For Orioles fans looking for a postseason team to latch onto, the Tampa Bay Rays have suddenly become a pretty easy sell.
With Baltimore out of the picture, some fans have turned their attention to the World Series that begins Friday - and several have found themselves pulling for Tampa Bay against the Milwaukee Brewers. That makes sense. The Rays are loaded with familiar faces from recent Orioles rosters, enough to give this Fall Classic a distinctly Baltimore flavor.
Bryan Baker is the headliner. Traded in July 2025 for a competitive balance-round draft pick, the right-handed closer was one of the American League’s best late-game arms this season, tying Cleveland’s Cade Smith for the league lead with 41 saves.
He’s carried that form straight into October, where he has been a force in the Division and Championship Series. In seven scoreless innings, Baker has allowed one hit and two walks while notching five saves.
Tampa Bay also has Tyler Wells, who arrived on August 3 rd in a deal that sent right-hander Michael Forret to Baltimore. Wells went 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA and two saves in 14 games before a month-long absence because of right forearm tightness. He was left off the active roster for the Division Series win over Chicago, then gave up four runs on five hits in 3 1/3 innings while striking out five in four LCS games.
Cedric Mullins is another former Oriole now wearing Rays colors. He was traded to the New York Mets in July 2025, then signed with Tampa Bay before this season.
Over 31 games, he hit .205 with a .628 OPS, 15 home runs, 48 RBIs and 21 steals in 31 attempts. His postseason work has been limited, but he did contribute in the LCS, hitting his second postseason homer in Game 1.
He was hitless in two at-bats during Tampa Bay’s three-game sweep of the Yankees in the Division Series.
Jorge Mateo joined the Rays on August 13 th after beginning the season with the Atlanta Braves and then getting released. In 32 games, he batted .141 with a home run, seven RBIs and nine steals. This October, he has mostly filled a small but useful role, pinch-running in four games and playing second base in two of them.
There’s even more Orioles history on Tampa Bay’s staff and roster. Former Orioles manager Brandon Hyde is spending the year as the Rays’ senior advisor of baseball operations.
He’s been in uniform before home games, worked with Tampa Bay’s minor league teams and scouted postseason opponents. Cole Sulser, who saved 13 games for the Orioles in 2020 and 2021, is also on the Rays.
The Brewers have their own Orioles ties, though, and they’re not small ones. Joey Ortiz, Gary Sánchez and left-hander DL Hall all came through Baltimore recently.
Ortiz and Hall were dealt to Milwaukee in February 2024 in the Corbin Burnes trade. Ortiz, Baltimore’s fourth-round pick in 2019, played 134 games this season and hit .270 with a .730 OPS, nine home runs, 47 RBIs and a 2.6 WAR.
Hall, the Orioles’ first-round pick in 2017, had injuries interrupt his time in Baltimore. He went 4-1 with a 4.36 ERA and one save in 33 innings across 29 games in 2022 and 2023.
With Milwaukee, he was 4-0 with a 1.91 ERA in 47 games, though he also missed nearly two months with a left pectoral strain. In four postseason appearances, he has given up four hits in 5 1/3 scoreless innings, with three strikeouts and two walks.
Sánchez also spent time in Baltimore, where he played in only 29 games last season and hit .231 with five home runs and 24 RBIs. He returned to Milwaukee, where he played in 2024, and hit .209 with a .771 OPS, 12 home runs and 38 RBIs this year. In the Division Series against San Diego, he saw only one postseason plate appearance, drawing a walk as a pinch-hitter.
The Orioles also announced that Cade Povich had successful left elbow debridement surgery to remove a loose body. The procedure was performed on October 14 th by Dr. Keith Meister in Arlington, Texas, and the team expects him to be ready for spring training.
In other roster news, Baltimore signed left-hander Jayvien Sandridge to a minor league contract. The Hagerstown native went 1-0 with a 10.13 ERA in six games with Triple-A Norfolk. The Orioles also announced the previously reported signing of right-hander Connor Cooke to a minor league deal.
In Other News...
Orioles Pitching Picture Just Got A Telling Offseason Update
The Orioles got a useful offseason checkpoint on their pitching depth with word that Cade Povich is expected to be ready for spring training after undergoing elbow surgery. For a club that has spent much of the winter sorting through arms and trying to keep its rotation depth intact, that kind of update matters just as much as any splashier transaction because it gives Baltimore some clarity on one of its younger pitchers heading into camp.
Baltimore also brought back left-hander Jayvien Sandridge on a minor league deal, another small but telling move for a staff that is always looking for extra options. Neither item changes the top of the Orioles' pitching plans on its own, but together they reinforce how much of the offseason conversation around this club is still tied to health, depth and the possibility that a few lesser-known arms could still factor into the picture before Opening Day. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Prospects Are Giving Birdland An Early Reason For Optimism
Several Orioles prospects are already making noise in the Arizona Fall League, giving Birdland a little extra to track while the offseason takes shape. Baltimore has multiple players down there with the Peoria Javelinas, and the early returns have been encouraging on both sides of the ball. Vance Honeycutt has shown power, and Braxton Bragg has been among the pitchers drawing attention in limited work.
Ike Irish has been one of the more intriguing names in that group, especially after getting back on the field following the injury that ended his regular season in late July. He has been swinging it well in the desert, and Patrick Reilly has also opened eyes with efficient innings and a standout week that suggests the Orioles may be getting useful momentum from some of their younger arms. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Investment In Vance Honeycutt Suddenly Looks Much More Interesting
Vance Honeycutt spent much of the 2026 season looking like a classic high-upside, high-whiff project, the kind of late first-round pick who can test an organizations patience before he finds his footing. The Orioles kept pushing his development anyway, and there were signs in High-A Frederick that the tools were starting to show up more consistently, with more power and enough speed to keep him on the radar as a potential everyday player.
The real intrigue came once he got back from an oblique injury and moved up to Double-A Chesapeake, where the bat looked cleaner and the swing-and-miss eased enough to matter. Baltimore has been willing to keep investing in Honeycutts growth, and the next stretch will go a long way toward showing whether this is just a nice run of production or the beginning of something more serious. [Read more 🡒]