Urgency is coming early to the last-place Baltimore Orioles, who might have to think about building for 2026 and beyond with the MLB trade deadline just over two months away.
Per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, Orioles officials have started “informing clubs” they will likely be sellers ahead of the trade deadline if they continue on their current trajectory.
Grayson Rodriguez, Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson would not seem likely to be among those moved since they are under team control through at least 2027.
Rosenthal specifically cited Ryan O’Hearn, who can become a free agent after this season, as a potential trade candidate. He is off to a fantastic start, slashing .338/.427/.550 with nine homers in 46 games.
Other notable players set to become free agents in the offseason include Zach Eflin and Cedric Mullins. Tyler O’Neill has an opt-out in his contract after this season.
It’s hard to find a bigger disappointment this season than the Orioles. They were coming off back-to-back playoff appearances in 2023 and 2024, with a young core of big leaguers and prospects that was the envy of virtually every MLB club.
Things have cratered for the Orioles to start 2025. Their 19-36 record is just 1.5 games ahead of the Chicago White Sox (18-38) for the worst in the American League.
If the Orioles do go into sell mode, acquiring starting pitching would seem to be their top priority. Their rotation has been dreadful this season. They have the third-worst ERA (5.60), fourth-fewest strikeouts per nine innings (6.92), highest home-run rate (1.81 per nine innings) and fewest FanGraphs’ wins above replacement (minus-0.1) in MLB.
There’s not a lot of help coming from the minors. Chayce McDermott, the No. 4 prospect in their system, is already in the big leagues and has an 8.22 ERA in a small sample size of 7.2 innings.
Patrick Reilly and Nestor German are both in Double-A, but neither one has the ceiling of a front-line starter that the Orioles so desperately need.
Even if trading a player like O’Hearn or Mullins doesn’t bring back a top-of-the-rotation starter, the Orioles have to give themselves as much pitching that’s close to the big leagues as they can to get back on track in 2026 if they can’t turn it around this season.
