The regular season is nearing its end, and unfortunately our Orioles will not be taking part in October baseball this year. But that doesn’t mean that your personal rooting interests must be completely sidelined in the fall. In fact, because the O’s were so busy selling off at the end of July, there are quite a few familiar names sprinkled around the league that are worth checking in on.
So, since the Orioles had a nightmarish weekend, and the time to talk about offseason planning is still a few weeks away, let’s step outside Birdland for a moment and answer some questions.
How are the guys that Mike Elias shipped out midsummer doing with their new clubs? And what should we expect from them once the jostling for playoff positioning comes to a close?
Did you all remember that Baker was on the 2024 team? It seems like eons ago that Elias sent him to Tampa for a draft pick that turned into outfield prospect Slater de Brun. The deal came on July 10, getting a jump on the reliever market, and while we won’t know what de Brun becomes for a quite a while, it’s hard to argue with the value from the Orioles’ perspective.
At the time of the deal, the Rays were in the thick of the AL Wild Card hunt. But they have fallen off since then and are now three games under .500, well outside of the playoffs. But the trade for Baker was not an “all in” endeavor. The out-of-options reliever is under team control through the 2028 season.
Baker has been solid in Tampa. Across 24 innings he has a 3.75 ERA, 3.73 FIP, and 112 ERA+. His WHIP is just 0.833, and he has struck out 28. Overall he has probably been a touch less effective than he was in Baltimore earlier in the year, but it’s close.
Gregory Soto and Cedric Mullins
The Mets have been an absolute disaster since the trade deadline. They went 11-17 in August, and have followed that up with a 4-9 record in September. They have gone from leading the NL East by half a game on July 31 to clinging onto the final wild card spot by just 1.5 games today.
Soto was faring well in the Mets bullpen until this past week. Prior to that, he had a 1.98 ERA and 2.63 FIP over 13.2 innings with the Queens-based club. The lefty was limiting walks, striking guys out, and avoiding home runs. Over his last two outings he has allowed six runs in just 2.2 innings, which included serving up his first long ball since the move. The Mets starting staff is in shambles, so they have to rely no their bullpen. Soto falling off now is not ideal timing, neither for the Mets nor Soto’s market this offseason.
Mullins has trended in a similar direction, although he started off far lower than Soto. The center fielder owns a brutal .188/.294/.277 batting line with the Mets. It’s been even worse in September, where has slumped to a .396 OPS. The three meager hits he has this month have all been singles. But at least he is 7-for-7 on stolen base attempts since being dealt. It has not been a good platform year for the pending free agent. As it stands, it looks like he will need to settle for a one-year deal this winter.
The Orioles just wrapped a series with Domìnguez and the Blue Jays. The hard-throwing righty faced three batters and recorded one out the entire weekend in the relatively non-competitive series. While nothing is locked up just yet, it seems that the Jays are on their way to winning the AL East, and Domínguez will be one of their more important relief arms in the postseason.
Things have gone OK for Domínguez since the trade. He has a 3.60 ERA and 121 ERA+ in Toronto. Across 15 innings he has issued 10 walks, so his 1.400 WHIP is a bit elevated, but he has also struck out 17 and allowed only one home run. Nothing he has done with the Blue Jays has changed the perception of him as a reliever. The output has been about what he did in Baltimore. But if he has a hot postseason, he could be in for a nice pay day this offseason. The Orioles themselves could be interested in a reunion as they try to rebuild their bullpen.
Kittredge may be the traded player with the biggest glow-up since late July. The righty has a 127 ERA+ and 2.41 FIP with the Cubs. He has been dominant in September, posting a .063/.118/.063 batting line against with nine strikeouts and just one walk. His performance has been so good that Craig Counsell has made him the team’s closer while Daniel Palencia is on the IL with a shoulder strain. The 35-year-old has five saves so far, including three in the last week. That sort of performance in a prominent role completely changes the outlook on his $9 million team option.
The Cubs are just about locked into their playoff spot. They trail the Brewers by 5.5 games in the NL Central, but they lead the NL Wild Card race by 3.5 games. So playoff games at Wrigley Field are likely to come this October. It gives Kittredge a great stage to prove his worth as a backend relief option, either to stay in Chicago on a rather high salary, or to get the buyout and test the market.
Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano
Despite being swept by the Orioles at the start of September, the Padres remain comfortably in control of their playoff destiny. They currently sit as the second NL Wild Card team, five games ahead of the third wild card and 6.5 games above the first team outside the playoff picture. If they wish to snatch the NL West crown from the Dodgers, they will need a little help since they trail by two games and have no games remaining with their divisional foe.
O’Hearn has found life a bit difficult in San Diego. He owns a .236/.321/.341 batting line since the trade. That’s an 85 OPS+, well below the 134 OPS+ he posted in Baltimore this season. September has been particular brutal for him, slumping to a .491 OPS since the calendar flipped. Hopefully he can heat up in the final two weeks of the season to improve his free agent case this winter.
Laureano come out of gate on fire with the Padres. In August he hit .305/.354/.581 with seven home runs while often hitting sixth or seventh in the everyday lineup. He has been elevated to the 3-5 spots in the order this month, and the bat has cooled. So far he owns a .229/.296/.354 batting line in September with just one home run. His $6.5 million option for 2026 continues to look like a bargain, especially with his ability to play all three outfield spots.
Morton rebounded from a terrible start to the season to be one of the Orioles most reliable starters in June and July. The 41-year-old has lost that consistency in Detroit. Over eight starts he has a 5.92 ERA, which is half a run worse than what he did in Baltimore. That includes two really good starts in which he went six innings each time and allowed one run or less. But September has been a mess for him, accumulating a 9.28 ERA over 10.2 innings.
The Tigers are nearly running away with the AL Central title (although the streaking Guardians might be giving them a little scare), so they have wiggle room for Morton to get right prior to the postseason. If he can find his way in the final two weeks of the regular season, he could still be in line to start playoff games, even if he only throws three or four innings. But more implosions like he’s had lately won’t work.
The trading of Urías was one of the more controversial things that Elias did at the deadline. Urías had been a useful fill-in around the infield and still had a year of control remaining. Instead, he givens another AL team that flexibility through 2026, if they want it.
Playing time has been tough to find for Urías lately in Houston. He has started only five games this month, and his offense has slipped. He’s got a .386 OPS in September with nine strikeouts and no walks. But there has been an interesting change in his defense. The Astros have played him almost entirely at second base, where he has been worth 3 OAA since being traded. That’s pretty cool, since the Orioles preferred him at third base. The overall numbers will rarely wow you, but Urías continues to be a useful piece on a big league roster.