Baltimore Orioles: Contending in the AL East as trade deadline looms

As the trade deadline looms, the Baltimore Orioles have remained quiet. But, their opponents in the AL East have not.

Will the Baltimore Orioles be able to contend with the movement toward young and athletic talent?

As the New York Yankees build a team full of young position players and pitchers, do the Orioles have what it takes to remain competitive if Dan Duquette does nothing prior to August 1? What about the eye-popping talent in Boston? And, the young pitchers in Tampa Bay?

Can the current Orioles stay relevant against teams that seem to be getting younger, faster, and stronger?

According to Joel Sherman with the New York Post, the Yankees have what he calls the “Triple Crown” of rookies using WAR metrics:

NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 10: Welington Castillo /

“[T]he Yankees have the leader among rookie position players (Aaron Judge), rookie starting pitchers (Jordan Montgomery) and rookie relievers (Chad Green).”

The Orioles have to play the Yankees 19 times in the regular season. They also have to face the Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, and Toronto Blue Jays. These division games make up 46% of the Orioles’ games.

As these teams get younger via their farm systems and smart trades, they become more athletic and competitive. Just look at the rookies this season. Sure, Judge slowed down for a few series after the All-Star Game, but his 32 dingers are only one less than Giancarlo Stanton.

The Yankees have dropped nearly $30 million in salary between 2016 and 2017. And, at the end of this year, C.C. Sabathia will be off the books. According to Baseball Reference, the Yankees are still selling an average of over 38,000 tickets to each game. With this younger team, the Yankees are actually selling about 1,000 more seats per game than they did in 2016.

After Sabathia leaves, the Yankees will only have three players with contracts that extend past 2019. Aroldis Chapman currently has the longest contract with the Yankees. This does not sound like the Yankees of old.

In the AL East, the Toronto Blue Jays have the oldest team. When it comes to position players, they have the oldest team in the league with an average age of 31. The Orioles have the second oldest with an average age of 29, which puts the team 19th in the MLB.

When it comes to pitchers, the Orioles are slightly younger than other teams. The pitching staff has an average age of 28.2. The Blue Jays again have the oldest in the AL East. The youngest two teams are the Yankees and the Rays and both of those teams have farm systems that will keep stocking young talent.

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The Red Sox have a pitching staff that averages 28.4 in age, but is one of the most dominant in the MLB. Chris Sale doesn’t appear to be a fluke as he continues to throw an ungodly number of strike outs against every team he faces. In 20 at bats, Sale has struck out Adam Jones nine times. And, he’s done the same to Mark Trumbo. Manny Machado has good numbers against Sale, but he’s it out of the whole line up.

When it comes to talent, the Orioles have plenty of it. Manny Machado and Jonathan Schoop are no slouches on the diamond. But, as a team, the Orioles need work to compete with their division rivals. Just looking at the 2017 All-Star Game proves it. The Yankees had five players at the ASG, the Red Sox had three. Even the Blue Jays were able to send two players. But the Orioles just had one player. And so did the Rays who are not usually known for All-Star players – they just build them and trade them to other teams.

Next: Orioles Manny Machado showcases defensive skills

Can the Orioles honestly compete with teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays who continue to add to their talent by making smart trades? It looks like only time will tell.

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As the trade deadline looms, the Baltimore Orioles have remained quiet. But, their opponents in the AL East have not.

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