Trade details: Baltimore Orioles acquire RHP Shane Baz from the Tampa Bay Rays for C Caden Bodine, OF Slater de Brun, RHP Michael Forret, OF Austin Overn and a 2026 Competitive Balance Round A selection (pick No. 33).
The Orioles just swung their biggest and best move since they traded for Corbin Burnes after the 2023 season. They used the same playbook for this trade: leveraging their prospect surplus to go acquire a top-end starter for the upcoming season.
This deal sends four players, including two Baltimore just drafted in July, to Tampa Bay for right-hander Shane Baz, who seems set for a breakout year in 2026. Unlike Burnes, Baz comes to Baltimore with three years of team control remaining, at least under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, and Baz could be the Orioles’ No. 1 starter over that span.
Baz’s biggest issue in 2025, by far, was Steinbrenner Field: he gave up 18 of his 26 homers allowed while playing at “home” in that homer-friendly minor-league ballpark. He also gave up an improbable six homers on sliders, even though he threw only 82 sliders all season, which evokes the old saw about telling the doctor “it hurts when I do this” so the doctor says “well, don’t do that!” Get Baz out of Tampa, junk the slider or change it to a different style, and he’ll probably shave a run off his ERA right there.
In 2025, Baz averaged 97 mph on his four-seamer with some riding life, pitching with it primarily at the top of the zone, while showing a plus curveball and average cutter. He moved to a kick-change over the summer, away from a changeup that was almost dead straight, and it looks like it will become at least a 55 pitch (on the 20-80 scouting scale) if the command improves over time. He’s on the upswing, for sure, and after years of injuries, including a torn UCL that led to Tommy John surgery, he’s made 55 starts in a row over two years. I’m all in.
Slater de Brun is the top prospect in the Rays’ return and was the No. 37 pick in July’s draft. (Tracy Proffitt / Four Seam Images via Associated Press)
The package going back to the Rays is big, and is headlined by one elite prospect in outfielder Slater de Brun, who was the Orioles’ fourth selection in the 2025 draft, going at pick 37 while taking a first-round bonus of $4 million. De Brun is listed at 5-foot-10, and that’s a maximum, but he’s a true center fielder who has an advanced feel to hit and good instincts on both sides of the ball. His swing can get long to the ball, and it’s more of a slashing stroke than a typical power-oriented swing — not a bad thing, certainly, but a sign that getting him to true power may require more development work. He does have a real two-strike approach and understands the zone well for a high schooler from the Pacific Northwest (Bend, Ore.).
Catcher Caden Bodine was the No. 30 pick this July out of Coastal Carolina, where he showed solid-average defense with a plus arm and never struck out, with strikeout rates under 10 percent during his sophomore and junior years for the Chanticleers. He’s very selective, with below-average power, and projects as an everyday player.
Right-hander Michael Forret was a changed man this year, at least on the mound, going from about 40 command to close to average, by shortening up his arm action. He still utilizes a rough delivery where he cuts himself off and comes back somewhat across his body, and he missed a month early this past season with a back injury and left the game where I last saw him with another injury in July. He gained about 2 mph this year, sitting 94-96 in that last outing, with a sweepy slider and above-average changeup. I think he’s almost certainly a reliever, but will pitch in the big leagues and have some value there if he doesn’t get hurt.
Outfielder Austin Overn is probably an org player, maybe an up-and-down guy at best, with a bad approach and below-average power, struggling in particular with fastballs in the upper half of the zone. He’s part of that 2024 Orioles draft class where the best prospect right now is their 16th-round pick, Nate George. I like the return for Tampa, but I would guess I’m lighter on the latter two guys than the Rays are.
The Orioles’ top three starters now are Baz, Kyle Bradish and Trevor Rogers, and their rotation now at least has the upside to be among the best in baseball, assuming all three are healthy and the adjustments the Orioles made with Rogers hold up over a full year. Dean Kremer gives them a quality innings-eater in the fourth spot, better than the typical No. 4 starter, and they have a passel of names to fill the fifth starter role and take on any spot starts over the year.
I’m not sure there’s such a thing as “enough” starting pitching, but the Orioles are at least asymptotically approaching that ideal. They’re already so much better prepared to compete in 2026 and put that disastrous 2025 behind them.