Orioles just erased one major trade deadline chip with surprise contract extension

As the trade deadline approaches, the Baltimore Orioles have made it very clear that they intend to play both sides of the market and attempt to pull off a buy-and-sell strategy. One of the most popular names being discussed as a potential trade chip the Orioles could send out to get back either a real prospect haul or even a win-now piece was former All-Star setup man Yennier Cano. Those rumors are all going to be for nothing, as the Orioles announced that they are signing Cano to a two-year extension with a team option for the 2029 season. Cano's going to be an Oriole for a long time.

This is an interesting contract becuase Cano was still under team control for the next two years, so it's not like he was going to be a free agent and walk if the Orioles had not signed him to this extension. Cano was making $1.6 million this season in his first year of arbitration. The contract he just signed guarantees him $7.5 million over the next two seasons. Based on how reliever salaries rise in arbitration, this deal probably gets him maybe $1 million more than what he would have received if he had just gone through the normal arbitration process.

The Baltimore Orioles will not be trading Yennier Cano

So the benefit to Cano is a very modest raise over the next two years, and the benefit to the Orioles is that if he is still good in 2029, they can exercise his team option and keep him around at a very reasonable $ 10 million. It's a good deal for both sides, where each side gets what they want without having to give up very much at all.

Cano was originally a throw-in in the very unpopular Jorge Lopez trade when the Orioles sold at the 2022 deadline despite being just a couple of games out of a playoff spot. Nobody expected much from him, but in 2023 he started the season with 11 straight innings without giving up a hit, walk, or a run (a single hit by pitch makes it so you can't say perfect). That excellent start propelled him to the All-Star Game, and he, along with All-Star closer Félix Bautista, was an elite 1-2 punch at the back of the Orioles bullpen, helping to carry them to 101 wins and a division title.

Cano declined a bit during the 2024 and 2025 seasons, but in 2026 he has bounced back and looks once again like his reliable self, pitching to a 2.25 ERA with a 2.50 FIP. Some of the advanced stats would tell you he's been better than he was in his All-Star season. The Orioles must agree becuase in signing this extension, they are taking a potentially very valuable trade chip off the table.

Just before the extension was announced, President of Baseball Operations Mike Elias spoke to the media and either intentionally or unintentionally threw cold water on any Orioles fans hoping that the team might lean heavier into the buyer side of their reported buy/sell approach. The Cano extension, right after a demoralizing press conference, makes the picture around the Orioles trade deadline strategy feel even murkier than ever.

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