How Should the Orioles Approach the Trade Deadline?
For the Orioles, this year's trade deadline lies ahead of them as a fork in the road. How exactly should they approach it?
With the season tipping over the halfway point and July growing closer, the best trade deadline of the Big Four sports is nearly upon us.
As big names like Tarik Skubal, Byron Buxton, and Yordan Alvarez swirl around trade talks (again), the next few weeks will be filled with addicting rumors, speculation, and reports.
For the Baltimore Orioles, the trade deadline lies ahead of them as a fork in the road. One way leads to a surrender of the season and retooling for 2027. The other way is an all-in gamble in hopes the team gets hot to end the year.
After the investments made in the offseason, giving up on the season will be a hard decision to make. The talent, at least on paper, is there to flip things for the good quickly. However, that same talent has failed to get over .500 despite a middling American League.
Can the Orioles patch their holes well enough to get things back on track, or should the team’s front office do as much as they can to position themselves for a better 2027?
Who Could the Orioles Bring In?
After a fire sale during the 2025 trade deadline, the Orioles have a chance to put themselves as buyers this season.
The group that would stand the most to gain from some trade acquisitions would be the bullpen. A surprisingly positive start to the year for the bullpen has diminished thanks to injuries and poor performances.
The Orioles are in desperate need of arms that can be trusted in high pressure situations. While some of the arms can show out from night to night, having reliable arms that can be counted on day in and day out will be critical to getting into the playoffs.
Outside of Aroldis Chapman, the O’s will have to get creative on who they would want to bring in.
A leading candidate should be AJ Minter who currently resides in the New York Mets’ bullpen. In the month since the lefty has returned from a lat injury, the 32-year-old has impressed.
While Minter’s body of work is only 14 innings, a 2.12 xERA alongside strong rankings for walk rate and hard-hit percentage should be strong enough to take a flyer on an arm who’s contract is up at the end of the year.
In 2025, the southpaw recorded an opponent .259 OPS with one hit across 16 plate appearances.
Minter’s experience in the playoffs and high leverage cannot be overlooked as well. As part of the Atlanta Braves’ 2023 World Series run, the lefty was a crucial piece in their bullpen.
Another arm that could intrigue the Orioles front office is Colorado Rockies reliever Antonio Senzatela.
The 31-year-old is having a career year in the Rocky Mountains after posting a 3.07 ERA, 73.2 left-on-base percentage and a career best 7.38 K/9. A recent blow-up outing has skewed some of his full-season numbers, so don’t let that blind you.
After nine seasons as a member of the Rockies rotation, Senzatela moved to the bullpen for 2026. The move has proven to provide quite a boost for the veteran arm.
In addition to wildly improved numbers, Senzatela has also gained over two miles an hour on his fastball, putting his heater into the 79th percentile in Run Value. With a $14 million dollar club option for 2027, the righty could be a move that pays dividends beyond this season as well.
In terms of offense, the Orioles are limited on where impact players could be slotted in.
Barring the surprise trade of one of the team’s core young players, many of the O’s positions in the infield are already spoken for. With Taylor Ward also becoming an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, a trade for a right-handed hitting outfielder makes the most sense.
However, the current trade market for those kind of players is slim. The two leading candidates would be Byron Buxton and Seiya Suzuki who both have full no-trade clauses. The two next best options would be Bryan Reynolds, who is under contract through 2031 and would require a haul of prospects in return, or Jo Adell who is under team control until 2028.
With the limited market, the Orioles would have to take a big swing to land an impact bat at the deadline.
Waving the White Flag
The other option the team faces at the deadline is selling off whoever they can as they did in 2025.
Another fire sale at the deadline could see several big names who are set to be free agents at the end of the year depart. Pending free agents Trevor Rogers, Andrew Kittredge, Keegan Akin, and Ward could all have new homes come August 4.
While he has several years of control left, reliever Rico Garcia could also draw attention from teams in need of bullpen help. The Orioles may not have the same level of talent on the block this year as they did in 2025, but if a couple of players do find their way to the trade block teams will certainly come calling.
At some point the front office will have to decide whether keeping these players and risking them leaving in free agency is worth making a push for the postseason. Could they live with rejecting offers for Rogers and Ward if they decide to make a push and come up short?
In 2025, the team came away from the deadline with lots of prospects to help beef up a system that was drained. Two arms in Anthony Nunez, who came from the Mets in the Cedric Mullins trade, and Cameron Foster, who arrived in Baltimore via the Gregory Soto trade to the Mets, have both made their major league debuts this season.
Reliever Michael Ashman, who the Orioles picked up the in the Charlie Morton trade to the Detroit Tigers, made a name for himself on the national stage with Team Canada at the World Baseball Classic tossing three innings of one-run ball.
However, many of the bigger names that came to Baltimore like Boston Bateman and Cobb Hightower from the San Diego Padres in the Ryan O’Hearn/Ramon Laureano trade and Juaron Watts-Brown in the Seranthony Dominguez trade to the Toronto Blue Jays have failed to make waves down on the farm.
So, can the team bring in talent from players that get traded away that can help this team win before their championship window closes.
Big Decisions to be Made
With a little over a month left until the trade deadline, everything is still up in the air on what the Orioles will decide. A quick turnaround could give the front office the confidence they need to be buyers, but more of the same could make the team sellers yet again.
On June 27, Mike Elias said “we’re going for it” in terms of what to expect at the deadline. After a crazy offseason full of moves, it is clear that the front office is in the deal-making mood.
A lot can change in a month’s time. With the AL wild-card standings still open for anyone’s taking, maybe adding the right piece can get the Orioles into that elusive final wildcard spot.
Things could also be alot worse by then. With the skid the O’s are currently facing, being in contention for that spot may be a unrealistic.
Ultimately, the success of this team lies in the hands of the players already on the squad. Without more consistent production on each sides of the ball it will not matter who the front office brings in at the deadline.
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Written by
Tommy is an avid fan of baseball, especially in the Charm City. Tommy covers the Orioles for Just Baseball with the dream of working full time…