Orioles: Recap of a Busy Trade Deadline in Baltimore

Orioles trade Mancini and Lopez while adding Brett Phillips and pitching depth.

Mike Elias and the Baltimore Orioles front office were put in a unique situation when the Orioles got within a couple of games of a playoff spot after a 10-game win streak right before the All-Star break in July. Before the win streak, the consensus seemed to be that the Orioles would be obvious sellers at the deadline for the fifth season in a row, but the narrative then became that the Orioles could possibly look to add MLB talent in pursuit of their first playoff appearance since 2016.

However, despite the on-field success the Orioles decided to sell at the deadline and add minor-league pitching depth with the trades of Trey Mancini and Jorge Lopez. The reaction of Birdland to these trades has been mostly negative since the Orioles traded away two key pieces to a team that could compete for a playoff spot down the stretch. With the deals, the Orioles also added Yusniel Diaz and Nick Vespi to the active roster and traded for Brett Phillips from the Rays. Let’s look at each trade individually as the Orioles look to finish off the second half of the season. 

Orioles Acquire: Seth Johnson and Chayce McDermott Astros Acquire: Trey Mancini

For the Orioles’ sake, Seth Johnson, Chayce McDermott, and Trey Mancini are the important names in this deal as the Rays were also involved and received Jose Siri from Houston. Of course, trading Mancini was always going to be an unpopular move amongst the Orioles fanbase because of all of the reasons that made him a fan favorite. For the purposes of this article, I will not talk much about his off-the-field storylines as most of that was covered by fellow Birds Watcher writer Josh Linn.

On the field, Mancini was having a solid season for the Orioles with a 114 OPS+ and will benefit from playing in a much easier ballpark for right-handed batters in Houston. He has a mutual option at the end of the season that he will decline in order to test free agency, and now he has a legitimate chance to win a World Series this season. The O’s also add two solid pitching prospects in the deal in Johnson and McDermott who both have had electric stuff and some command issues in Single-A. Johnson is due for Tommy John Surgery soon so he will not pitch for the Orioles farm system until likely 2024.

Despite the surgery, Johnson is the eighth-ranked prospect in the Orioles system as he was a first-round pick by the Rays in 2019 out of Campbell University. He started seven games this season for the High-A Bowling Green Hot Rods where he pitched to a 3.00 ERA in 27 innings pitched with an extremely impressive strikeout rate of 13.7 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched as well as a 3.73 K/BB rate. According to Pipeline, he has a solid fastball and an above-average slider which could allow him to be a part of the rotation in several years and could even be a top rotation piece if his command improves. Outside of the fastball and slider, Johnson’s other pitches have below-average grades and those will need to improve before he makes an impact for the Orioles.

McDermott comes in as the O’s 12th-ranked prospect according to Pipeline with three above-average pitches in his fastball, curveball, and slider. He has struggled with control in his professional career as he has walked more than 5 batters per 9 innings for the High-A Asheville Tourists this season. He also has a 5.50 ERA in 19 games and 72 innings pitched in his first professional season as he was a fourth-round pick out of Ball State last season. The big factor as to whether or not McDermott becomes a mainstay for the Orioles in several years will be whether or not he can harness his command. This trade seems like a successful trade for the Orioles as they add key pitching depth and get rid of an expiring contract which will open up the DH spot for the rest of the season.

Orioles Acquire: Brett Phillips. Rays Acquire: Cash Considerations

Other than Yennier Cano, Brett Phillips is the only player with MLB experience that the Orioles added to the system and right now it looks like Phillips will join the Major-League roster as a left-handed outfield bat. Phillips has played for the Rays over the past few seasons and has struggled offensively with a .147/.225/.250 slash line in 75 games this season. Most of his value comes defensively where he has had 38 defensive runs saved over his career as an outfielder and a career Ultimate Zone Rating of 25.3. The defensive metrics have been a little worse for him this season compared to years past, but he still provides valuable defense. This move is somewhat surprising though since the Orioles are not lacking outfielders with Anthony Santander staying in Baltimore and Ryan McKenna having been a more than competent fourth outfielder this season. Phillips does provide another left-handed bat for the Orioles lineup but he likely would not get consistent at-bats unless they are willing to play him in the outfield and move Santander to DH.

Phillips has become a fan favorite in St. Petersburg over the past couple of seasons because of his quirkiness and ability to show light-heartedness and a jovial spirit on the baseball field. He became a household name to baseball fans after hitting an insane walkoff against the Dodgers in game four of the 2020 World Series. The Rays were down to their final strike before Phillips hit a double that scored Kevin Kiermaier as the tying run and eventually Randy Arozarena as the winning run due to a wacky sequence of events. Since then, Phillips has been known for his positive spirit and will hopefully bring positive vibes to an Orioles team that continues to rack up wins despite losing Mancini and Lopez.

Ultimately, there is any number of directions that the O’s could have decided to go this deadline, but they decided to stick with the rebuild and add young pitching depth while trading away fan favorites. While the moves were not well-received by much of the fanbase, the moves do make sense from a baseball standpoint. Even if the Orioles were to make a playoff spot this year, it is unlikely that they would compete with the Yankees, Astros, Dodgers, and Padres who only got stronger over the past several days with blockbuster moves, and adding depth helps the team in the future. It is tough to see a competitive team get weaker, but it will hopefully all be worth it when Cade Povich is starting in Game 7 of the 2025 World Series at Camden Yards.