Orioles rumors: Contenders yearn for Adley Rutschman, potential Taylor Ward landing spots and bullpen arms to watch

The MLB trade deadline is today, and several members of the Baltimore Orioles are becoming more popular by the minute. The Orioles are currently 2.5 games out of a playoff spot. That's typically a range where teams would get the green light to do some buying, but everything that President of Baseball Operations Mike Elias has said in the last week indicates that they are more likely to be sellers than buyers, and on Friday the Orioles made their first selling move, swapping Dean Kremer for a teenage outfielder in Low-A. As the deadline approaches today, everyone on the Orioles with two or fewer years of team control left on their contract has the potential to get traded.

As many of the catchers that were believed to be potentially on the move at this deadline have either gotten hurt or been marked as untouchable by their teams, Adley Rutschman has picked up steam as a trade target for any contender who is looking to add at the catching position. The teams most commonly linked to Rutschman have been the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Rangers, Pirates, and White Sox. Even if the Orioles were dead set against trading Rutschman, having such a deep market of teams with strong farm systems is intriguing enough to get the conversation going.

In order for Adley Rutschman to be traded the Orioles have to consent to the deal

Reportedly, that's what's been happening. The Orioles are listening to the offers that teams are bringing to them for Rutschman. Mike Elias, in his most recent press conference, basically told the media that the Orioles have played themselves into the position where they have to be willing to listen becuase what they have done so far is not working.

In the last 24 hours, the rumors of a potential Adley Rutschman trade have gotten more frequent, with people all over the internet claiming that "sources" are telling them that the talks are "intensifying" or "nearing the finish line" or whatever. An important thing to remember is that if these sources are real, they are almost certainly not from inside the Orioles front office. Any version of an Adley Rutschman trade rumor you hear is coming from the team that wants the Orioles to trade him. The Orioles are not leaking info to New York-based insiders or Yankees Podcasters.

There is a difference between the Orioles leaking that they are close to trading Rutschman and a junior assistant to the general manager of a team trying to trade for Rutschman telling an insider, "We really, really, really want Adley Rutschman." One of those things is a credible rumor, and one of those things is wishful thinking.

That doesn't mean that Rutschman won't be traded. The Orioles front office is very analytical, and if another team puts an offer on the table that they can't refuse, then they won't refuse. That price to get Rutschman is going to be very high; it wouldn't be surprising at all if the Orioles are asking for more than what the Tigers got back for Tarik Skubal. With the asking price being so high and Rutschman currently on the IL, the chances of a team meeting that price are low.

A name that is much more likely to be traded is Taylor Ward, who has been having an enigmatic season for the Orioles. He was acquired for his power bat, which has been completely disappointing, but his impressive .383 OBP makes him a fit for any team looking for a right-handed bat, plus the team knows that the power is there even if it's been dormant for most of this season.

Ward has been connected all season to the Phillies, where he'd be a great fit, but the Pirates, Yankees, Guardians and Rangers have all recently shown interest in the Orioles left fielder.

Ward is a pure rental, so that limits the return the Orioles are going to be able to demand, but as seen in the recent Curtis Mead for Connelly Early trade, right-handed bats are going to go for more than you'd think. It'll be interesting to see what the Orioles can extract in exchange for two months of Taylor Ward. If they can get a top 10 prospect from any of these organizations, it'll be a win. If they get a top five prospect from any of the aforementioned orgs, they'll be partying in the Warehouse.

With so few sellers out there, the Orioles' veteran bullpen arms like Andrew Kittredge, Tyler Wells, and Rico Garcia could quickly become valuable trade chips. This time last year, the Orioles flipped Kittredge to the Cubs for prospect Wilfri De La Cruz. If any team came by with an offer similar to that, the Orioles would likely jump at the opportunity to cash in on Kittredge again. Wells and Garcia are less likely to move, and Wells has settled in as a key contributor in the pen, while Garcia has been a disaster for the last two months, but if a team brings a worthy offer to the table, it wouldn't be shocking to see them traded.

Should the Orioles do a bullpen firesale for the second year in a row, hopefully the front office will remember to actually replace the players being traded in the offseason and not just roll the dice on a bunch of waiver claims like they did this year to disastrous results.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow