The Orioles offer $250Million to two star players
After a lengthy wait, the Baltimore Orioles are once again among baseball’s finest teams—something that hasn’t been said in a long time. After a protracted construction that required a great deal of patience from the Orioles front office and fandom, the roster is now arguably at its peak. The question now is, will they be prepared to take chances at the MLB Trade Deadline this year?
The Orioles are never perfect, especially in a division where they have to contend with the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees in addition to themselves.
After being exposed to the postseason last year, the youthful squad appears ready to stay in October for a longer period of time and avoid elimination in the first round as they did the year before.
The Orioles are now only one game ahead of the Yankees at 54-31. All season long, this will probably be a back-and-forth battle, which makes Baltimore’s decision to attempt to acquire as the trade deadline draws near all the more sense.
The Orioles’ top-ranked farm system in the MLB Pipeline is good news for them. But now that the building is completely to his satisfaction, is general manager Mike Elias prepared to roll off some of that elite talent? If he wants the Orioles to make a run in the postseason, he will have to.
At the MLB Trade Deadline, which elite prospects will the Orioles acquire?
Although there have been recent speculations that Elias may trade Jackson Holliday, the top overall prospect according to the MLB Pipeline, nobody genuinely thinks it will happen. The Orioles’ development system has taken a long time and much work to rebuild, so it feels wrong to trade away the best prospect in baseball.
Without a question, though, the Orioles will have to give up some of their talent. After all, with Kyle Bradish, John Means, and Tyler Wells out for the season, they ought to be considering bolstering their rotation. Good arms in particular are not inexpensive. However, nobody is certain of the exact path the Orioles will take to bring in more talent.
Even with Holliday on the untouchable list—or at least he ought to be—there are still a lot of promising players that may be added to the trade block. Samuel Basallo, the No. 2 prospect catcher, is one of them.
This is essentially for when the Orioles decide to take a huge swing, like when they try to sign Garrett Crochet of the Chicago White Sox. This season, he is hitting.279/.340/.458 in Double-A with an OPS of.798 and 34 RBI from his 11 home runs. According to The Baltimore Sun, Basallo was recently selected for the 2024 All-Star Futures Game, which could further highlight his talent.
There is always a need for young infielders in the Orioles, which is why second baseman Connor Norby should be traded. This season, the 24-year-old outfielder has already received one call-up to the major leagues. He made one home run in his four games of play. He has spent the remainder of the season back at Triple-A, where he is hitting.290 with an OPS of.874. He will need to reduce the number of strikeouts he gives up wherever he goes at the next level. With 269 at-bats this season, he presently has 92.
Left-hander Cade Povich, 24, is a potential trade candidate for the Orioles if they are considering selling a potential arm prospect. He has been steadily improving in the minor league ranks since his 2021 draft selection, and he was recently brought up to support the Orioles’ struggling rotation.
