ESPN just exposed how badly Mike Elias might’ve botched the deadline

The more time we've had to digest what went down at the trade deadline for the Baltimore Orioles, the more questionable everything looks. A poor start to the year that was mainly caused by the offseason neglect of the starting rotation forced the Orioles into sell mode at the deadline, trying to recoup long-term assets for players whose futures in Baltimore did not extend beyond the present.

As the dust has settled, there have been glass-half-full takes and glass-completely-empty ones, highlighting just how divisive general manager Mike Elias fared at navigating the turbulent deadline waters.

Elias would like fans to believe that this is just a temporary setback, a necessary pivot to address the current roster's failings while positioning the team to jump right back into the fray of contenders in 2026. However, a review by ESPN of the prospects Baltimore received shows that the controversial executive may have botched this opportunity to retool.

ESPN's ranking of the prospects traded shows that Orioles GM Mike Elias might have botched the trade deadline

In his breakdown, ESPN's Kiley McDaniel didn't just rank the top 97 prospects who were swapped at the deadline, but he also assigned them into future value tiers, with 60 being the highest ranking, indicating that the youngster in question is likely to be a future star.

Not only did the Orioles rank poorly in the actual rankings, with only one prospect, Boston Bateman, being ranked in the top-20, and Cobb Hightower coming in just outside the top-20 at No. 21, none grade out well with regards to McDaniel's future value (FV) tiers.

Bateman and Hightower both come in at 40+ FV, indicating they have a chance to become average starters. The rest of Baltimore's haul ranks below indicating that the most likely outcome for these youngsters is a reserve role at best, or a minor league journeyman at worst.

Given that Baltimore had two of the best available bats on the market in Ryan O'Hearn and Ramon Laureano, these rankings are disappointing for sure, and indicate that Elias went for a quantity over quality approach.

Moreover, the return is questionable given his stated goal of using short-term assets to swap for long-term assets that will help the club spring back into contention in 2026. Bateman and Hightower are the jewels of his return, but at 19 and 20 years old, respectively, both are toiling away in A-Ball and are a long way away from making a big league impact.

This almost makes it seem like Elias lacked a plan. If the idea was to flip veterans for youth that could help in 2026, why did he not target more seasoned prospects who are on the verge of being big league ready? If the plan was to get maximum talent back, why did he target raw youth without an elite ceiling?

Prospect ranking and projection is an inexact science, so perhaps with time the doubters will be proven wrong, but at this point, Elias's trade deadline can best be described as lacking a coherent vision, making it highly possible that he botched this opportunity.