Mike Elias’ comments indicate more high profile call-ups, moves could be coming soon

Could the Orioles be gearing up for some big changes with so many position prospects waiting for an opportunity?

Eric Cole

Milwaukee Brewers v Baltimore Orioles / G Fiume/GettyImages

The Baltimore Orioles have one of the best problems to have: too much talent. In addition to having one of the absolute best young rosters in all of baseball right up there with the Braves and Dodgers, their minor league system is absolutely loaded with position player talent. That level of depth comes with a ton of benefits, but it also makes finding playing time very tricky.

So far, the Orioles have been able to find a way to make it work. After getting roasted by basically everyone for not carrying Jackson Holliday on the Opening Day roster, they reversed course and promoted Holliday to the big leagues and have still found playing time for most of the kids they carried initially. However, Heston Kjerstad, Coby Mayo, Samuel Basallo, Connor Norby, and others are still waiting in the wings without a clear path to big league playing time in Baltimore.

Orioles general manager Mike Elias seems to be acutely aware of the situation Baltimore is currently in. When asked about the Orioles' depth in the upper levels of the minors, Elias was quick to point out that a lot can happen over the course of a long season including injuries, but he also said that Baltimore isn't going to sit around and let guys rot in Triple-A, either.

Orioles could be gearing up for some big moves in 2024 with their prospect depth

The easiest solution for the Orioles would be to take the guys who are crushing it in the minors and use them as internal upgrades for the big league roster. That could be bad news for guys like Austin Hays, Ramon Urías, and/or Anthony Santander, who are struggling to start the 2024 season, but great news for guys like Mayo and Kjerstad, who are clearly men amongst boys in the minors right now.

Alternatively, Baltimore could finally use their prospect hoard to start making some high profile trades at the trade deadline. We could have already gotten a preview of that strategy when Baltimore went out and traded for Corbin Burnes before the season. Given that the Orioles could still use some more starting pitching even if they decide to promote Cade Povich, don't be surprised if Elias and the front office make a big play at the deadline and at least one of these big name prospects gets moved.

More Orioles News from Birds Watcher

Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.