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Baltimore Orioles and the Trade Deadline

By Nate Wardle

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The trade deadline is one of the most anticipated parts of the baseball season. But, the Baltimore Orioles are likely to be quieter than their fans hope this year.

That isn’t due to lack of trying. The Orioles have been rumored to be interested in, or are scouting, players like Cole Hamels, Johnny Cueto, Carlos Gomez, Justin Upton, and Jay Bruce.

Do you think any of these are coming to the O’s? If so, who are you trading? Kevin Gausman? Hunter Harvey?

One baseball writer says the Orioles, with the injuries to Hunter Harvey and Dylan Bundy, have the worst farm system in baseball. I’d say it is hard to disagree with that.

Sure, the Orioles have been winning across their minor league affiliates this year. But the talent is not the same as what other organizations have. Especially when it comes to position players.

Bundy at this point is a high draft choice who may never make it anywhere, sadly. Gausman is unproven, as is Harvey, who has also dealt with injury issues.

Tyler Wilson and Mike Wright are not great trade chips.

That’s not to say the Orioles don’t have some players that will likely be good major leaguers. Players like Mike Yastrzemski, Trey Mancini, Josh Hart, Oliver Drake, Zach Davies, Dariel Alvarez, Mychal Givens and more.

But, I also believe the Orioles value some of the players more than other teams do. The Orioles clearly are getting things done, but it isn’t the same way that some other major league teams are doing it.

I think the O’s will make at least a few moves at the deadline. On Wednesday, they have to make a move to get Kevin Gausman in the rotation. My guess is that either Ryan Flaherty will be sent down, since he has options, or that Chris Parmelee will be designated for assignment.

I also think that a trade out of the bullpen could be coming. Maybe Brian Matusz, maybe Tommy Hunter.

However, there is precedent to the Orioles making a significant deal around the deadline recently. In 2011, Koji Uehara was traded to the Texas Rangers for Tommy Hunter and Chris Davis. They also traded Mike Gonzalez to the Rangers after the non-waiver deadline in August, getting Pedro Strop in return.

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In 2012, the Birds traded for Jim Thome in June from the Philadelphia Phillies for Gabriel Lino and Kyle Simon. They also waited until after the non-waiver deadline and acquired Joe Saunders from the Arizona Diamondbacks for Matt Lindstrom. Saunders would go on to be one of the team’s starters in the playoffs, including starting the first ever AL Wild Card game.

In 2013, the Orioles made deadline deals for pitching, bringing in Bud Norris for L.J. Hoes, Josh Hader and a competitive pick. They also traded Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop for Scott Feldman and Steve Clevenger. Both of those trades don’t look very good at this point, but I wouldn’t second guess either of them.

The Birds also traded Nick Delmonico to the Milwaukee Brewers for Francisco Rodriguez, who did not fill the closer role the way the team expected.

Xavier Avery was also traded at the end of August for Michael Morse. That didn’t go well either.

In 2014, the team traded Eduardo Rodriguez to the Boston Red Sox for Andrew Miller at the last second of the trade deadline. This move paid big dividends, as Miller was absolutely spectacular down the stretch.

Two other deals were made at the end of August, trading Mark Blackmar and Miguel Chalas to the Chicago White Sox for Alejandro De Aza. Also, the O’s traded Ivan De Jesus and Jemile Weeks to the Boston Red Sox for Michael Almanzar and Kelly Johnson.

Look back at these deals. Of the minor leaguers the O’s traded, only Rodriguez has really had an impact on the major leaguers. However, out of all the players traded for only Chris Davis, Tommy Hunter and Bud Norris are in the major leagues for the Birds.

The last point I want to make is the moves made in the even years, 2012 and 2014, in hindsight look much better than those made in odd years.

Maybe based on that alone, the Orioles should stay put at the trade deadline this year.

Next: The O's and RISP

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