CHICAGO — Overnight, the Orioles clubhouse has flipped.
A season that started with so much excitement and potential is instead essentially over in August, after general manager Mike Elias sold off six players for a haul of prospects — all but one of whom is in Double-A or below — at Thursday’s MLB trade deadline.
Add in three deals from earlier in July, and there are nine players suiting up for new teams Friday: right-hander Bryan Baker, left-hander Gregory Soto, right-hander Seranthony Domínguez, infielder Ramon Urías, right-hander Andrew Kittredge, center fielder Cedric Mullins, first baseman Ryan O’Hearn, outfielder Ramón Laureano and right-hander Charlie Morton.
After dealing Urías, Kittredge, Mullins, O’Hearn and Laureano before the deadline Thursday, the Orioles brought up infielder Luis Vázquez, outfielder Jordyn Adams, infielder Terrin Vavra, right-handed reliever Yaramil Hiraldo and infielder Jeremiah Jackson.
“We were in a position to have to sell because of a very disappointing first half,” Elias said. “This is not how we envisioned the season going and it’s something we are taking a hard look in the mirror about how we got here. I think a lot of it was bad luck, but there’s also things we need to improve on as an organization and we’re going to do that.”
The focus for the Orioles is now on 2026. Here are the highlights from Elias’ remarks the morning after a busy day of trades.
Elias apologizes to fans
Elias has taken responsibility for how this season has gone multiple times. On Friday, he apologized to fans, many of whom trusted him to bring them into glory days after an agonizing rebuild.
“We’re sorry that 2025 has gone this way,” Elias said. “A lot had to go wrong and it has. We’re addressing that and part of that is doing the right thing by the talent in the organization with the deadline, and between the draft and deadline, we’ve had an enormous injection of talent to the organization that is going to benefit us short term, but also long term. It needed to be done. We executed well in those constraints.”
It’s true that more has gone wrong beyond what Elias can control — the Orioles have been bogged down by injuries all season, with core players such as Jordan Westburg, Colton Cowser, Adley Rutschman, Grayson Rodriguez and Tyler O’Neill, among others, all missing significant time. But Elias also needed to do more in the offseason to supplement the team, most notably acquiring a No. 1 starter to replace Corbin Burnes.
So does that mean he will change his approach this winter?
“I don’t like saying aggressive or not aggressive,” Elias said. “We want to be good, we want to be smart, we want to have it be effective. Signing Ramón Laureano was probably not an aggressive move, but it paid great dividends. Just trying to get good results, it’s not easy. That’s why there’s so much fierce competition among 30 teams.”
Potential future trade chips
While the prospects the Orioles acquired at the deadline have the potential to help the team in the future, likely none of them will be ready to help them win in 2026. The Orioles also traded away four players who were under team control next season, in Baker (set to reach first year of arbitration), Kittredge ($9 million club option), Laureano ($6.5 million club option) and Urías (final year of arbitration).
So how exactly do these moves help the team in 2026?
They don’t, unless the Orioles are willing to trade the newly acquired prospects away.
“A lot of the players we got back were in the lower part of the minor leagues, but you can use players to trade for the near term, and then also it can pay off in the long run,” Elias said. “So I just look at it in terms of overall talent, wealth, for the organization, and making the most of an opportunity that you have that you don’t want to have at the trade deadline.”
Elias was successful in this when, prior to the 2024 season, he sent infielder Joey Ortiz and left-hander DL Hall to Milwaukee in a deal for Burnes, a former Cy Young winner.
His major deal at last year’s deadline, when he gave up Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers for Trevor Rogers, has been more of a mixed bag. Rogers was demoted after four starts last season, pitching to a 7.11 ERA as Baltimore looked to build its depth for an October run. This year, however, he has looked downright dominant, and figures to be a major part of the rotation next year.
Stowers, meanwhile, has blossomed into an All-Star with Miami and has a .298 batting average and 23 home runs this season, and Norby is hitting .241 with a .653 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.
The players the Orioles acquired this July are in lower levels of the minor leagues than the prospects used in those trades, but the Orioles have options now that they’ve restocked their prospect pool.
Time for prospects?
Samuel Basallo and Dylan Beavers, the Orioles’ No. 1 and No. 3 prospects according to MLB Pipeline, have both looked strong in Triple-A Norfolk. Basallo is hitting .273 with a .984 OPS and 20 home runs, while Beavers is hitting .304 with a .414 on-base percentage and .916 OPS.
Does that mean they’ll debut later this season?
“Yeah, I hope so,” Elias said. “They are both having terrific seasons, they’ve both been bright spots for this organization in a tough year. To see them performing in Triple-A like that is really good. They’ve come a long way, they’re almost there. There are some things that we’re still looking for and hoping that they’ll do, but I do think getting them a taste in 2025 here would be a good thing for all parties.”
The Orioles certainly have the roster spots open now, ones they filled in the interim with the likes of Adams, an outfielder hitting .185, and Vavra, a utility player who hasn’t played in a major league game in two years, but who the Orioles seem to always have in their back pocket.
For both prospects, Aug. 15 is an important date to watch. If a player is called up before then and they stay the remainder of the season with the team, they will burn their rookie eligibility and the Orioles will lose a year of control. The same rule applies if they come up after Aug. 15 and get more than 150 at-bats before the end of 2025.
The Orioles have reiterated that they have a plan for Basallo, who is only 20 years old. They want him to be ready to stay when he comes up, like they did with Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman. Interim manager Tony Mansolino used Jackson Holliday as a comparison last month — Holliday, who grew up in major league clubhouses trailing after his father, Matt Holliday, was able to handle the disappointment of being optioned. They don’t want Basallo to go through that.
In a perfect situation, Basallo would be called up as a hybrid third catcher and designated hitter, with the potential of getting some time at first base as well.
Beavers can play center field but profiles more in a corner outfield spot. With Laureano and Mullins gone, there is a clear path to playing time for Beavers the rest of the season and next year.
