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SB Nation    •   25 min read

Meet the Orioles’ new prospects

WHAT'S THE STORY?

Athletics v San Diego Padres
Photo by Chris Bernacchi/Diamond Images via Getty Images

This has been a tough week in Birdland, to cap off a tough half-season. After skidding to a 50-59 mark so far on the year, the Orioles decided to move many of their best and most beloved veterans: Ryan O’Hearn, Ramón Laureano, and Cedric Mullins, who’s been a Baltimore Oriole since 2018. It stings. Mark Brown summed up Thursday’s flurry of moves: “This has been a bummer of a day in Birdland and all we can do is hope that the pain pays off down the road.”

No quibble with that. Whatever is keeping you

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watching this season (or not), we all need to focus on the team’s future. For now, that means hoping that Mike Elias & Co. got a good haul this trade deadline for the nine—count ‘em, nine—players they moved.

There certainly was a lot of action, quantity-wise, with sixteen new prospects joining the fold. Let’s summarize the trades, and scrutinize the return—maybe even turn up a few bright spots.

Trade: Gregory Soto ~~> NYM for RHP Wellington Aracena, RHP Cameron Foster

Gregory Soto, we hardly knew ye. I’m not so mad at that. A July acquisition last year, the sometimes brilliant but often command-challenged Soto became a two-month rental for New York in exchange for two righty pitching prospects.

One is 20-year-old High-A starter/reliever prospect Wellington Aracena, who’s already been slotted in as the Orioles’ No. 22 prospect. In 64.1 innings as a Mets farmhand this season Aracena had a 2.38 ERA while striking out 84 batters. That’s nice. He was walking 4.9 batters a game, which is less great. While his fastball has heat (96-99 mph, topping out at 101) it’s more hittable than the speed suggests, and after a great cutter, he has a just-okay slider, curveball and changeup.

Command and pitch mix seem like real areas for improvement here, but here’s a look at the strikeout potential:

Cameron Foster is a 26-year-old reliever in Double-A, not a top prospect. This is his first year as a reliever, which I assume the Orioles think can boost his fortunes. This season, in 21 games between Double-A and Triple-A, Foster has two saves and a 2.97 ERA with 39 strikeouts allowed. Foster has a 94-96 mph fastball, to go with a curveball, cutter and a slider. He’s a big guy, and the curveball is big, too, as this footage from his Norfolk Tides debut on Tuesday night indicates.

Trade: Seranthony Domínguez ~~> TOR for RHP Juaron Watts-Brown

The fact that Seranthony Domínguez recently turned around his season with the advent of a splitter is what allowed the Orioles to make this, a seemingly solid trade for Double-A starter Juaron Watts-Brown, a guy with the potential to be a big-league starter, maybe even some time next season.

The 23-year-old has already been slotted in as the Orioles’ No. 9 prospect, which is either impressive or tells you that the Orioles’ pitching cupboard was really bare. Scouting reports describe the former third rounder as having a choice slider and a “whiff-heavy” curveball. His fastball could be zippier, and he walked 5.2 hitters per game in 2024. But he’s recently put on some weight, which is helping with velocity and durability, and this year he’s got an impressive 115 strikeouts in 89 innings.

Here he is, making a lot of hitters go fishing. I can see why people are excited about the slider; it’s got crazy movement.

Trade: Ramón Urías ~~> HOU for RHP Twine Palmer

Admittedly, it’s hard to be excited about dealing Ramón Urías for a Single-A pitcher with control problems (22 walks in 42 innings this year). Twine Palmer, a 19th-round pick in 2024, is not considered a top prospect, but he does have strikeout potential (see a pattern?). As Mark Brown pointed out, he’s been really good, however, at avoiding hard contact and surrendering extra-base hits, allowing just three doubles in 175 plate appearances.

I’m least enthused about this deal, although the fastball looks interesting.

Trade: Andrew Kittredge ~~> CHC for SS Wilfri De La Cruz

What, the Orioles also make trades for position players? The 17-year-old Wilfri De La Cruz is a shortstop who signed with the Cubs for $2.3 million just a year ago, and was ranked the Cubs’ 20th prospect this year. Scouting reports say he’s still trying to add weight to his frame, and at least one source is fuming that the 17-year-old is still light years away from an MLB debut. Then again, a switch-hitting shortstop is very much in Elias & Co’s wheelhouse.

Trade: Cedric Mullins ~~> NYM for RHP Raimon Gómez, RHP Chandler Marsh, RHP Anthony Nunez

Blah, it is not fun to see one of the franchise’s most beloved Orioles get dealt for a trio of Mets relievers, none of them top prospects. But as with the rest of the list, there is upside that’s not obvious from just the page.

Raimon Gómez, 23, is a hard-thrower but a 5-5 record, 4.63 ERA, and 6.43 BB/9 (gah!) in High-A is not particularly exciting. He can, of course, strike guys out (48 SO in 35.0 IP) and he hit 104 mph earlier this year. Intriguing, but sounds like he needs much work.

Chandler Marsh was an undrafted free agent last year, but he’s actually pitched very well in High-A ball as a Met. The 22-year-old Greensboro, NC, native went 4-1 with a 2.57 ERA, a 0.86 WHIP and 52 strikeout sin 42 innings. Marsh reads to me as a sneaky value acquisition. Here’s a look at the righty.

The 24-year-old Anthony Nunez has a really interesting story, having spent two seasons as an infielder in the Padres organization before transitioning to the mound, winning a D-II championship with the University of Tampa, then signing with the Mets as a free agent pitcher. Apparently his learning curve has been massively quick, because he’s already got two fastballs, a cutter, a changeup and a sweeper, stormed through the Mets’ farm ranks, and reportedly could be pro-ball ready as early as next year.

MLB Pipeline offers this encouraging tidbit: “Nunez is looking like a major find by Mets scouting and an early win for the group’s pitching corps, though now it will be up to the Orioles to polish him up for the big leagues.” I’m excited.

Here’s a brief look at him. He’s definitely built like a former infielder and has a wicked breaking ball.

Trade: Charlie Morton ~~> DET for LHP Micah Ashman

The pattern reemerges: the Orioles are counting on there being reasons to think that Micah Ashman is better than his organizational ranking. Ashman, an eleventh-round selection out of Utah in 2024, has little flash to his résumé. But he dominated at High-A this season, getting promoted to Double-A two games ago. You can’t complain with the 22-year-old’s 2025 numbers, with 46 strikeouts over 39.1 innings in High-A to go with a 0.76 WHIP and .164 opponent average. His walk rate—shocker!—is actually good: 1.91 free passes in nine innings.

Here’s footage of Ashman pitching at the 2025 Spring Breakout Game. In my mind, he definitely falls into “crafty lefty” territory—not a bad thing. I am very curious to see how Ashman does at Double-A Chesapeake. Another sneaky value acquisition, if it works.

Trade: Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano ~~> SDP for LHP Boston Bateman, RHP Tyson Neighbors, RHP Tanner Smith, IF Cobb Hightower, IF Brandon Butterworth, IF Victor Figueroa

As Mark Brown commented on the trade yesterday, this is an overwhelming list (which I suppose is meant to lighten some of the heartache of trading fan favorite O’Hearn and awesome-find-this-year Ramón Laureano), and some of these sound like fake names. For our sake they better not be. Already we find two, the pitcher Bateman and infielder Hightower, in the O’s revised Top 30 prospects list, and both were in the Padres’ Top 8, per Baseball America. The righty Neighbors and infielder Figueroa were also in the Padres’ Top 30. Let’s focus on those four.

Boston Bateman, 19, now the O’s #6 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, is hard to miss, as a 6’8,” 250-lb. lefty nicknamed “Sasquatch.” That’s fun. He was also a second-round Padres pick in 2024, with a $2.5 million overslot bonus, indicating he could have gone even higher. Bateman has been working as a starter in Low-A, posting 75 strikeouts in 68.1 innings and a 3:1 strikeout/walk ratio. He’s allowed just one homer to 291 batters. MLB Pipeline exudes:

Scouts dreamed on Bateman’s size and praised his makeup as part of the evaluation process, but the stuff was plenty good too, and it’s shown up so far as a pro. He touched 97 mph with his fastball and generally sat 91-93 during summer showcases and has again been up to 97 during his debut season. He throws from a high three-quarters slot and has both a slider and more of a 1-to-7 curve, though he doesn’t really throw the latter breaking ball. He continues to work on developing his changeup, a pitch he didn’t need much in high school.

Here he is, striking out nine a month ago. The delivery looks a little wild, but he is large, deceptive, and explosive.

Ah, yes, a high school 2B/SS who went overlooked in the draft. Cobb Hightower, 20, was a third-round overslot signing by the Padres out of North Carolina’s East Rowan High. He struggled early this season at Low-A, but was righting the ship in July. According to MLB, Hightower has good zone awareness, finds the barrel and has a repeatable swing, with potential to become “an above-average hitter in time” with “at least average power potential.”

Here is a brief look at Hightower in the box. It’s a compact, uncomplicated swing, and with a 6.6 in the 60-yard dash, you know Elias & Co. love the athleticism, as well.

Tyson Neighbors, 22, is a 6’2, 220-lb. righty out of Kansas State selected in the fourth round in 2024. As a reliever for San Diego, he scooted through the system this year, with a combined 1.85 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 64 strikeouts over 18 games at High-A and 14 in Double-A.

Here’s a look at Neighbors. This is a high-effort delivery from a near over-the-top slot, and while the fastball velo isn’t anything crazy, it seems to have explosiveness and ride, along with a slider and curveball.

At 6’5, 240 lbs, don’t confuse Victor Figueroa for a shortstop. The 21-year-old is another under-the-radar type, an 18th rounder from the JuCo ranks in Florida. Over 64 games between the rookie level and Low-A, he hit .318/.420/.588 and OPS’d 1.008. bust. That includes 33 extra-base hits. OK, I’m listening. It’s all about the power with this guy, but as Mark Brown noted that, even for a first baseman, he’s got defensive work to do. Here’s the big guy hacking it:

———

Anyway, lots of changes and departures. It’s all still a lot to get used to. But the lesson has been learned: the Orioles have stuffed their lower ranks with prospects, many of them pitcher. In particular, many of them prospects who don’t jump off the page, hype-wise, but are lately showing upward trends to make you think their value is underrated.

Which new addition are you most excited about, Birdland?

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