11 prospects the Orioles have to either call up or move at this deadline or risk losing them in the Rule 5 draft

The Baltimore Orioles have a bit of a reputation for being prospect huggers. This has come back to bite them in multiple ways over the last few years, whether that's been refusing to put guys like Heston Kjerstad or Coby Mayo in trades and then having them lose all their value when they go from top prospects to bad major leaguers, or bleeding talent in the annual Rule 5 draft. In 2024, the Orioles lost seven prospects in the Rule 5 draft, and last year they lost Carter Baumler to the Rangers. The Orioles' position on prospects for years seemed to be that they would rather hold onto them and risk them not being as good as they hoped or being taken in the Rule 5 draft than trade them and have them become stars somewhere. It's a mentality that has led to the Orioles not taking full advantage of a farm system overflowing with talent and allowing their major league team to regress.

This year, the Orioles have a large group of prospects currently in the upper minors who are going to be exposed in the 2026 Rule 5 draft. Unless they plan on turning over a quarter of the 40-man roster to make room for all of them, the Orioles should be looking to move these guys in trades to help improve the current team's chances of making the playoffs.

The Orioles can't afford to lose this much talent in the Rule 5 draft

Here are some names to watch that could be very useful trade chips at this deadline if the Orioles can foresee that they won't be able to protect them from the Rule 5 draft.

Enrique Bradfield Jr., OF, AAA

Bradfield Jr. is probably in the camp of guys the Orioles would give a 40-man spot to. He is knocking on the door of the major leagues, and his defensive ability and speed on the basepaths couldn't be more needed in Baltimore. Most likely, he'll be called up when rosters expand. However, on the off chance that the Orioles don't call him up, he's almost guaranteed to be taken in the Rule 5, so if they don't plan on calling him up this year, they should be shopping him.

Creed Willems, C, AAA

Willems has had a breakout season for the Norfolk Tides and dramatically raised his stock this year when he went undrafted in the Rule 5 draft. He is pretty firmly blocked by the Orioles' current C/1B/DH position group, so it's hard to see a long-term fit for him on the Orioles, but if they don't make room for him, he'll be an easy pickup for a team looking for some pop from the catching position. The Orioles should move him at the first chance they get.

Nestor German, P, AAA

German has been steadily rising through the Orioles system for years and, after a slow start to the season, is putting together a solid year in Triple-A. He has a wide arsenal of average pitches that he mixes up to get decent results. He profiles as a solid back-of-the-rotation starter. Teams need way more of these kinds of arms to get through a season than you would think, so even if German doesn't have the highest ceiling, he'd have a lot of value to the right team.

Levi Wells, P, AAA

Wells underwent core muscle surgery in May, which has disrupted his first full season in Triple-A. At the start, the Orioles were optimistic that Wells would make his MLB debut this year, but the injury setback has now made that unlikely. Like German, Wells is most likely destined to be a back-of-the-rotation starter, but he does have a better fastball, which raises his ceiling if he can figure out his secondaries.

Aron Estrada, INF, AA

Estrada has not had quite the season the Orioles would have hoped for after he tore through multiple levels of the minors last season. He has hit for a lot more power but at the expense of his OBP, and he's not stealing bases anymore. Even with a slightly disappointing season, he's still been a well-above-average hitter on the whole and should be up at triple-A by the end of the season. If he's not protected, another team will slide in and take him.

Thomas Sosa, OF, AA

Sosa is still young and raw enough that he might be safe if he's left exposed, but he's currently on a massive heater, and it looks as though he's growing into his projected game power midseason. If he sustains what he's done over the last month of the season, then he'll for sure be on the team's radar when the Rule 5 comes around.

Luis De Leon, P, AA

De Leon came into the season as the Orioles' top pitching prospect according to the same ranking services. It's been a tough season for him, but over his last seven starts he's put up a 1.87 ERA with a 0.95 WHIP and looked much more like the pitcher the Orioles expected him to be coming into the season. He might be a little further away from the majors than most players that teams are looking to take in the Rule 5, but with how much upside he's shown, it's not unheard of for teams to take a big swing if a prospect this good is left unprotected.

Zach Fruit, P, AA and Braxton Bragg, P, AA

These two guys are grouped together becuase they are both currently on the 60-day IL after each undergoing serious surgeries in the last year. Being injured could make them less appealing in the Rule 5, but it would still be risky to leave them unprotected.

Patrick Reilly, P, AA

Reilly came over the Orioles in a trade for Billy Cook and then immediately blew out his elbow and got Tommy John surgery. He has now made his way back just in time to flash some good stuff and be stolen away in the Rule 5 draft. Similar to Fruit and Bragg, the Orioles could hope that the recent injury keeps teams away, but it would be a gamble.

Juaron Watts-Brown, P, AA

The Orioles acquired Watts-Brown for Seranthony Domínguez at last year's trade deadline. This season has not gone as planned for Watts-Brown. At the time he was acquired, Watts-Brown was pitching well in Double-A, and he seemed like a strong candidate to get promoted to Triple-A early in 2026 and maybe even debut later this season. Fast forward to today, and he's still in Double-A, but now he's pitching rather poorly. Even with that being the case, he'll be 25 next year and has decent strikeout stuff; it wouldn't be surprising to see a team snatch him and try to make him a part of their bullpen.

As you can see, the Orioles have a lot to lose if they are inactive. They are going to have to make a decision on every single one of these players in the next few weeks and months or risk losing them for nothing. If they do nothing and get torn to shreds in the Rule 5 again, it will be another easily avoidable disaster on this Orioles front office's record.

Add us as a preferred source on Google