MLB Network insider Jon Morosi says the Orioles need to stop waiting for this group to click and start acting like sellers, with Jackson Holliday and Adley Rutschman among the names he believes should be on the market.
Morosi said Baltimore should take a hard look at its current direction, especially with few American League clubs selling. “As hard as this is to say, you should embrace the fact that very few teams in the American League are sellers, and you should yourself become a seller,” Morosi told me.
The case for moving Holliday, in Morosi’s view, starts with the idea that his value may not get any better from here. The source notes that Holliday is close to 1,000 plate appearances into his career and still has not reached base at a 30% clip, while also struggling at second base, lacking range elsewhere and not offering much on the bases. The argument is that Baltimore should shop him now, before the market cools further.
Morosi also pointed to the possibility of dealing a player for a pitcher of similar age and service time, saying, “Does Jackson Holliday need a change of scenery?” He added that there could be a deal built around a comparable player profile and salary tier, with the Orioles acknowledging that “Hey, look, it’s just not happening now.”
Rutschman is part of the same conversation. The source says the catcher has not been durable, ranking outside the top 20 in innings caught again this season, and that his bat has not produced enough to justify regular DH work.
Over more than two years as a designated hitter, he has one home run, 17 RBI and a .280 slugging percentage. With Samuel Basallo bringing major power as an under-22 catcher and Pete Alonso signed long-term at first base, the piece argues that Baltimore should move Rutschman while it still can.
Morosi said the broader issue is that the Orioles simply do not add up as a roster. “My outward, national perspective on this Orioles team is that it just hasn’t added up,” Morosi explained. “The sum of the parts is somehow lesser than what it should be when you add it all together … it just seems as though the pieces aren’t fitting.
“And you can either double down on all of this and say, ‘This is the core; this is who we are; we’ve got to win with this group one way or the other.’ … But it’s been two years of a lot of mediocrity and below that … So for me there’s a saying in government or baseball or any sport: You probably shouldn’t let a crisis go by the wayside and not do something it. This does seem to be a baseball crisis.”
The source also says Baltimore should be open to moving veterans on expiring contracts, including Trevor Rogers, Taylor Ward, Yennier Cano and Andrew Kittredge, as part of a broader sell-off.
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What makes the situation trickier is the timing. Rogers would come with no long-term control, so any deal has to be judged against the price of the return, not just the name value on the other side. The Dodgers are still shopping for pitching help and have bigger targets they could chase, which only adds to the sense that Baltimore could be asked to part with a useful arm without getting the kind of package that makes a move easy to justify. [Read more 🡒]
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The bigger question is what happens once he is ready. Baltimore has enough uncertainty around the roster that Mountcastles next step is not just about health, but about opportunity, and there is already a sense that the Orioles could listen if the right trade angle emerges before the Aug. 3 deadline. For now, the club is still waiting on the same thing everyone else is - a clearer picture of when he is back, and what role he would actually have when he gets there. [Read more 🡒]