The Baltimore Orioles have been one of the most disappointing teams in baseball this season, and a certain MLB Insider believes that they are likely to sell off certain players in their organization at this year’s trade deadline, which is at the end of July.
The Orioles came into this season with aspirations bigger than just making the playoffs, but their front office didn’t do them any help by not adding a frontline starter, and the departure of Corbin Burnes has hurt them in many ways. Baltimore is just 23-36 this season and sits in last place in the American League East. They have won seven of their last nine games, but the hole they’ve dug themselves into may be too big to climb out of.
What Will They Do at the Deadline?
MLB’s trade deadline is still a couple of months away, and there is still plenty of baseball to be played, but The Athletic’s Jim Bowden broke down a couple of teams and what they may do come the end of July. Here is what he had to say about the Baltimore Orioles:
“After losing their best starter in free agency to the Diamondbacks last offseason and their next best starter (Grayson Rodriguez) to the IL this season with elbow inflammation, the Orioles will need to listen to trade offers on the rest of their rotation to begin their reboot in earnest. Tomoyuki Sugano is having a solid first year in MLB (3.23 ERA over 11 starts), but heâs 35 years old. Zach Eflin will be a free agent at seasonâs end, so dealing the righty for prospects and then trying to re-sign him in the offseason probably makes sense. Also, despite his poor start to the season, if Charlie Morton (6.20 ERA) can put together a string of good outings, heâs another veteran who could be traded.”
Bowden goes into detail on how the starting rotation has been a big mess for the Orioles this season, and is likely the reason that they will be “sellers” at the deadline. With Rodriguez on the Injured List, and a bunch of other non-productive starters, it might be the right time to try and reboot the youth in that rotation. He names Cedric Mullins, Zach Eflin, and Ryan O’Hearn as most likely to be moved.
Should Mullins Be Moved?
Baltimore Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins is currently on the IL with a hamstring injury, but should be healthy enough come the deadline. He has still been one of the more productive hitters for Baltimore this season, and is still a plus defender in center field. Some teams that could use center field help are the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. Mullins is hitting just .232 this season, but has 10 home runs in 50 games.
As for the other names mentioned, like Eflin and O’Hearn, O’Hearn is hitting .335 in 50 games. And Eflin, with an ERA of 4.46, which is slightly high, has had some good starts in a row. That may help his case to potentially be moved.
There is still a full two months of baseball left before that deadline, but if the Orioles don’t turn it around before then, look for some of these players to have new threads come August.
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