2 trade targets the Orioles could pursue to replace Keegan Akin

Yesterday, longtime Baltimore Orioles reliever Keegan Akin underwent Tommy John surgery and will now miss the rest of the 2026 season and most of the 2027 season. Even with Akin, the Orioles bullpen was weak from the left side, and without him, they currently have just one single lefty in the pen. If the Orioles want to climb back into the playoff picture at some point, they are going to have to face some tough left-handed hitters in high-leverage spots, and when that happens, they'll need more than just Grant Wolfram available out of the bullpen.

With the trade deadline coming up, there are several teams that will be looking to move left-handed bullpen arms. Here are two that stand out as good fits for the Orioles.

Brennan Bernardino could be a longterm win for the Orioles

Bernardino is a veteran with a solid track record of handling lefties. This year, he is having a good season while pitching for the Rockies and dealing with the altitude of Coors Field. This season, lefties are slashing .241/.282/.342 against him. Bernardino doesn't strike a lot of guys out, but he's great at inducing soft contact, and he doesn't hand out free passes. He's kind of like a left-handed version of Yennier Cano. If the Orioles acquired him, he would take over high-leverage opportunities against lefties.

As a bonus, Bernardino still has three more seasons of arbitration after this year, so if the Orioles traded for him, he could become a long-time fixture in their bullpen.

Orioles could get a redo on their failed Jojo Romero trade

The Orioles were tied to Jojo Romero in the offseason, but for whatever reason, they were not able to pry him away from the Cardinals. That might have ended up being a good thing for the Orioles, as Romero has not matched his 2025 season's production, and if the Orioles had paid the 2025 season price for Romero's 2026 season, that would be hard to stomach. Still, he'd be an upgrade for the Orioles' pen, and with just a half-season left of control, the price for Romero must be much lower than it was in the offseason.

The interesting thing about Romero is that this season he is a reverse-splits pitcher, which is not exactly what the Orioles need a left-handed reliever for. It's a very small sample size, though, and over the course of Romero's career, he's always been good against lefties, so if the Orioles traded for him, they'd have to trust that his career numbers against lefties are more indicative of who he is than this season's numbers.

The Cardinals are in a decent position to make the playoffs, so they might not be willing sellers; for this trade to happen, the Orioles would have to hope that the Cardinals are going to attempt a buy-sell deadline combo.

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