Orioles and Phillies could scratch each other's backs with this swap of disappointing former top prospects

The Baltimore Orioles look more and more like trade deadline sellers every single day. With the team's focus shifting from this season to the future, the Orioles goal for this upcoming deadline should be to walk away with multiple starting pitching prospects who could conceivably provide an impact at the major league level next year to bolster the Orioles ' perennially weak rotation.

The Philadelphia Phillies are once again in the hunt for a World Series. They have one of the best rotations in all of baseball with multiple Cy Young-caliber starters under team control for multiple years. Their one weakness is their lineup, which falls off a cliff after their top three hitters.

The Phillies have more pitchers than they need and the Orioles don't have hardly any

With the Orioles needing young pitching and the Phillies needing any kind of offense, the two teams are well-positioned to come together on a deal that could satisfy both needs.

The Phillies' worst starter this year has been former top pitching prospect Andrew Painter. Through 12 starts, Painter had a 7.06 ERA and a 5.51 FIP. In the 14 total games that Painter pitched in before being sent back down to the minors, the Phillies went 3-11; clearly, his presence in the rotation was detrimental to winning.

The Phillies best players are all older. Their competitive window is open now, and it's hard to say how much longer it will stay that way. They need to capitalize, and while the current version of Painter can't help with that, he still has value as a trade chip that could be leveraged to bring in helpful players. That's where the Orioles come in.

The Orioles could send a pair of offensive players to the Phillies in exchange for the struggling starter. In this mock trade, the Phillies would get Taylor Ward and Coby Mayo, and the Orioles would get Painter.

Ward helps with the Phillies' most imminent need, which is the fact that they are getting almost no offense from their outfield. He would immediately settle in at the top of the Phillies batting order, and his .400 OBP in front of Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber would be very valuable. Getting 24-year-old Mayo and his five and a half seasons of control helps make up for the fact that they would be giving up on Painter very early. Mayo has been crushing lefties this year and could play the role of platoon bench bat for the Phillies during a playoff run. Going forward, they could choose to continue his development at third and have him be the Alec Bohm replacement, or they could try him in the outfield.

Painter would get to reset with the Orioles after years of sky-high expectations and injury troubles in the Phillies system. The Orioles would have nothing to play for, so Painter could take his lumps and learn what he needs to learn at the big league level during the rest of 2026 to prepare to be an impactful arm going forward.

Painter has struggled at preventing runs this year, but he throws a lot of pitches, stuff+ doesn't hate his arsenal, and he has solid command. There is a good pitcher in Painter; he just needs an opportunity to find it. He's a little bit reminiscent of the Orioles current top pitching prospect, Trey Gibson, as far as the fact that they're both young guys with wide arsenals who need to figure out how to be successful without a great fastball.

This has the potential to be the bones of a great win-win trade for these teams. If either side were to feel like they need a little more, some lesser-known prospects could be lumped in to even things out and get the deal done.

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