Baltimore Orioles: a new vibe at the deadline

The Baltimore Orioles are going into trade deadline with several different scenarios in play, a great sign in year four of the front office’s rebuild.

Some have drawn parallels between the current team and the 2012 Orioles with similarities like unpredictable wins, group effort and a magnificent bullpen. The last two times MLB has implemented new playoff system (2020 notwithstanding), the Orioles have appeared in October each time. Will 2022 be the third?

The 2018 season was painful. The core of the 2012-16 teams had departed. The new regime started after 115 losses and a new goal: fill the pipeline (draft, international and trade for prospects).

Since then, the Orioles have assembled one of the best farm systems in all of baseball, which will get even better with the incoming 2022 class.

Baltimore Orioles: a new vibe at the trade deadline

After three full seasons with that plan, the Orioles are in an improved position. The O’s currently sit at 51 wins. The 2021 team had 52 wins and finished with the worst record in baseball.

There are good vibes all around and fans are clamoring for improvement via the trade market to help the Orioles in the Wild Card race, from guys like Juan Soto or more realistic options like Pablo Lopez.

From other point of view, it’ll be time for trade some veterans to create room for prospects to play in majors regulary like Kyle Stowers, for example. All of us don’t want to see Trey Mancini in another uniform, but it’s baseball business.

Well, which path Mike Elias should take?

• Target players with control years and trade for them mid-term plans?
  – Trade for players with MLB experience and fill the roster in conservative mode. It’ll be beneficial for starting rotation when Grayson Rodriguez arrives next year (Lopez, Jose Urquidy);
• Trade a few veterans for prospects and a new wave comes to Baltimore?
  – For fan base, it’ll be tough. But the prospects deserve a chance in MLB to prove themselves in the majors (Stowers, Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, DL Hall, etc.);
• A blockbuster trade for a superstar?
  – Unlikely. Obvious, the if O’s trade for Shohei Ohtani or Soto Birdland will celebrate (like Delmon Young’s double in 2014). But it’s not an Elias type move.
• Stick with this roster, roll the dice, and see what happens?
  – Why not? The 1989 team shocked the baseball world and almost won the AL East. This roster might be capable of completing what the 89′ team couldn’t. 

In a lot of ways, the Baltimore Orioles have so many options to follow and see what happens. In the begining of the season, it was unthinkable. The rebuild will take another step in Birdland.

We’ll see on Tuesday.