Orioles get a redo on a prospect they just traded to the Rays this past offseason

The trade tree between the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays continues to get more complicated as the two teams have agreed to a trade that sends Orioles reliever Tyler Wells to the Rays in exchange for former Orioles prospect, turned Rays prospect, and now Orioles prospect again, Michael Forret. This is the latest of three trades between the Orioles and Rays in which similar players have gone back and forth.

This all started last July when the Rays traded the Orioles a first-round pick for reliever Bryan Baker. The Orioles used that first-round pick on Slater De Brun and then included De Brun in the prospect package for starter Shane Baz, along with Caden Bodine, Michael Forret and Austin Overn. Now the Rays have sent Forret back to the Orioles for Wells.

The Orioles and the Rays continue to swap the same players back and forth

This is an interesting series of trades. The Orioles have gotten a good season out of Baz and should feel good about having him in the rotation for the next five seasons. On the other hand, Bryan Baker is now an All-Star closer, Caden Bodine is a top 100 prospect, and now the Rays are getting their hands on the Orioles' best reliever this year, just in time for the playoffs. As good as Baz has been, it's hard to argue the Orioles have come out on top after this series of moves.

As far as getting Forret back, there are a couple of ways to look at it from the Orioles side. On one hand, Forret has spent a year developing with the Rays, who are notoriously very good at developing arms. On the other hand, the Rays are sending him back.

Forret has had a good season; he dominated Double-A to start the year but has struggled since being promoted to Triple-A. He does not have impressive raw stuff that screams potential late-inning weapon, so if he makes it to the majors, it will either be as a fifth starter or as a middle-innings swingman. That can be valuable, but the Orioles have a lot of arms in the upper minors who profile as back-of-the-rotation starters/swingmen. Was it really worth giving up Wells, who had established himself as a late-inning option for the Orioles, to get another low-ceiling arm like this?

If your goal is to build a winning team at the big-league level, then the answer is no. If your goal is to improve your farm system rankings by stockpiling 40 FV arms, then yes. It's clear what's most important to the Orioles front office.

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