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Orioles must remain sellers at trade deadline despite recent winning

At 27-40 and 8 1/2 games back of the third wild card, the Orioles need to accept that 2025 is not their year.
ByAndrew Bassan|
The Orioles have players to trade. With their current standing, there's little doubt what the O's should do at the trade deadline.
The Orioles have players to trade. With their current standing, there's little doubt what the O's should do at the trade deadline. | Brandon Sloter/GettyImages

The return of key players Colton Cowser, Jordan Westburg, Cedric Mullins, and Ramon Laureano, coupled with a recent hot streak, may tempt the Baltimore Orioles into standing pat at the trade deadline or worse, turn them into "buyers." The Orioles should not give in to such temptation.

In the simplest terms, 2025 has been a disaster for the Orioles. The team came into the season with World Series aspirations: well-respected Orioles writer Jake Rill predicted the Orioles would reach the Fall Classic this year. But a series of injuries, poor starting pitching & clutch hitting, and top prospects failing to perform, the Orioles find themselves with the third-worst record in the American League at 27-40. While the O's still have 95 games left on their schedule, it seems unlikely they can climb out of the deep hole they have dug themselves.

With that said, there is no question that Baltimore is playing better. At 16-34, the Orioles began their best stretch this season, winning nine of their next 11 games. But just as it seemed the Orioles had perhaps turned a corner - and were making one final run towards competing for a playoff spot - they inexplicably dropped two out of three games to the homeless Athletics, a team that came into the series 2-20 in their previous 22 games. The Orioles followed that up with a more understandable series loss to the Detroit Tigers, with Tarik Skubal reminding Orioles fans how great life would have been had they somehow acquired him last season.

To be sure, the Orioles have attractive pieces to sell. Ryan O'Hearn, who is on pace for his first All-Star appearance, represents an inexpensive 1B/DH option for contenders, and his .871 on-base plus slugging percentage and .307 average lead the Orioles in those categories. O'Hearn is an unrestricted free agent in 2026, and with Coby Mayo, Ryan Mountcastle, and even Heston Kjerstad still around, there is no guarantee O'Hearn will be back next season.

In addition, Laureano, whom the Orioles signed to a one-year deal shortly before Spring Training, could be another attractive piece for a competing team seeking right-handed power. By moving Laureano, the Orioles could bring Kjerstad back into the fold for regular at-bats and even give prospects Dylan Beavers and Jud Fabian an opportunity in August or September.

Orioles should be sellers at the 2025 trade deadline and restock for 2026

Similarly, if the Orioles become sellers, they can dangle two of the better available arms on the market in Zach Eflin and Tomoyuki Sugano. Both Eflin and Sugano are free agents after 2025, and with Grayson Rodriguez, Kyle Bradish, and Tyler Wells hopefully returning to Baltimore's rotation in 2026, the Orioles can afford to deal Eflin and Sugano to restock a sinking farm system.

While the Orioles should be sellers at the 2025 deadline, that is not to say that they need to enter a rebuild. They simply need a retool, punting 2025 to be better in 2026. Indeed, the Orioles should be looking to trade O'Hearn, Eflin, and Sugano for pieces that can help them win in 2026 and beyond, not lottery tickets that may or may not improve the team in 2028.

On Thursday, Bob Haynie and Ryan Ripken (who has become a top Orioles content creator since hanging up his spikes) compared Baltimore's 2025 position to the 2024 Toronto Blue Jays. On 105.7 The Fan's Baltimore Baseball, Haynie and Ripken identified the Jays as a trendy 2024 World Series pick, before the team limped to a last-place finish at 74-88.

The Jays were sellers at the 2024 deadline, but have bounced back in 2025, currently sitting at 38-30, good for the top wild card spot in the American League and second place in the AL East. After dealing Yusei Kikuchi and Danny Jansen at the 2024 deadline, the Jays had a busy offseason, adding Anthony Santander, Max Scherzer, and Jeff Hoffman. While none of those moves have panned out thus far, the Jays had no problem pivoting from being sellers amid a disappointing season and bouncing back to compete for a playoff spot in 2025.

The Orioles should look to do the same this season by restocking their farm system and adding some players to help them get back into contention next season. At 27-40, it seems to be their only realistic option.

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