Hello, friends.
Here we are. The trade deadline day has arrived. Back in March, you might have optimistically hoped that in July, the Orioles would have held it together enough to be looking for pitching help, that there’d be a good enough team to be in the race but also still worth upgrading the rotation and the bullpen. Instead, the Orioles are not good and their pending free agents, we assume, will be gone by the 6pm deadline today.
Four relievers have been dealt by the team already through the month
of July. In order, that’s Bryan Baker, Gregory Soto, Seranthony Domínguez, and reportedly Andrew Kittredge. It is fairly safe to assume Ryan O’Hearn will be traded today, probably a good guess that Charlie Morton will be moved, and there are varying degrees of chance regarding Zach Eflin and Cedric Mullins.
Until last night, one unknown was whether Mike Elias will deal any player who he could control in 2026. That was answered late, in case you missed it because you were already asleep: The Orioles traded infielder Ramón Urías to the Astros for minor league pitcher Twine Palmer (that’s really his name), a 20-year-old who was drafted in the 19th round a year ago. Palmer has been pitching for Low-A Fayetteville, where the most interesting thing about his results is that he’s faced 175 batters this year and has allowed only three extra-base hits - all doubles, no triples of homers.
With this door having been opened by Elias last night, now the question becomes, will he deal another? Ramón Laureano and Keegan Akin are players with 2026 team control who you could make the case to trade if other teams are showing sufficient interest in them at this deadline. For Akin, “sufficient interest” might be “any interest at all.”
None of the players who the Orioles seem to have available are going to be enough to fetch the kind of talent that moved in one of yesterday’s trades. The Twins shipped their closer, Jhoan Durán, to the Phillies and received back two of the top six prospects in the Phillies system by the MLB Pipeline ranking, pitcher Mick Abel and young catching prospect Eduardo Tait. I just don’t see the O’s being able to get prospects at that level even if two of their tradeable assets are dealt together. They don’t have a Durán-level player to offer.
It doesn’t really help the Orioles create a market for their group of players that several teams that looked like fringe buyers a couple of weeks ago have fallen out and ended up as sellers. At one point in July, you could have made a guess for the Twins, Guardians, Cardinals, Giants, and Diamondbacks as buyers. Four of those teams have fallen out of the race and the fifth, Cleveland, is apparently waving the white flag following its closer being placed on administrative leave over suspicious connection to gambling activity.
If as many more players are dealt from the Orioles as it seems like could be dealt, the rest of this season could get weird, and not in a good way. Wednesday’s game included two guys in the Orioles bullpen who you’ve maybe never thought about and maybe will never have any good reason to think positively about: Elvin Rodríguez and Houston Roth. The rotation could get weird if two of the veterans are dealt.
An outfield trade presumably will mean it’s Dylan Beavers time, which is fun, and O’Hearn being moved should create playing time for Samuel Basallo whenever the Orioles are comfortable bringing him up. I’m still thinking around August 30 or so for that, though Elias has surprised me before. The trade of Urías is seemingly going to be an opportunity in the short term for Jeremiah Jackson, the guy who’s been dominating Triple-A pitching for the last month-plus.
There’s no game to focus on today, since the Orioles are off before starting a series in Chicago tomorrow. It’s just all day with as much time as you want to spend until the deadline wondering when the deals will happen, how many there will be, what the O’s will give up and what they’ll get back. It won’t make the team better this season. That’s not what it’s about. But hopefully it sets them up better for success in the next few seasons after this, because what’s happened this year has not been much fun overall.
Orioles stuff you might have missed
Orioles finally show their fans what could have been (Baltimore Baseball)
There’s something sad about a better version of the Orioles showing up for the last series or two before the trade deadline. If not for the April/May disaster, this roster could have been something. Now, the 2025 roster is getting dismantled.
Seranthony Domínguez switches clubhouses (FanGraphs)
The folks at FG contemplate the mid-doubleheader swap that the Orioles and Jays pulled off on Tuesday.
Orioles pitching prospect Braxton Bragg undergoes Tommy John surgery (The Baltimore Sun)
I’ve figured things were headed in this direction for a few weeks now and it’s a bummer to see that bear out. Bragg was really making a name for himself this season. Now he’s done until 2027.
The breakup between Aberdeen and the IronBirds comes to a head this week (The Baltimore Banner)
It’s looking like a long-speculated end to the relationship between Aberdeen and the IronBirds is happening soon, with the High-A affiliate set to transfer back to Frederick, where it had been until a few years ago.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
A variety of deadline day trades have been carried out in Orioles history on this day. The freshest in our memories came in 2018, when the O’s traded Kevin Gausman and dumped Darren O’Day’s salary for four players who made no positive impact on the Orioles, and also traded Jonathan Schoop for Jonathan Villar and two players of no consequence. Fire sales are bad, and we’ve probably got another one coming today.
There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 1999 catcher Mike Figga, 1977-78 pitcher Earl Stephenson, 1959-60 pitcher Rip Coleman, and 1954-57 outfielder Joe Durham. Durham passed away in Randallstown in 2016 at age 84 and is buried in a veterans cemetery in Owings Mills.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: economist Milton Friedman (1912), author Primo Levi (1919), actor Wesley Snipes (1962), country artist Zac Brown (1978), and hip hopper Lil Uzi Vert (1995).
On this day in history...
In 1777, friend of the young United States, Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette was honored by a Continental Congress resolution that granted him a commission with the effective rank of major general.
In 1971, Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin rode the lunar rover on the surface of the moon, becoming the first people to drive on its surface.
In 2012, noted Marylander Michael Phelps broke a record that had stood since 1964 for most medals won across an Olympic career. Soviet Union gymnast Larisa Latynina had held the record with 18 total medals; Phelps closed his Olympic career in 2016 with a total of 28 medals, of which 23 were gold.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on July 31. Have a safe Thursday.
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