older, but he’s only 32 years old, and the Orioles were the team that kind of resurrected his career. He I think is the number one guy where I get that you know you want to find place and time for Kobe Mayo and Samuel Bisayio and and maybe Hston Kerstad if he figures it out again. But none of those guys have done in the big leagues what Ryan O’Harn has done in the big leagues for the Orioles over the past three years. This is not to say they shouldn’t have traded him because at this point you’re out of it. He has a lot of value. He’s one of the best rental bats on the market. You’re going to get something for him and they did. However, I would have been very, very happy to see a two-year extension for Ryan O’Hur that takes him through 2027. I would love for the Orioles to re-engage with him this off seasonason. Now, it rarely happens. You trade a rental player and you resign him. It definitely rarely happens with guys that aren’t like, you know, middle relievers, but I think O’Harn is just so important to this lineup that I would go after him. I I don’t know what his price tag is going to be. Maybe these final two months on a better team in a playoff race will decide what that price tag will be, but but this is a guy I would definitely go after. But but you also understand why you trade him here. He’s going to hit free agency. you don’t know if you’re going to be able to bring him back. You capitalize on his value when you’re out of it. The Raone Lauraniano piece is a little bit different because he’s somewhat of a rental, but he does have a team option for 2026. There is a team option on his contract for just $6.5 million for next season. And for Lauriano, if you’re just thinking of regular Raone Lauraniano coming into this year, you’re like, “All right, Lauriano might be worth six million, might not. We’ll see how he plays.” Well, we’ve seen how he plays. $6.5 million for Raone Lauraniano if he’s anywhere near this level next year is a steal. Lauraniano without a doubt has been the best Orioles hitter this season. 290 average, 529 slugging, 144 WRC plus 15 home runs is tied for the team lead. Cut his strikeout rate, upped his walk rate, hitting the ball harder. Everything under the hood looks better than it ever has for Lauriano. This is by far the best season of his big league career here at age 30. not really a center fielder anymore, but can certainly play both corner outfield positions well. He’s always matched lefties, but he’s actually hitting righties better this year, so that makes him less platon proof. Like, he’s a starting level productive outfielder in the big leagues right now with a cheap team option for next year when the Orioles are going to try to be a good team again next season. So, that that begs a bigger question than O’Harn. If you could bring him back for this cheap, why would you not keep him around and have him help you win next year? And I would really say it’s for two reasons. Reason number one is you do have Tyler O’Neal here. I I don’t see any scenario where O’Neal opts out of his deal after this year. He’s going to be back in Baltimore. Raone Lauriano was signed as kind of the guy who’s going to fill in for O’Neal when he’s injured and be here for a year and be okay. It turned out that he’s been way better than O’Neal and has been like close to an all-star level player to be quite honest. Yes, he’s made changes. He’s closed his stance. Ramon Lauraniano has been in the big league since 2018. He’s really never done this. What are the chances he can do it again? I believe in a guy like Lauraniano, it’s been amazing to watch him, but can he repeat it? Or will Lauraniano more likely, just statistically more likely, kind of revert back to what Lauraniano has been, which is, you know, a league average bat who plays some solid defense in the corners. You can easily sign that guy just like you did with Laurato for one year, five million this off season and meanwhile he might have been the guy who had the most trade value on this Orioles team. Hitting the ball so well and having that cheap team option for next year gives him some team control. That’s why the Orioles capitalize. Basically, they sold high on Ramon Lauraniano. I would be stunned if Lauriano’s trade value is ever higher than it is today. I would be absolutely stunned if he can repeat this for another season. That’s no shot at Loriano. He’s just never been this player until this year. So, they sell extremely high on this and maybe it comes back to bite him. Maybe at this time next year, Lauraniano is still this good and O’Neal’s on the injured list and the O’s are kicking themselves because they didn’t keep him. Completely possible. But you sell high on this kind of guy when you’re out of it. That is why you make that kind of move. Now, that’s why you trade those two players. You trade them together in the same deal to the Padres’s because the Padres’s looking for offense. And when you package guys together, you can get more back. The O’s got six players back in this deal. Let’s talk about him. First guy I want to mention is potentially my favorite player that the Orioles got back among all the prospects at this deadline. So, the first guy I want to talk about is one of my favorite players from college baseball over the past couple of years as well, and that is Tyson Neighbors. He is a 22-year-old 6’2 right-handed pitcher who Fang Graphs has at a 40 future value on the 20 to 80 scale. Padres’s took Neighbors in the fourth round of the 2024 draft out of Kansas State. He absolutely dominated high A this year and then was bumped up to double A working as a reliever in double A, but he’s got a 185 RA with a 38% strikeout rate and only 11% walk rate in about 44 doubleA innings this year. It’s a mid90s fast that’ll top out at 98.99. He’s got an insane 21 inches of induced vertical break on that fast ball. Basically meaning it has that crazy rising effect where the fastball doesn’t go down as much. It stays on plane. It gets hitters to swing under it again and again and again and plays way up at the top of the zone. Fan graphs gives him a 70 grade curveball in the 20 to 80 scale. It’s a huge weapon and it’s a good cutter. Eric Longenhagen over at Fan Graphs on the prospect write up on him basically says this is going to be one of the quicker moving pitchers in the minor leagues because he’s already I mean he was already a reliever at Kansas State at the end. He was going like three inning outings out of the bullpen, but he was a reliever and the Padres’s have used him as a true relief pitcher, like one or two innings at a time in double A. Now, the Orioles could get him and say, “We think this guy is a starter and build him back up.” That’s possible. But neighbors, if he’s a reliever, this is the kind of guy I talked about over the last couple of weeks. What kind of players should the Orioles be targeting at this deadline? I talked about pitchers who are at least in doublea and could get to the big leagues and not just get there but help the Orioles in the big leagues in 2026. Whether it’s a starter or a reliever, they’re trying to turn this thing around next year. Tyson Neighbors for me might be the number one guy of anyone they acquired in deadline season that will help the Orioles next year. I know he’s only in double A right now. He’s not yet in AAA, but I would bank on it. Neighbors finishing this year in AAA Norfol, being in big league camp next year, and and quite frankly, being in the mix to be in the bullpen from opening day. That’s how big- time his stuff is from the right side if the Orioles keep him as a reliever. He could be absolutely nasty for a lot of years. This is the kind of pitcher I wanted to see the Orioles go and get, and that is what they did with Neighbors. But because they packaged the two players together, they got a lot more as well. And the other most exciting pitching prospect they got in this deal is 19-year-old 6 foot8 left-handed pitcher Boston Baitman, another 40 future value guy over at Fan Graphs. Now, you’re going to sense a trend here. Mike Elias and the Orioles must have loved the Padres’s 2024 draft class because they went out there and basically took all the players that they drafted in 2024. Next one is Boston Baitman, 19-year-old 6 foot8 lefty who was the Padres’s second round pick out of high school in last year’s draft. He was committed to LSU to play for this year’s national champions. He would have been on that national championship team except the Padres’s offered him a $2.5 million signing bonus and he said, “Sorry LSU, I’m going to go to professional baseball.” Now, he’s been in low A this year at age 19 and he’s been good. 15 starts, 68 innings, 408 erra with a 324 fib, high ground ball rates, 26% strikeout rate, a really low 9% walk rate, which for a 19-year-old in low A who’s 6’8, you got all those levers swinging all the way around, you would expect a guy like that to have a lot of walk issues, to have just a 9% walk rate at this point is pretty impressive. It’s a it’s a mid90s fast ball. Got a good slider, good change up from the left side. Eric Longenhagen at Fan Graphs thinks he’ll definitely be a big league starting pitcher, but says he has a lower ceiling unless he develops his stuff more. However, MOV pipeline and Baseball America are a lot like a lot higher on Baitman. They have him both being easily the best prospect the Orioles got in this deal. And Kyle Glazer over at Baseball America called this the prize of the deal for the Orioles because he has such good stuff from the left side. So, we will see. But a very exciting left-handed pitcher. And then they got four other I mean those are the two headliners, Neighbors and Baitman. And then they got four more guys who I wouldn’t say throwins but are definitely closer to lottery ticket type players and to see what they can do. Maybe one of these guys pops maybe two of these guys pops into a big leager down the road. That’s what you’re trying to get out of these next four guys. First one is 20-year-old 5’11 right-handed hitting shortstop Cobb High Tower. 35 plus future value on Fan Graphs. Remember, the Oros got the second round pick in Baitman. High Tower was the Padres’s third round pick in last year’s draft. He was committed to UNCC, but the Padres’s give him an $850,000 signing bonus, and he signed with the Padres’s. And he’s been solid, okay, in low A this season, 190 played appearances, high walk rate, low strikeout rate, but only one home run in a in a clean 100 WRC plus, meaning he’s been a league average low A bat this year. Over at Fan Graphs, the scouting report, infield prospect, really good contact skills, really good defense, but not a lot of power. So, not a lot of big-time hitting upside, but the defense and the contact could get him to the big leagues. And then the O’s got another interesting shortstop prospect. 22-year-old 5’10 right-handed hitting shortstop Brandon Butterworth. Also a 35 plus future value guy in the Padre system. He was the Padres’s 12th round pick out of NC State in last year’s draft. But funny enough, like he’s a little bit older, but he’s just been better than Cobb High Totower. Even though he went nine rounds later as kind of a version of High Totower, he’s been awesome in high A this year. 377 played appearances, hitting 267, 115 WRC plus. He’s got 11 home runs, fairly low strikeout rate. Fanraphs calls Butterworth one of the best defensive infielders who was selected in the 2024 draft and has the athlet athleticism to also potentially play center field at some point could really be a big-time utility player. And here’s the thing, like the the reports coming out of the draft was that there’s not enough power in Butterworth’s bat. And last year in lowey, he had over a 100 plate appearances and did not hit a home run. And everyone was like, well, you know, he’s a solid hitter, but he can’t hit for power. all of a sudden he’s hit 11 home runs in high A kind of out of nowhere this year and I think has taken his prospect level up a notch because all of a sudden people are like he he might have some power in that bat which makes him a different type of player and someone definitely to watch. Next one, just a big slugger. Your classic big slugger. Victor Faggerero. 21-year-old 6’5 left-handed hitting first baseman/c corner outfielder. Padres’s got him in the 18th round last year at a Florida Southwestern State College. That’s a junior college. The O’s love those kind of guys. In last year’s draft, he went to the Complex League this year and had just stupid stats. He legitimately, it was like 50 plate appearances. He legitimately hit 605 and slugged 1263 in the complex. And the Padres’s were like, “Um, you might be too good at the complex where you might just be like a disservice to yourself and the rest of the league to be here.” So, they moved him up to low A and he’s not hitting 605 anymore, but he’s still swinging the bat well. 230 plate appearances, 15% walk rate, 20% strikeout rate, got seven homers, got a 130 WRC plus. He is still hitting. He has started 12 games in the outfield. Fanrass projects him to be a first baseman defensively long term, but the bat is what’s going to carry him. Whether it’s at first base or in right field, the bat is going to carry him. He is a powerhitting slugger type from the left side just putting up some crazy numbers in the low miners right now. The last guy is the guy I know by far the least about. It is Tanner Smith. He’s a 22-year-old 6’6 right-handed pitcher. He was the Padres’s 15th round pick out of Harvard last year. and he’s not really on anyone’s Padres’s prospect list. So, it it’s it’s kind of tough to go beyond the stat line or watching some of his highlights. But, in low A as a reliever this year, 15 innings, he’s got a 18 RA. He’s got a super high 68% ground ball rate, 30% strikeout rate, 13% walk rate. I’m going to try to find more on Tanner Smith. Just kind of a flyer arm that the Orioles got. So, six prospects in the deal. And that’s one of the reasons why you package two guys like that in a deal like this. You go ahead and put together O’Harn and Lauriano instead of trying to shop them separately. You send them together and you’re able to get a higher quantity of players. Getting six and a higher quality of players. Those top two guys in Baitman and Neighbors in that deal make it worth it for the Orioles. Now, let’s go back to the second biggest deal of the day and the one that probably pulled at the heartstrings the most. That is the Cedric Mullins trade. The Orioles earlier on Thursday dealing Cedric Mullins to the New York Mets for three pitching prospects. Let’s start with why do you trade Cedric Mullins? Now, number one, similar to Ryan O’Harn, he’s a rental. he’s going to hit free agency later this year. And it became pretty clear the Orioles were not going to bring him back. Maybe there was a chance if Mullen stuck around, the Orioles would offer him the qualifying offer this offseason, which would be a one-year about $22 million deal. And if he didn’t take it and he signed elsewhere for more money, you’d get a draft pick. If he did take it, he got him for one more season. But he might just like feel like that’s his best offer. And the Orioles might feel that, you know, the return that they got in this trade is better than the potential draft pick that they could have gotten back for Mullins if he left after giving him the qualifying offer. And again, I think the Orioles are worried that the bat, the player itself, is declining and and don’t want to give him a multi-year deal. Now, the bat overall has been holding pretty steady. He’s essentially been a league average bat for the past four years since that 2021 season when he went 3030 and was the Orioles All-Star representative. His season’s kind of been held up by a great April, right? He was one of the best hitters in baseball in April. He’s got a 75 WRC plus since, although he has been much, much better in the month of July. He has started to hit lefties again and is still hitting for power, but the average is down. I would say the biggest point of contention is his defense. I mean, still making unbelievable plays in center field like the home run robbery he had on Wednesday, which I mean, side note, just what a cool moment for him to have if it does end up being, which it looks like it’ll be his final moment in an Orioles uniform. I mean, I certainly still trust him defensively in center field. His metrics have gone down every year and some people think he’s just can’t play out there anymore. I would disagree with that. And I will say I would be more on board with why you trade Cedric Mullins if it seemed like guys like Jud Fabian or Enrique Bradfield Jr. were closer to being ready to take over center field by next season. That really doesn’t feel like the case. Bradfield’s been good in double A, but he’s missed a lot of time with injury this year, so that’s going to throw him back. Fabian’s been, you know, an above average bat with good defense in AAA, but I’m not ready to hand him the reigns in center field. Dylan Beavers really isn’t a center fielder. Obviously, neither is H Kerstad. And so, you know, you trade Mullins. Cowser is going to take over in center field pretty much full-time for the rest of the year and and probably for the entirety of next season as well, unless the Orioles bring in another center fielder in the offseason. That’s going to be Cowser’s job. And he’s gotten better defensively in center field. I think he’s ready to take over that position. He’s clearly going to be an everyday player for the Orioles. But because that next wave, that Bradfield, that Fabian, whatever it may be, is not there yet, I would have been okay with keeping Mullins. Now, I don’t know if you want to pay $20 million for Cedric Mullins next year. Like, that might eat into your budget a little too much, but I’d be fine if, you know, he kept him around. He he resigned for, you know, one or two years at a cheaper number. That would have been pretty cool and pretty worth it I think for the Orioles to be quite honest. Like I think he’d provide a good stop gap even if you’re here for one more year. I’m very intrigued to see what his free agency looks like. That’s you know for another episode down the road. But we do know that Cowser is is pretty much going to slot in and center for Mullins. I was like 50/50 whether they were going to trade him. I think I said 50% maybe on on Wednesday’s or Thursday’s show before I signed off because I just I didn’t know what his value was. But the Mets were trading a whole lot of good prospects this year at the deadline. And they did that to the Orioles as well. And that seems to be the main reason why. Now I want to take a second to just say like what an Orioles career for Cedric Bowsen, right? Drafted in 2015. He’s a 13th round pick. Who knows if he’s ever going to amount to anything. He gets to the big leagues in 2018 and at one point in 2019 it goes so poorly that they started the year as the opening center fielder and he ended the season in double A. Things are terrible for him. 2020 goes a little bit better but not by that much. And then he just decides, you know what, I’m done being a switch hitter. He becomes fully left-handed as a hitter. He gets the full-time job in center field in 2021. And he becomes the first oral to ever go 3030. He makes the All-Star team. just a magical season and he hasn’t been the same hitter since, right? He’s been basically a league average bat and a solid defensive center fielder since then with multiple different injury issues in these past four years, but he’s been a productive oral. I certainly think he should be inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame whenever he hangs it up. Obviously, not a big league hall of famer, but Orioles Hall of Famer. Absolutely. Cedric Mullins is kind of the he’s more of the quiet heartbeat of this Orioles team. He’s very well respected in that Orioles clubhouse. Not as much of the vocal leader. He’s more of the silent lead by example guy that guys just have a ton of respect for. Not just the Orioles, but players, people, coaches around the game have so much respect for Mullins. I wish him nothing but the best in New York. And then whatever comes next for him when he hits free agency this off seasonason. Hope he gets the money, the contract he wants can continue playing center field every day. I just I love Cedric Mullins. He’s been so special to this Orioles team, this city, this franchise, what he’s gone through, the Crohn’s disease, everything. like he is just an awesome guy, an awesome player. I wish him nothing but the best. That that is the trade that got me the most emotionally. I was preparing myself for it. I’ve been talking about it on a podcast for months. I knew it was coming. But even when it hit on Thursday, it was still like a jolt to the system that there’s going to be baseball on tomorrow. Cedric Mullins will be playing in that baseball and it won’t be in an Orioles uniform. It’ll still be an orange, but he’ll be in a different team’s jersey. that he’s only he’s only been with the O’s and it’s a developmental success for the Orioles, for Mullins. I I just wish him all the best. That one that one really does hurt. But the reason why you deal him is that he got a a pretty exciting return. Now, the return the Orioles got here, there are questions about how close these guys are to the big leagues, right? However, in terms of like arms you can just get excited about because they’re so intriguing, the Mullins trade might be at the top of that list in terms of the return the Orioles got from the Mets. Let’s start with Anthony Nunees. 24y old 6’2 right-handed pitcher, 40 plus future value on fan graphs. He’s been a reliever in double A for the Mets this year. So, another guy, you know, double A pitcher. I said get double A or AAA pitchers who could be close to ready. He’s been dominant in double A. 40 innings of work, 2110 erra, 196 fip, 55% ground ball rate, 37% strikeout rate, 12% walk rate, except for a little bit of an elevated walk rate. Those are insane numbers. It is a mid90s fastball with a huge slider. Fan graphs grades it out 70 future value on the 20 to 80 scale. The slider got a good cutter, good change up to go with it. He is rule five eligible this offseason which means for the Orioles to keep him they need to add him to the 40man roster but Eric at long Eric Longhagen and Fan graph said Nunes is quote a virtual lock to be added to the 40man this offseason because of the stuff he has that tells me that similar to Tyson Neighbors Nunees is a guy who absolutely could help the Orioles in the big leagues in the bullpen in 2026 which is another thing I wanted them to do in these trades but Nunes is a fascinating baseball story he was initially drafted by the Padres’s. Yes, the Oros got another Padres’s draft pick. They took Nunes out of high school in Miami in the 29th round of the 2019 draft when he was a shortstop. He was purely a position player. He went to LOA with the Padres’s kind of struggled. Padres’s actually released him in 2021. And because of a weird MLB and NCAA rule, if you get drafted out of high school and then you get released a couple years later, as long as you don’t go to a division one school, you can actually go back and play college baseball. It is a loophole in the draft system. So that’s what Nunees did. He went to the University of Tampa, which is a a very good baseball program. It is division two, but a very good division 2 program. And he stayed a hitter and a short stop and put up good numbers in the first two years. But then in 2024 in his final season at Tampa, they said, “Let’s try this pitching thing, right? He didn’t pitch much. He threw 11 and two-thirds innings. He allowed four runs. He struck out 20 batters. Had some good stuff.” And the Mets said, “You know what? Let’s sign this guy.” So they signed him as an undrafted free agent as a pitcher last year. He went right to rookie ball, then low A because he was dominating both last year, then went to high A this year, dominated that level, and has now made it to double A where he’s already thrown 40 innings. Now, he will probably report to DA Chesapeake, but he absolutely should be in AAA Norfol by the end of the season on the 40man roster in the offseason and competing for a bullpen spot next year. What a fascinating converted infielder story. in terms of on the- field stuff, like maybe a potential next Michael Given kind of story, converted shortstop turns into a right-handed pitcher and just starts dicing guys up from the bullpen. I think uh absolutely could be the case. Now, you want to see the numbers pop. Check out this next guy. 23-year-old 6’2 right-handed pitcher Rammon Gomez, 40 future value pitcher at Fan Graphs. He is one of the other guys the O’s got back from the Mets for Mullins. He’s a reliever who started the year in low A and has since been promoted to high A in the Mets system this year. 35 innings, you know, a 463 erra, 53% ground ball, 30% strikeout rate, really high 16% walk rate. That’s looks like, hey, probably a guy with solid stuff who’s kind of wild in high A. What makes him special, Connor? He hit 105 miles an hour with a fast ball this year in high A. Let me say that number again. 105. Gomez, a Mets international signing out of Venezuela back in 2021. They were trying to kind of stretch him out as a starter in 2023 and then he got injured. He got Tommy John surgery after three starts two years ago, missed the rest of 2023, missed all of 2024 and then returned to Pro Bowl this year. He dominated low A and they got him the bump to high A where he struggled a little bit with the command. But the scouting report from Fan Graphs is insane. His fastball sits, this is not tops out, it sits anywhere from 97 to 103 miles an hour. And I understand velocity is not everything. Command is stuff. Fastball shape is important as well. But when you are sitting 102, 103 and can go up to 105 miles an hour, the shape and the command don’t matter as much because um you can throw 105. And as long as he can get that somewhat close to the strike zone, he is going to make it to the big leagues purely off the fact that he can throw 105, if he can stay healthy and get it near that box, he’s going to pitch for the Orioles or some other team in the big leagues at some point. Now all he throws is that fast ball and a low 90 slider. It’s not good command as you can tell, but he is the hardest thrower in the minor leagues right now. Fan graph’s 80 grade fast. That’s the best fast ball in the miners because he throws so hard. He’s probably going to go to Aberdine. Hopefully he can get to double A by the end of the year. He’s also rule five eligible this offseason, so he will definitely be an interesting case for the Orioles. But if they can just find a little bit of command, they’ve I mean they’ve got a Ben Joyce type player in their system right now, which is at least intriguing to get here. I’m excited to go to Aberdine and watch him throw 105. Final guy they get back from the Mets is Chandler Marsh. They got three pitchers in this. Marsh is a big guy, 6’4, 245, 22-year-old right-handed pitcher. He was an undrafted free agent by the Mets signing out of Georgia last year out of the University of Georgia. He’s started the year in low A, got bumped up to high A this season. He’s had great numbers, 42 innings, 257 RA, good strikeout rate, solid walk rate, good ground ball rate. From Eric Long and Hagen to Fan Graphs, didn’t rank him in the Mets list, but had a little write up on him. Said, quote, Marsh was an undrafted free agent out of Georgia who is thriving as a reliever at Brooklyn. That’s the high affiliate for the Mets, thanks to his vertical slider and 94 to 97 mile per hour fastball that plays a little bit down due to a lack of control. So, Marshia guy again, probably go to Aberine. We’ll probably see him in double A fairly soon. Then we’ll see what the O’s can do with that multiple pitch mix. So that is what the Orioles got back in the two biggest deals of the day. The ones that that hurt the most, right? O’Harn and Lauraniano in the one deal and Cedric Mullins in the other. Now let’s get to the other three deals the Orioles made because of course a couple of these were made late at night on Wednesday, but of course Mikeas waited until I was asleep to make a couple of trades. First one was not a shock but a little bit surprising in the Orioles traded Ramona Reus to the Astros in a one for one deal for right-handed pitching prospect Twine Palmer. We’ll get to that in a second. But I think the big question because he wasn’t as much on the radar is why trade Raone Aras. I think for the Orioles at this point, there’s really no place for Aras to start. It really has been that case all season. In a perfect world, if you’ve got health, you’ve got Jordan Westber at third, Gunnar Henderson at short, Jackson Holiday at second, and your Kobe Mayo, Ryan Mount Castle, eventually Samuel O Bayio a little bit as well, split at first base. Now, obviously, Ramon Reas is still a very useful replacement player for when you’re injured. They needed him this year for that stretch when Westber was out. They desperately needed him last year when everybody got injured. And remember, Aras kind of carried this Orioles offense when they were so bad in July and August. Westber was out. He had a 155 WRC plus in those two months last year. Was one of the better hitters in baseball in that two-month stretch. But now that Holiday is cemented at second base, unlike last year, there’s really not a spot for Aras when the Orioles are healthy. Now, you could say Connor, you know, he’s not a pending free agent. He has one more year. is set to be a free agent after 2026. So, he’s still got a year and a half left. You could say he’s a good utility player. Why would he not want him back as a good utility player for next year as well where he is kind of declining as a hitter. Now, his defense got better again. He’s not back to Gold Glove level, but he was at plus three outs above average this year where he was negative9 each of the last two seasons. One of the worst defenders metrically in baseball the last couple of years. But, he does have an 89 WRC plus this season. He is just not hitting like the way he used to. His average is down. His on base is down to 300. His slugging his way down. He’s been basically I mean he’s been solidly above a league average bat before this year in an Orioles uniform. Really his only average season was 2023. Other than that, he’s been at least, you know, 5 10 15% better than league average with the stick. And that just has not been the case this year. Walk rates down, strikeouts up, power numbers are down, his on base numbers are down. It’s It’s not the same hitter that he has been in the past. This is the first year for Ramonas in a while where he’s had like a negative offensive value essentially for the Orioles. So, you know, it’s tough to see a Ras go, but you can see why the O’s were ready to move on. He’s now 31 years old and he’s declining. I mean, kind of everything. Barrel rates going down. He’s hitting the ball a little bit harder this year, but his bat speed is also going down. That’s a sign of aging as well. And I think the Orioles feel like, hey, we’re going to bet on our good players being healthy. Westber, Henderson, Holiday, Mayo. They may not always be healthier. we’re going to bet on them and we’re going to be willing to move on from a bench player who’s getting close to free agency, is getting more expensive, getting older, and you can easily upgrade and get younger at your utility infield position. And one thing I I say Michaelas has done a very good job at over the past year or so is bringing in younger high upside potential replacements for Ramona and of course Jorge Matteo, who’s on the injured list, but still technically on this roster. The O’s brought in Jeremiah Jackson. He’s 25. He’s got a 181 WRC plus in TripleA. I think he’s going to be on the big league roster on Friday. They brought in Luis Vasquez who spent a good amount of time on the big league roster. Is also the next show Otani because he’s still got a zero erra on the mound. And they brought in Levon Sodto who we haven’t seen this year. We saw a good amount down the stretch last year and is still in the organization. They’re all younger. They’re all good defensively. They all can play multiple positions. They all have an okay upside with the bat, especially Jackson. And they’re all a lot faster. It was always weird that Ramona Reyas was like the slowest utility infielder maybe in major league history. Now if Westber goes down again next year and the replacement guys Jackson Vasquez whoever struggle could it backfire? Of course it could that they don’t have Ramona Ras and don’t have this steady guy to replace there. But the Orioles are banking on their starters staying as starters and they’re banking on their ability to have Jeremiah Jackson or find another Luis Vasquez or Emanuel Rivera or a Teran Vra or whomever to be that replacement. It’s not out of the question that if say Jordan Westber went down again, the Orioles could play Kobe Mayo maybe for a little bit at third base next year if they had to. And for the Astros, they needed a third baseman. Esso Paradis might be out for the rest of the year with hamstring issues. Of course, they let Alex Bregman walk this off season and they were clearly not willing to play pay the price for Aaneo Suarez. Now, it’s funny because then the Astros went on and traded for Carlos Koreah later in the day, who once Jeremy Pñena is back from the injured list will probably play third base. So, Aras is going to find himself either playing second, which there is kind of a hole at second base for the Astros as well, or back on the bench. And that’s what you kind of get for a bench player is they got a bench kind of return for a guy. Another guy, Ramona Reas, who just had some amazing moments. Obviously, the Gold Glove in 2022, had some big hits for the Orioles. I mean, a waiver claim who was playing in the Mexican League for a while. I got him on waiverss from the Cardinals back in the 2020 season. I was I was early on Ramono. I’ll pat myself in the back for that one. I was big on him when he came over in 2020. But, I mean, awesome Orioles career. Not an Orioles Hall of Famer like Cedric Mullins will be, but just a really good, you know, kind of a Ryan Flity type guy who I think a lot of people will remember fondly in an Orioles uniform and also I think just a better player than Ryan Flity is. I don’t think that’s very hard to say, but but that kind of player, you know, didn’t make the biggest impact in the world, but a lot of guys liked him, liked Washington play. He could play everywhere. He was really helpful to the team when he was here, but I think that time was kind of close to to running out. And there are so many Orioles fans out there who wanted to DFA Aras like 10 times in the past three years. Now, you actually get something for him. So, what did they get for him? One pitcher, 20-year-old 6’5 right-hand pitcher Twine Palmer. His full name is Twine Roland Palmer. I cannot make that up. He is the Astros 19th round pick out of Connors State College, a junior college in Oklahoma from last year. And I got to say, this is the most Orioles draft pick of all time who wasn’t taken by the Orioles. 19th rounder, junior college pitcher with a lot of good traits. And I will say Connor’s State College spelled correctly. I mean, that’s just an incredible name for a college. I mean, the Orioles just simply they had to have somebody from Connor’s State College. That’s that’s tremendous work right there. This is his first pro pro season, first full season. He’s in low A and he’s been great. 42 innings, 213 ERA, 55% ground ball rate, walk rate’s a little high, strikeout rate solid. He’s been starting and relieving, mostly working in like three to four inning stints. So, he still could be a starter. He’s a 35 plus future value prospect. James Fagan over at Fan Graphs. I’ll just give you the write up on him from Fagan. Quote, he only sits 90 to 93. This is talking about Palmer, but he gets 19 in of induced vertical break and massive amounts of inzone miss on his heater in a manner that merits further study. Palmer’s north south attack with his slider, cutter, and curveball give lefties fits. And he’s only allowed three extra base hits, all of them doubles, in 126 batters face this season. A funky reliever is probably all that should be hoped for at this stage, but that’s more than most they’re dreaming about in the 19th round. So, basically, that’s the Orio’s got here. A funky reliever could maybe be a starter. He’s got really good fastball shape. Nobody hits him hard. I mean, I saw some data on Palmer. They did like a prospect ranking of pitchers among all the AL West teams and nobody forced worse quality contact against them among pitchers in the ALS and the miners than Palmer did this season. So a lot of deception there. Another data darling for the Orioles who probably goes to Aberdine at some point after this trade. And for the Orioles and for Aras, you know, his value probably never been lower. He’s never been closer to free agency. He’s never been worse at the plate. teams are not willing to give up big-time pitching prospects for guys who are bench players that don’t have true standout traits and guys like Arius. So, you look at the baseball Savant Page, it’s a lot of blue, right? It’s not great hard hit rates or barrel rates or anything like that. No speed at all. Like, he’s not the big Wow player. I mean, look at Ramonas’s stats this year and tell me how excited you’d be if if it was flipped and the Orioles traded for a guy like that. It’s not someone you’re you’re dumping out the farm for in Ramona. I think Orioles fans and the Orioles themselves value Arias a lot more than the league does. And that’s fine. It happens for plenty of players more valuable to the team you’re on than for everyone else. But that’s also the reality of the case. Ramon Reas is not the player he was two or three years ago, right? He’s a he’s a different player. He’s a lower level of utility guy. The Orioles were probably close to moving on from him anyway. They’re able to get something for him at the deadline. He really maximized his value in Baltimore, but we will absolutely miss him dearly. He acrewed six fan graphs war with the Orioles. It’s good to get something for him. But, you know, similar to Mullen, similar to O’Harn, like just some awesome awesome memories with Aras. And this one this one hurt a little more than I thought because he wasn’t at top of mind. Like, he wasn’t a top five guy that I was like, the Orioles are absolutely trading this guy. So, it it caught me off guard a little bit more when I was woken up by my wife at 11:30 p.m. to say Ramona was traded to the Astros. And I think I made some sort of grumbling sound and then went back to sleep, but it was somewhat in my brain as I slept through the night. Definitely a a little surprising, but he’s probably going to go back to the postseason with the Astros, and I wish him obviously all the best in Houston. Next overnight trade was Andrew Kitrich. Another guy who was not a true rental, but somewhat was. The Orioles sent him to the Chicago Cubs and got one player back, infielder Wilfrey de la Cruz. Let’s start with why would you trade Kitri? And he does have that team option, right? He has a $9 million team option for 2026. Kind of similar to Raone Lauraniano where you could decline it. He could become a free agent or you could accept it and bring him back for another year. So that does make him more valuable in a trade because a team can hold on to him for next season if they want to. But there’s also no guarantee that the Orioles would have picked up that option. So he is somewhat of a rental. Like he’s been good, but he also had knee surgery in the spring. He’ll also be 36 next year. It’s it’s been a good season, right? He’s got 3,45 RA in 31 innings. Actually, if you look under the hood, he’s been a little better than he has been recently. Like, he he’s been pitching pretty well lately. His 347 fib is actually lower than it was last year when he was awesome for the Cardinals. His strikeout rate is up. His walk rate is down. He had a lot of trouble against lefties last year. He’s doing a little better against them this year. And Kendrick absolutely could have been helpful for the 2026 Orioles bullpen. There is no denying that. But the Orioles also could have been planning to decline his team option because they’re worried about the age. and you’re saying, “Okay, Connor, why do you give him the team option anyway?” It gives him more want to sign potentially because he can say, “Oh, I could be locked in for two years at a good price at $9 million.” I’m confident they will and can sign another Kitridge type veteran relief pitcher in the off season. Now, again, similar to Lauriano, if Kitridge a year from now is still really good for the Cubs, maybe the Orioles look silly with this one, but I think this is a guy you can easily replace. And if someone gives you good value for him, you trade it. And I see the Kitridge deal somewhere in between Brian Baker and Saran Dominguez, right? Dominguez was he’s a rental. You’re not going to bring him back. He’s pitching well. You absolutely have to trade this guy. And the Orioles did that to the Blue Jays on Tuesday. For Baker, it was like he could be traded, but he’s got a lot of years of control left. He’s pitching well right now. But the O’s were just blown away by the draft pick the Rays were willing to give them, so they made the deal. Kiter just is somewhere in the middle where he’s older, he’s closer to free agency, so you’re at least considering trading him going into the deadline, but you weren’t absolutely set on it like you were with Dominguez and Sodto, but the Cubs gave you a good return and so you pull the trigger. Who did the O’s get back here? Wilfrey de la Cruz, a 17-year-old 6’2 switchhitting shortstop who was the Cubs number one international signing in this year’s international signing class. They gave him $2.3 million to sign with the Cubs out of the Dominican Republic. Had the Orioles given him $2.3 million, that would be the most money the O’s have ever given to an international amateur signing. MLB pipeline had de la Cruz ranked as the 13th best player available in the 2025 international signing class, the Cubs got him and the Orioles get him less than a year later. He’s in his first proseason in the Dominican Summer League. He’s been great. 113 played appearances. He’s got a 137 WR RC plus. He’s walking a ton. Hasn’t homered yet, but that happens for young guys when they’re 17. The power kind of comes along a little bit later. He’s a little little skinnier at 6’2. He’s only 17. He’ll continue to fill out into his body. Baseball America ranked him the 20th best prospect in the Cub system. They see him as a left side of the infield guy. Shorts stopper third base. Power potential, but also with potential, what they called long levers in his swing. Quote from Baseball America, his offensive upside is what stands out the most. Orioles clearly like this guy. probably were scouting him and tried to sign him in the international period but didn’t have the money to do it. So, most likely we’ll see him in the FCL next year state side for all of 2027. You know, it’s further away, but this is a very high upside kind of international signing guy who we would be in love with had the Orioles just signed him at the international signing period. That that’s a good amount to give up for essentially a rental reliever. I I think the Orioles came out pretty well in this deal to be honest. like we won’t see the fruits of it potentially for years if De La Cruz stays in the system, but Elias is clearly banking on the upside here. Like saw a guy he wanted to sign originally, pulled the trigger when that came into the offer. For now, it’s it’s a good return for a pseudo rental reliever and the long-term value is going to depend on two things like how good is kitridge next year and how does de la Cruz develop or what does he bring back if the potentially flip him in another trade. So those were the overnight deals. Then we had the Lauriano O’Harn and we had the Mullins. And I thought for a second that the Orioles weren’t going to trade any of their rental starting pitchers. We got down to the deadline here, 6 p.m. on Thursday, and I was like, Sugano, Efflin, and Morton, how have you not traded any of them? And we passed six o’clock and they still weren’t traded. And I was getting even more concerned. And I was like, why would you hold on to all three of these guys? That’s pointless. But just after the deadline horn sounded, trade still counts because it happened before six o’clock. Just the paperwork and the reporting coming in. The Orioles did in fact deal Charlie Morton. And there were rumors the whole time that, you know, 10 teams were in on Morton. The Padres’s really wanted him. Like it seemed crazy that he would not be dealt. So I’m not surprised he did get traded. The Orioles basically just waited till the last moment to try and get the best deal possible. Not like they got a huge return for Morton. Didn’t really expect it, right? He uh he was really bad at the beginning of the season. Then he kind of turned things around and became a pretty solid starting pitcher and a team is going to want to use him. And that team is the Detroit Tigers. The Orioles sending Charlie Morton to the Tigers in their final deal of the day. Getting back a 22-year-old left-handed pitching prospect who stands at 6’7. He’ll be uh well actually be 23 next month. His name is Micah Ashman and they they got a 68 pitcher and a 67 pitcher. Another 2024 draft pick. He was an 11th round pick by the Tigers out of Utah at the division one level in the Big 12 and he’s already gotten himself to double A. This is a very intriguing arm who prospectwise hasn’t really, you know, jumped up on any boards. Like he’s not on the fan graph’s preseason list. He is not ranked. However, he’s been one of the better pitchers in minor league baseball this year. So again, like we’ll see when these updated prospect lists start to come out from places, but he’s been an incredible reliever this season. Ashman started the year in high A, had a6 RA, 39 innings in relief, four saves. I mean, he’s running a 31% strikeout rate to a 5% walk rate with a 157 batting average against him. That’s crazy. And he just got the bump up to double A. He’s pitched in three games or excuse me, two games. three innings at the double A level so far. Two hits, no runs, four strikeouts, one walk in those three innings. So, so far so good. You would think he will report to Chesapeake and pitch out of the bullpen. He’s going to be a reliever. Again, a lot of these guys, they’ve got no relievers. But Ashman becomes kind of the third guy who’s already in DA who, if all goes well for him, could be someone who pitches for the Orioles in 2026 and another type of guy that helps this team. So, at the end of the day, a whole lot of trades happened at this deadline for the Orioles. They ended up trading away six players in the final 24 hours before the deadline. You add that to the three players they traded before that. Remember, they got the draft pick for Brian Baker, they got the two pitching prospects for Gregory Sodto, and they got one prospect for Seranti Dominguez. And if you count basically getting Slater de Brun, who the draft pick they used on that they got for Brian Baker. If you add it all up, the Orioles traded away nine big league players off their 26-man roster. And let’s do some math here. They got one, two, five, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 prospects added to the system. Not all of them, but most of them pitchers. And so here’s the thing about this trade deadline, right? the the the multiple things I wanted the Orioles to do. Number one was try and find a controllable starting pitcher. I think they did that in one trade. I think they did that in one trade, a controllable starting pitcher who could potentially help you next season. I think the one trade in which they were able to do that was the Saran Dominguez deal when they traded him to the Blue Jays and they were able to get back a double A starting pitcher back in that deal. Not saying that Watts Brown is going to immediately be in the big leagues. However, he could be. He’s pitching well in DA. He’s pitched a lot in DA. all goes right for him, he could theoretically make it to the major leagues maybe next season. Otherwise, they didn’t really do that. So, they didn’t hit on that one. Number two for me was get plenty of double AAA relief type pitchers who could help your bullpen next year because we knew they were going to trade away a lot of relievers. The bullpen is going to look very different in 2026. That they did a much better job of. You know, Watts Brown could be even closer to being a reliever rather than a starter. that could help next year. I mean, they go and get Cameron Foster in the Sodto trade. I think he’ll be in the bullpen next year. There’s a good potential of that one. And then you look at the trades from the past 24 hours and you know, you get guys like an Anthony Nunes who could absolutely be in this bullpen next year. Raymond Gomez, like I know he’s only in high A, but he’s throwing 105. If things click for him, he could be in the bullpen next year. Tyson Neighbors could be in the bullpen next season. right? Like these are guys who they went and got that could potentially fit that mold for the ORAS and they also got a lot of lower level pitchers. Now it is somewhat annoying like hey there’s so many of these pitchers it seemed like everybody they got was in high A, right? That’s not a timeline that gets you to the big leagues usually by sometime next season to at least be an impact pitcher. So a little further away. However, one thing the Oros did do is just load up this system. They’re not done. This needs to be a team that tries to win and does win and turn this around in 2026. If they don’t, Michaelas is out of his job. It’s plain and simple. If this team is anywhere close to what they look like this season, next year, Michaelas might not even be able to execute next year’s deadline because I I don’t think he should be in a job if this team starts poorly next year. This is phase one, or I’ll say this is phase two. draft was phase one, which the Orioles had the biggest bonus pool and they I think they killed it in that draft. This is phase two. Phase two is you’re selling off the rentals and you are adding to the system. And while they didn’t get as many players as I would have liked that are, you know, close to big league ready, it’s hard to do that when you only have rental pieces or two-year guys you’re trading away, right? They were never gonna trade, I don’t think, Bautista, even though he got injured. They were never gonna trade Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westber, Adley Rutman. These guys, Colton Cowser, the young pitchers, these guys are not getting dealt. This is the core of this team who is going to be the core of this team next year. And they look good right now. This team’s playing much better as they’re getting healthier. This offense has been incredible since they finally got healthy. This is the offense the O’s plan to have next year. They just need to add the pitching around it. Phase two is this. Phase three is what happens this offseason. And phase three this offseason is make or break for the Orioles, but specifically for Michaelas. Make or break this off seasonason. There are two things the Orioles need to do this offseason. And they might add a bat, right? It’s possible. I’m not as concerned about the bats. I feel good about the core of this lineup. I’m cool with them adding a major league bat or two. That’s fine. Pitching. Yes, you are getting Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells and hopefully Grayson Rodriguez back next year, but especially Grayson. You cannot trust him health-wise. That’s just the reality of the current situation. Hopefully, you can for Bradish and Wells because their rehab’s going well. They’ve made some rehab starts and they’re getting closer and closer to being back. And you have this deeper pool of guys. You have Trevor Rogers now who looks great and Dean Kramer is just a solid guy to have in your rotation. But you need to get pitching in the offseason. There are three relievers basically right now maybe even two but probably three if Felix is fine. As long as Felix is fine, Felix Cano Akin you can go into next year’s bullpen with then you have a lot of openings right Rogers Kramer then a lot of questions whether it’s young guy questions or it’s injury questions some of those guys will be good some will not either way it’s a lot of questions you have to address the pitching staff two ways to do it number one is the way the Orioles have preferred to do it all right getting Trevor Rodgers getting Corbin Burns getting Zack Efflin is making trades from the depth of their system. The one thing you can’t deny in the month of July between the draft and this deadline where they added 16 prospects is that the Orioles now have more pitching prospects than they know what to do with. And if teams are trading away pitching, a lot of times they love to get pitching back. And the Orioles now have that holstered. And it’s not just the guys they’ve gotten from this draft and this deadline. It’s the guys that they’ve developed and unfortunately Braxton Bragg did get Tommy John surgery yesterday and that stinks. But the Trey Gibsons and the Michael Ferrettes of the world who are putting things together in double A and are getting closer and closer to the big leagues, whether that’s to help the Orioles or to flip in a trade. Getting the Corbin Burns deal would be nice, but phase one is trading for starting pitching. use this prospect depth you have to make that big deal. And maybe it’s not the Corbin Burns rental type deal. Edward Cabrera, Yuri Perez did not get traded from the Marlins at this deadline. Sandy Alcantra did not get traded from the Marlins at this deadline. Those guys are going to be available in the offseason via trade. We’ll see about Alcantra. It’s been kind of shaky this year coming off Tommy John. Edward Cabrera might be my number one pitching starting pitcher trade target this off seasonason who was in discussions in trades at the deadline and did not move. He would be a guy I am all over. How about, you know, the Minnesota Twins? They basically traded everybody today, but they didn’t trade Joe Ryan, who has two more years after this one. They didn’t trade Pablo Lopez, who has a couple years after this one. Those are the guys that the Orioles need to be targeting this off seasonason. And I have trust that Mike Elias will do that. He’s been able to do it before. He has swung some really good trades. Burns, Efflin, and I know Stard has been great, but even how good Rogers is to go and trade for three really impact starting pitchers for this team. He’s done it three times, I trust he can do it again, and he’s gotten more and more and more prospects to load up to be able to do that. The one thing they haven’t done, and quite frankly, they need to do, I don’t care about the risk involved. I don’t care about their avoidance of giving out long-term contracts or big money to starting pitchers. I don’t even care that a lot of the guys who signed for big money this year, Corbin Burns, Blake Snell, etc., ended up getting hurt. They have to find the starting pitcher they’re going to pay. It doesn’t have to be someone who they give 10 years and $300 million to, right? I just don’t think even if Michaelas is pushed to the brink and backed into a corner and knows his job on the line, I don’t think he’s ever going to do that just because he sees it as such risky business. It’s not even worth it. But the Ranger Suarez’s, the Frober Valdez’s, the Dylan Ceases of the world, the Michael Kings of the world. These are guys that are going to be out there this off season. And I’m going to be quite honest with you. I love Suarez. I love Valdez. I love Cease. I love King. If the Orioles don’t get one of those four and they don’t on the flip side trade for two really good pitchers, if they don’t get one of those four, you can throw in Zack Allen. He’s been kind of rough this year. It’s an offseason failure. And if the Orioles don’t either get a true ace via trade and or a true ace via free agency and they need to bring in whether it’s trade or free agency, two to three starting pitchers this offseason. They have the money, the prospect resources to do it. If they don’t do it, it’s a failure. But that’s in the future. This right now is step two. Draft is step one. Trade deadline is step two. It’s going to hurt down the stretch. But there’s still some people here. There’s still a core of an offense. The Orioles did not trade Zack Efflin. He actually went back on the injured list on Thursday with lower back issues. Brandon Young was recalled to take his rotation spot. Ken Rosenthal still reported even when he went on the IIL earlier in the day. There were still trade talks, but they didn’t materialize. Effin still here on the injury list. And I figured Tommyuku Sugano wouldn’t be traded. He is still here as well. Those are really the two guys who were on somewhat of trade lists and did not get dealt. So Sugana will eat innings and Efflin will too. And we’ll see, right? Maybe Efflin can get healthy, turn it around, and you can bring him back next year. That would be great if he puts himself in a position to be able to do that next season. But at the end of the day, you need to use what you did at this draft and this deadline and pick up all of this talent. I’m fine if half these players get flipped in the offseason to get major league starting pitchers. I’m okay if most of these players get flipped in the offseason to get major league legitimate impact starting pitchers. That is fine with me. That just needs to be the next step in the plan. So, final thing, you know, I did an episode a couple of weeks ago where I ranked the top 15 most likely Orioles to be dealt. And here is who was traded. Number one was Sir Anthony Dominguez, traded to the Blue Jays. Number two, Gregory Sodto, traded to the Mets. Number three, Charlie Morton, traded to where did he even go today? Tigers, traded to the Tigers. Number four, Ryan O’Harn, traded to the Padres’s. Number five, Andrew Kitrich sent to the Cubs. Number six, Zack Efflin is here, but if he doesn’t go back on the IIL, he probably gets dealt. Number seven, Ron Lauraniano off to the Padres’s. Number eight, Cedric Mullins off to the Mets. Number nine, Brian Baker. Off to the Rays. Eight of the nine top guys I had on there were dealt. I had Canó at 10, Aken at 11, Aras at 12 who was traded, and then Sugano at 13, O’Neal at 14, and then I guess you know Ryan Mount Castle’s name was thrown around. He’s still on the injured list, but he was there at number 15. So, a lot of those guys went, some of those guys stayed. A very, very busy deadline for the Orioles. I thank everyone who joined us here. One of our biggest live shows ever. Definitely my longest live show I’ve ever done. Uh I can tell you right now this is I believe the first time in Lapon Royals history. I have eclipsed an hour on an episode. Yeah, this is going to be a major episode and that doesn’t even finish things off on the season because we’ve talked about all these trades, all these prospects, but specifically all the big leaguers that are gone. The question I saw a bunch in the chat right here and I didn’t really answer it because it’s coming up tomorrow is okay, who’s going to fill these voids, nine big league players are gone in the past couple of weeks. None of the guys you traded for are ready big leaguers right now. Some of them could be big leaguers next year, but none of them are ready to step in right now. Which means those guys in Norfolk, get ready for a fun phone call or a fun chat with Tim Federovic, the Tides manager, because new players are coming up to this roster, specifically in the bullpen. They’ll need a starter and a couple of bats as well. That is coming up on tomorrow’s episode. We’re still going to have a Friday pot. I’m going to break down how different the Orioles roster will be, what players I think are coming up from Triple A and what roles they’ll kind of figure out through the remainder of this 2025 season. But until then, thank you so so much for tuning in live here on the Lock Orioles YouTube channel. Make sure to subscribe, subscribe wherever you listen, send us an email, lockdown [email protected], whatever it may be. This is all because of you all. I appreciate your support here on the show. It’s been a tough season. And I guess the other thing to end is this. I am breaking this down from a why the Orioles did this, who these players they got. This is not fun. The 2025 Orioles should not have been deadline sellers. They should not be 50 and 59 at this point. It is a object failure that they sold at this deadline. Now, did they make the most of selling? It remains to be seen, but it’s possible that they could have set themselves up for years to come to be good again, and that would be great. But even if that’s the case, it does not change that it was an absolute failure this season. This is not fun. Being a seller is not fun. Firing Brandon Hyde is not fun. Being 50 and 59 is not fun. Elias kind of being on the hot seat is not fun. David Rubenstein just disappearing with no extensions is not fun. None of that is fun. We hope 2026 is fun. But this is a failure. And I think that has to be remembered because, you know, I talked through all these prospects and hey, they’ve got some really cool tools and, you know, I’m excited to see them in the minor leagues. That’s all great. That doesn’t change the fact that this stinks and is a failure and that’s why we’re here. But we are here and now you got to make the best of the situation. And hopefully Michael and the Orioles did that here on Thursday. I’ll be back on Friday. We’ll talk about who back fills this roster, who gets a chance down the stretch. Until then, I’m Connor Nukem and this has been the Lockdown Orioles podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

The Baltimore Orioles are going to be one of the most active sellers at this year’s MLB Trade Deadline. Join Host Connor Newcomb as he goes LIVE right as the deadline strikes to discuss all of the Orioles moves on the final day.

-Ramon Urias traded to the Astros for a pitching prospect
-Andrew Kittredge traded to the Cubs for a top 2025 international signee
-Cedric Mullins dealt to the Mets for three pitching prospects
-Ryan O’Hearn and Ramon Laureano packaged to the Padres for six prospects
-Charlie Morton sent to the Tigers

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