The Orioles didn’t just trim around the edges at the deadline. They made a clear sell-off, even if the front office wants to dress it up differently. Mike Elias may want to frame it as something softer, but the moves tell the story: the first player Elias ever drafted was sent to a division rival, the club moved the starter who had thrown the most innings in the rebuild, dealt its top relief arm and shipped out its regular leadoff hitter.
What came back was a grab bag of lesser pieces - fringy AAAA types, a swap of backup catchers and a reliever from Seattle who, by the source’s account, ranks among the worst in baseball. That’s not the kind of return that changes the direction of a roster. It’s the kind of deadline that signals more coming.
The deal involving Adley Rutschman is the one that cuts deepest in the telling here. The source argues Rutschman had run out of runway in Baltimore, pointing to years of not catching regularly, a rough stretch as a DH in the American League and power that had faded. He hadn’t delivered impact offense since June of 2024, and by the deadline he was seen as blocked at catcher and first base and unwilling to stay.
In return, the Orioles added a bilingual veteran catcher to support Samuel Basallo, who is 21 and expected back from the injured list soon. They also picked up Anthony Eyanson, a top arm the source says qualifies among the group of pitchers Baltimore targeted, with the note that even Elias probably can’t ruin him and that he should reach the rotation by the All-Star break next season if healthy.
One of the more pointed notes in the reporting is the belief that Baltimore’s new catcher situation could help Basallo, while Rutschman’s future in Boston is expected to be rocky. The source also says there will be a new skipper in Baltimore in 2027 after the current manager, described in harsh terms, failed to handle Basallo properly.
Another name that stands out is Forret. The source makes clear that Baltimore wanted him back after dealing him to Tampa in the winter for Shane Baz, and even suggests he could make a start or two for the Orioles this season. He projects as a mid-rotation arm, which is part of why the Rays were interested in him in the first place.
The Wells move drew just as much scrutiny. The source says Tampa typically has a good reason when it wants one of your young arms, and that Wells could have mattered a lot to Baltimore next season.
He has filled just about every role imaginable - starter, set-up man, bulk arm and closer - and after coming back from injuries, he had become a winning ballplayer again. The criticism here is that the Orioles pushed him around too much and now will watch Tampa try to turn him into a real weapon, the same way it did with Bryan Baker.
Then there is the broader complaint about how Baltimore handled its veterans. The source says the club waited too long for the new offensive profile of one hitter to take hold, noting that the promised power never really mattered because he didn’t want to swing the bat.
He was ineffective at Camden Yards and with runners on base, and by August his value and salary both looked inflated. The source calls it poor asset management and says Elias has a habit of failing to sell high.
Still, there was at least one upside in the source’s view: no more watching that bat hit leadoff or clean up, and no more keeping Dylan Beavers out of the lineup when he should be leading off regularly. But the return itself is blasted as useless for the major league club, with the reliever described as someone who will actively make things worse.
The deadline also stripped away more than just star power. The source argues that once a team is this far down the road, expiring-contract veterans like Andrew Kittredge and Tyler O’Neill should be moved too, even if ownership doesn’t want to eat money. The message is blunt: if the front office wanted to truly reset, it should have pushed harder and done more.
Instead, the Orioles are left in the middle - not fully torn down, not meaningfully strengthened, and apparently already looking ahead to another round of the same cycle. The source sees this as a preview of the next sell-off, with Gunnar Henderson eventually the headline and the organization again trying to sell hope in March before pulling the roster apart later.
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The timing mattered for a team trying to find some footing after the deadline, and Rogers delivered in the kind of outing the Orioles were hoping to see more often. Baltimore backed him with long balls from Tyler ONeill, Coby Mayo and Leody Taveras, scoring all five runs via the home run, and the result was back-to-back victories that offered at least a temporary lift as the roster settles into its next phase. [Read more 🡒]
Trevor Rogers Has Forced A Tough Orioles Decision
Trevor Rogers has turned a late-season run into a real conversation for Baltimore, and his latest outing only added to it. At Camden Yards, Rogers and Reid Detmers both pitched well in a game the Orioles won 5-2 over the Angels, a reminder that even in a year defined by roster turnover, Baltimore still has a few arms capable of stabilizing things down the stretch.
Rogers has been strong in recent starts, enough that the Orioles are weighing what comes next as he heads toward free agency. With Baltimore still hanging around the Wild Card race after dealing key players at the deadline, his performance has made the left-hander one of the more interesting decisions on the board this offseason. [Read more 🡒]