Orioles could reunite with former top prospect to solve their third base problem

After losing Jordan Westburg to a season-ending elbow injury during spring training, the Baltimore Orioles' third base position was in flux. In what feels like a rare instance of good fortune, the Orioles happened to have just traded for Blaze Alexander just days before the Westburg injury update, and after a slow start to the season, Alexander became the Orioles' most consistent bat in the lineup and took over the majority of playing time at third base. Now that Alexander is set to miss a large chunk of the second half of the season, the Orioles' third base position is back in flux.

Replacing Alexander is going to be hard. The Orioles' current infield depth chart of Mayo, Holliday, and Jackson is not a great option defensively at third base, and having any of them take over as the primary third baseman would leave an already weak Orioles defense even more vulnerable. It is also worth mentioning that Alexander was hitting over .300 on the season, and it's an absolute guarantee that nobody with a batting average over .300 is going to be traded at this deadline. The Orioles are simply not going to be able to get someone capable of what Alexander was doing offensively to replace him.

The Orioles' best bet at replacing the value that Alexander was providing would be to target a player who will bring a high floor of defensive reliability at third so that at least that side of the game is taken care of. If that's going to be their strategy, there is one familiar name that stands out as a great trade target for the Orioles: Joey Ortiz.

Joey Ortiz has the exact skillset that the Orioles have been missing

This may sound a little strange considering that Ortiz plays for the Brewers, who are going to be buying and not selling at this deadline, and also becuase Ortiz has a not-so-appealing sub- .600 OPS, but it could actually make a lot of sense for both the Orioles and the Brewers.

From the Orioles' side, Ortiz is a defensive savant and legit difference-maker on defense, which is how he's been able to be a positive WAR player over the last two seasons despite having a wRC+ of 68 over that span. That defensive ability gives Ortiz an incredibly high floor in the sense that if the Orioles made him their everyday third baseman for the rest of the season, they could be very confident that he'd be a positive WAR player over that span. The same cannot be said for any of the Orioles' current third base options.

From the Brewers' side, they are a legit contender and have an excellent roster from top to bottom, where Ortiz is the one real weak link. Now that he's been moved off shortstop in favor of Cooper Pratt, the fact that he struggles so much at the plate is much harder for the Brewers to stomach, and as they look for a way to upgrade their roster in preparation for a playoff rematch with the Dodgers, third base is a spot where they could be getting a lot more production. The Brewers are in a position where they could go all in for a Matt Chapman, or Issac Paredes, or C.J. Abrams. If they got any one of those guys, Ortiz would not have much of a role left on this team, so if the Orioles came calling with a modest trade package, it could make sense to get something for Ortiz rather than demote him to triple-A as infield depth.

It's a real, "one World Series contender's weak link is a Wild Card hopeful's load-bearing third baseman" kind of situation.

As far as what it would take to get Ortiz from the Brewers, the package might look similar to what the Orioles gave up for Alexander back in February. Both players are infielders in their late twenties with multiple years of control remaining. Looking at the Orioles system, they could use some of the prospects that they got at last year's deadline to get the deal done. Maybe something like Tyson Neighbors and Cobb Hightower for Ortiz, and both sides call it good.

If the Brewers are intent on holding onto Ortiz, then the Orioles should continue to look around the league for a defensive specialist who could fill a similar role at third.

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