Mike Elias' message ahead of trade deadline isn't urgent enough for Orioles' situation

The moment the Baltimore Orioles fired manager Brandon Hyde earlier this season, it seemed clear that the Orioles were on track to be a seller at the MLB trade deadline. With the deadline next week, Orioles' general manager Mike Elias confirmed that selling will indeed be the theme of the team's moves over the next several days.

“When we’re at this point in the standings and 11 days away from the trade deadline, we’ve got to be realistic about our situation,” Elias said. “The conversations I’m having right now are more oriented toward what’s out there for some of our available major league players. We’re not blowing up the team."

The available players on the Orioles' roster are obvious. Ryan O'Hearn, Cedric Mullins, and Charlie Morton likely are the top trade chips the Orioles hold ahead of the deadline. Trades involving O'Hearn and Mullins have felt inevitable for much of the past month, and with Morton turning the corner from his early-season struggles, the veteran starting pitcher will have a market, considering the lack of true aces available ahead of the deadline.

The Orioles' front office doesn’t sound desperate — and that’s a problem

Elias stated the obvious when revealing that the Orioles will be sellers at the deadline, but he stopped short of saying that the team would engage in a fire sale at the deadline. The difference between the Orioles moving their impending free agents and the front office being willing to move controllable players could be what determines how quickly they can return to contention.

With an eye on contending in 2026, Elias seems to be depending on the production from the regressing roster returning to the mean and the injuries that have derailed this season not being a factor moving forward. It's that type of complacency that set the stage for the Orioles to be the most disappointing team in baseball this season.

As the deadline approaches, Elias needs to be comfortable making the uncomfortable decisions. If there is a player who is under control beyond this season, but could get a haul of prospects at the deadline, the decision needs to be made to move that player. Moving rental players only moves the needle so much and won't solve all that has gone wrong with the Orioles' season.

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