Orioles rumors: MLB insider connects Orioles to flamethrowing reliever

There's a growing confidence among Orioles fans that Mike Elias will leverage some of their prospect depth at the trade deadline to acquire a starting pitcher. The O's have been linked to a number of starters thus far and while the list of available options is thin, they almost certainly won't go into October with Dean Kremer in the expected playoff rotation.

However on Thursday evening, MLB insider Jon Heyman dropped a bit of a bomb on us. Heyman mentioned that the Orioles have more prospect depth than anyone else on the market, which is a given. But he also mentioned that the O's have been aggressively pursuing both starting pitchers and relievers over the past couple weeks.

Heyman specifically linked the Orioles to the flame-throwing Mason Miller, who is currently the Athletics' closer. Miller's name was thrown around earlier this year as a potential trade chip but there was an expectation that he'd command such a significant prospect haul in return that the consensus was nobody would pay up for him.

It still seems unlikely that the Athletics would move Miller unless they feel overwhelmed by a trade offer. But if there's any team that has the ability to make a trade like that happen, it's Baltimore.

The Orioles have enough talent in the pipeline to acquire an impact pitcher at the trade deadline

With four players currently in MLB Pipeline's Top-100 prospects list, the O's are suited to move at least one highly regarded minor leaguer in order to bolster their major league pitching staff. Realistically, there's no chance that the Orioles would consider moving Jackson Holliday for Miller, and it feels unlikely that they'd move Samuel Basallo either.

But would a package of players starting with someone like Connor Norby entice the A's enough to open up a conversation? Or maybe building something around one of the O's top pitching prospects, either Cade Povich or Chayce McDermott, would move the needle for Oakland.

As it stands, the Orioles have a number of major league ready prospects and nowhere to play them. We have plenty of evidence to suggest that Norby and Coby Mayo are ready for consistent MLB time, and Holliday has already made his debut in Baltimore. And that doesn't consider the glut of outfielders fighting for playing time right now.

It's tough to blame Elias for not wanting to trade away too much prospect depth, or to be worried about overpaying for an MLB asset. But eventually, something has to give. The O's need to deal from a position of strength to address their current weaknesses. If they don't, there's a significant chance they'll regret the decision come October.