What's next for the Orioles after gut wrenching Adley Rutschman trade

Adley Rutschman was the face of this Baltimore Orioles core. During his time as a prospect and throughout his career as an Oriole, Rutschman carried the mantle of "franchise savior," a near-impossible expectation to live up to. Rutschman was the perfect foundation for a rebuild. Catcher is one of the most important defensive positions, and his ability to switch-hit made it easy to fit him into any lineup and build around him. The Orioles built some great teams around Rutschman, as well as some not great teams, but it always felt that if he was healthy, behind the plate and hitting at the top of the order, the Orioles had a chance. Now that the Orioles have traded him away, fans are all left asking the same question: What next?

The answer comes in two parts. The first part is the rest of the 2026 season. That part is perhaps the bleakest. Despite the Orioles reportedly wanting to buy and sell at this deadline, they really only sold. You can squint at Carlos Narvaez and Alex Hoppe and see replacement players for Adley Rutschman and Tyler Wells, but it's a for-sure downgrade, and there was no attempt to replace Taylor Ward and his .383 OBP or Dean Kremer, who was not great but will now be replaced by a worse starting pitcher.

The Orioles have the potential to be a good team in 2027 if they can learn from their past mistakes

The team was barely keeping its head above water with these players on the roster; without them, the Orioles' chances of closing the 2.5-game gap between them and the final Wild Card spot feel slim to none. There are things that could propel them forward. Any number of the Orioles' young former top prospects could break out; Gunnar Henderson remembering how to play baseball would change things, and maybe Trey Gibson will come up and pitch better than Kremer had been.

In 2024, the Tigers sold at the deadline and then made a playoff run, so it can happen, but that's just wishful thinking. Most likely, the Orioles will gently slide further out of the playoff picture over the next month, and then in the last month of the season some of their top prospects in Triple-A will get called up and they'll see what they have in guys like Enrique Bradfield Jr., Nestor German, and others. It's not an exciting rest of the season to look forward to, but that's the deal the Orioles made.

What's more interesting is the second part of the "what's next?" question, which is: how do the Orioles compete in 2027? As disappointing as this Orioles season will be, they should go into 2027 with several key pieces in place to build a competitive team.

Here are the position players that, without making any moves at all, the Orioles will have on next year's team that the team should have some amount of confidence can be starter-level players: (what year they hit free agency in parentheses)

C: Samuel Basallo (2034)
1B: Pete Alonso (2031)
2B: Jackson Holliday (2031)
SS: Gunnar Henderson (2029)
3B: Blaze Alexander (2031)
LF: Dylan Beavers (2032)
CF: Colton Cowser (2030)
RF: Tyler O'Neill (2028)
DH: Jordan Westburg (2030)

So without doing anything, the Orioles have the makings of a decent lineup. They shouldn't want to run back this same group that so massively underperformed this season, so even though they have names they can slot into these starter roles, the team should be looking for upgrades, especially in the outfield where O'Neill has been a black hole, Cowser has basically become a defense-only type player, and Dylan Beavers is still unproven.

The recently acquired Carlos Narvaez is a good fit as the second catcher with some offensive upside, and Jeremiah Jackson is an acceptable bench bat to have around. Additionally, Enrique Bradfield Jr. has the makings of an elite fourth outfielder/pinch runner to bring off the bench.

This doesn't even mention names like Coby Mayo, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, and Ryan Mountcastle, who contractually could be on the team and play a role but shouldn't be considered ideal roster fits. Encarnacion-Strand could end up sticking around as depth, but Mayo should be traded to a team that needs a first baseman. Mountcastle will likely not have his option picked up.

In total, when it comes to the position player side, the Orioles should be looking for a reliable veteran bat, most likely in the outfield (what Tyler O'Neill was supposed to be), and then solid defensive players to add to their bench. Outside of that, they are pretty well set on that side of the ball.

As usual, the pitching side is what needs a lot more work. As of right now, the Orioles only have three of their current rotation members under contract for next season and beyond.

Kyle Bradish (2032)
Shane Baz (2030)
Brandon Young (2032)

That's a pretty solid start to build on; the fact that all of these guys are under team control for so long allows the Orioles to have a very thought-out plan for their rotation of the future.

They need to avoid making the mistake they've made the last two offseasons, when they convinced themselves their rotation was good enough to forgo adding a top-of-the-rotation ace. Even if they love Kyle Bradish and Shane Baz, they need to add what's been the missing piece for years: a true No. 1 starter.

For the other spot in the rotation, bringing back Trevor Rogers, who has been open about wanting to stay in Baltimore, is a great option. Whether that's on the franchise tag or the two parties are able to work out a contract, either way, Rogers should be a welcome addition.

On top of potentially adding an ace and maybe Trevor Rogers, it's also exciting to look at the Orioles internal pitching options that could fill out the back of their rotation/ provide depth over the course of the season. The Orioles' upper minors pitching talent has not been this strong in decades.

In Triple-A right now, the Orioles have the following starters (bolded if they appear on a notable top 100 list):

Trey Gibson
Michael Forret
Luis De Leon
Nestor German
Levi Wells
Juaron Watts-Brown

Their double-A arms that could debut in 2027 are perhaps even more impressive.

Anthony Eyanson
Joseph Dzierwa
Caden Hunter
Braxton Bragg
Patrick Reilly

With this many top pitching prospects in the upper minors, the Orioles should be able to supplement their rotation as needed, move some of these arms to the bullpen, and trade some of them to help patch other weaknesses.

Speaking of weaknesses, the last part of the team that needs to be addressed for 2027 is the bullpen. The Orioles sold all their best arms at the 2025 deadline; they then made a weak effort to backfill all the arms they lost with two offseason moves and a bunch of waiver claims and underqualified rookies, and now at the 2026 deadline they've somehow sold from that position again.

If the Orioles want to be a serious team in 2027, the bullpen needs to be the primary focus of their offseason. They extended Yennier Cano, and that's great, but outside of Cano, nobody in the Orioles bullpen set to be under contract has pitched well enough this season to be considered a lock to be in the Orioles bullpen next season. Certain guys may earn their keep in the last few months of 2026, but as of right now, the plan should be to bring in three to four reliable bullpen arms in the offseason. If the Orioles cheap out on their bullpen again in the upcoming offseason, that'll be a good sign not to take them seriously in 2027.

As bleak as things look for the Orioles right now, there is a path to them being a very good team in 2027. They just need a veteran bat, a top-of-the-rotation starter, and a handful of bullpen arms, and they'll have a very complete roster. If this sounds familiar, that's because it's almost exactly what they needed after last season and the front office failed to put the pieces together. If they've learned from their mistakes, the upcoming offseason will look different and next season will look a lot better. Unfortunately, this front office has a poor track record of learning from its mistakes.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow