Orioles just proved in Padres series that Yankees should be very afraid

No one should be brushing off the Baltimore Orioles as some lifeless team just playing out the schedule. Just ask the San Diego Padres, who watched the O’s waltz into Petco Park, drag mud all over the carpet, and stroll out with a series win, all while leaving behind the cargo they had shipped west just a month ago in Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano.

And to be clear, that’s no knock on those two veterans. In fact, O’Hearn and Laureano have arguably been the best thing going for San Diego since the Padres sent six minor-league prospects to Baltimore to get them. But the irony stings. The Padres thought they were strengthening their roster for October, only to get humbled by the very team they “raided” at the deadline.

Yankees’ playoff path could collapse if Orioles keep playing spoiler

That’s the danger of teams sitting outside the playoff picture. They’re the ones you can’t game-plan for. They’re playing loose, playing hungry, and treating every at-bat like it might decide their future. For prospects like Dylan Beavers, who’s slashing .314/.426/.451 in his first 16 games, it’s a chance to flash potential. For fringe big leaguers, it’s an opportunity to fight for their careers. And when that kind of desperation is packaged together? You get a group like the 2025 Orioles: unpredictable, irritating, and exactly the type of spoiler no contender wants to see in September.

Now, San Diego is quietly rooting for the Orioles to carry that same chaos back east against the Dodgers. But the real team that should be sweating bullets is the New York Yankees.

The AL East has been chaos all year. Many picked the Yankees and Orioles to run the division, with the Red Sox pegged as the possible surprise. Instead, it’s the Toronto Blue Jays sitting atop the standings, about three games clear of the Yankees, while Boston is knotted up with New York in the Wild Card race.

Right in the middle of it, waiting to swing a chair, are the last-place Orioles.

The Yankees’ biggest problem isn’t just their looming three-game sets against Toronto, Boston, or Detroit. It’s that their schedule ends with seven games against Baltimore in the final week and a half of the season. Seven chances for a spoiler team to wreck their October dreams. Seven chances for the Yankees to stumble against a team with no pressure, no leash, and every reason to play reckless.

Combine that with a brutal lead-in stretch, a series each against three teams in contention themselves — and you’ve got a gauntlet fit for the Yankees’ worst nightmares. Baltimore just proved in San Diego that they aren’t rolling over for anyone. 

So sure, the Yankees have stars. They have payroll. They have pressure. But the Orioles? They have nothing to lose, and that’s what makes them terrifying.

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