Orioles cash in massive trade chip in deal for Marlins lefty Trevor Rogers

The Orioles continued their trade deadline push, acquiring left hander Trevor Rogers from the Miami Marlins in exchange for a couple top prospects.

In what looks to be an extreme sellers market, the Marlins took advantage of the Orioles, getting infielder Connor Norby and outfielder Kyle Stowers back in the deal.

While the Orioles were long rumored to be in the market for another starting pitcher, even after the Zach Eflin deal, adding Rogers won't be the trade that most fans were hoping for. Rogers isn't a star. He's pitched to a 4.53 ERA in 21 starts this year and has just one season with an ERA below 4.00 in his career.

The lefty is now three years removed from his last great season. He posted a 2.64 ERA in 133 innings back in 2021 but has had trouble staying on the mound ever since. He dealt with a variety of injuries over the past two years, including forearm tightness and a lat strain that held him to just 4 starts in 2023.

He'll slot in at the back of the O's rotation, likely working alongside Dean Kremer and Albert Suarez in competition for the fourth and fifth rotation slots. The move arguably improves the back of the O's pitching staff but admittedly not by much.

Did the Orioles overpay for Marlins starter Trevor Rogers?

In exchange for the middling starter, the Orioles shipped out what were thought to be two significant trade chips in Norby and Stowers. Norby was recalled to Baltimore after the Jorge Mateo injury last week.

Norby had appeared in just 9 games with the Orioles and hadn't hit well, but his performance in Triple-A was excellent. Though he doesn't hit the ball all that hard, Norby had posted a .297/.389/.519 slash line in Norfolk this year, which was an improvement on his numbers in 2023.

Norby had essentially exhausted his time at Triple-A, getting over 1,000 plate appearances at Norfolk before getting the call to Baltimore. He'll likely slot into Miami's lineup immediately.

Stowers had spent the last three seasons bouncing back and forth between Norfolk and Baltimore. He'd started to come into his own in 2024, batting .306 with decent outfield defense. Most of the prospect shine had fallen off him thanks to elevated strikeout rates in the majors but he'd still proven to be a viable piece of the Orioles' puzzle.

With Rogers on board, one could assume that the Orioles are done adding starting pitchers at the deadline. There's still room to add another reliever or potentially an impact hitter, however. We'll see how the rest of the afternoon goes and what else Mike Elias has in store for us.