The Orioles’ future was supposed to be built around a young core. Instead, that core has become the question hanging over everything.
Mike Elias started putting the group together when he made Adley Rutschman the first pick in the 2019 draft. Bobby Witt Jr. might have been the better choice, but Elias followed that with Gunnar Henderson in the second round, and for a while Baltimore looked like it had the blueprint right.
The turnaround in 2022, the 101-win surge in 2023, and the first half of 2024 all seemed to back that up. Rutschman was an All-Star, Henderson won American League Rookie of the Year, and by the break in 2024 both were All-Stars while the Orioles sat at 58-38.
Colton Cowser added to the buzz that summer. The first-round pick from 2021 had a huge April, won AL Player of the Week honors, inspired fans in cow onesies to make mooing a thing, and even drew the line from Ben McDonald: The Milkman always delivers. Jackson Holliday, another first pick, arrived in 2022 at age 20, struggled, and eventually became a regular in 2025.
Jordan Westburg and Coby Mayo were part of that same wave, both selected in 2020 - Westburg in the first round, Mayo in the fourth. Westburg has been out this season after Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, and Mayo has done most of his damage against left-handed pitching, with 15 of his 19 home runs coming against them.
The problem is that none of them has turned into the steady, finished product the Orioles needed. That’s especially awkward now that Rutschman is no longer on the club at all. Elias traded him to the Red Sox on August 3 for more young potential talent, and maybe because Baltimore figured it would be tough to sign him once he reaches free agency after next season.
That move opens the door to bigger questions. Were these players overrated from the start?
Were they pushed too fast, before they had the fundamentals and foundation they needed? Does this point to deeper issues in the organization’s development?
And does the Rutschman trade say anything about Henderson’s future, especially with Scott Boras representing him and pushing clients toward free agency to maximize value?
The Orioles needed this season to be the one where the young core finally carried the load, especially after a dismal 2025. Instead, the hits kept coming.
Westburg was the first big setback in spring training. Holliday also needed more time than expected after surgery to remove the hamate bone in his right wrist.
Henderson has flashed the kind of talent that made him a star in the World Baseball Classic, but the consistency still isn’t there. The same goes for Holliday and Cowser. A recent three-series road trip made that impossible to ignore.
Henderson helped power a sweep of the A’s on Sunday with two homers and four hits, then went 1-for-12 as Baltimore lost two of three to the Rockies. Cowser saved a game Monday night with a spectacular over-the-fence catch, but then went 0-for-5 in Wednesday’s 11-inning loss and stretched his hitless streak to 19 at-bats. Holliday homered to tie Tuesday’s game, then dropped a popup before the Rockies hit a two-run homer, and on Wednesday he made a baserunning mistake in the 10th that killed an inning.
If there’s been a bright spot among the core, it’s Mayo. He’s hit 19 homers and driven in 55 runs, and that’s come even though he doesn’t really have a position.
Entering Thursday, his OPS was .730. Henderson’s was .704, Holliday’s .680 and Cowser’s .671.
The MLB average is .719.
Elias has not stood still. He brought in Blaze Alexander and Christian Encarnacion-Strand, signed Pete Alonso, and there’s hope for Samuel Basallo and maybe Dylan Beavers. He also made a good move Monday by landing Luis Robert Jr., who delivered the Orioles’ biggest hit on Wednesday and then homered in Thursday’s 6-5 loss to the Red Sox, a game in which Rutschman hit two homers for Boston.
But Elias also dealt away another top draft pick, right-hander Grayson Rodriguez, even though a team can never have enough starting pitching. Taylor Ward came back in that trade.
So the young core still has a chance to justify the faith that built it. The trouble is, the clock is ticking.
In Other News...
Taylor Ward Has Already Become A Mariners Frustration
Taylor Wards move from Baltimore to Seattle was supposed to give the Mariners a bat that could steady the lineup after the deadline deal that sent three prospects back to the Orioles. Instead, his start in Seattle has only sharpened the hindsight around the trade, because the production the Mariners were counting on has not followed him west. For Baltimore, the deal already looks like one that brought in a useful package of young talent while moving on from an outfielder whose value had been climbing.
What has made the early returns sting for Seattle is how sharply Wards offense has dropped off compared with what he showed in Baltimore. His lower OPS and bWAR with the Mariners have turned the trade into an easy target for criticism, especially as the deadline moves are being graded in real time around the league. For the Orioles, it is the kind of transaction that can age well if even one of those prospects develops into a meaningful big-league piece, while Seattle is left waiting for Ward to justify the cost. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Fans Just Got Another Reason To Believe In That Trade
The trade deadline deal already looked promising on paper, and these past few weeks have only added to the buzz around the Orioles side of it. Eyanson, now Baltimores No. 2 prospect, keeps piling up impressive outings in Double-A, most recently striking out eight over six innings even in a 5-4 loss. For a pitcher in his first professional season, the early returns have been hard to ignore.
Since the move, Eyanson has turned in 40 strikeouts against just eight walks over 27 innings, and he has fanned at least seven hitters in every outing. The 2025 third-round pick has shown the kind of consistency that tends to make a front office feel better about a deadline swing, even if the full payoff is still ahead. For Orioles fans, it is another reminder that this trade may have given the organization a real arm to dream on. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Suddenly Have A Ninth Inning Problem They Cant Ignore
The late innings have become a headache Baltimore can no longer brush aside. With Felix Bautista still working his way back from surgeries and Ryan Helsley not settling the ninth down, the Orioles have watched close games slip away in succession, each one underscoring how fragile the bullpen has looked when the pressure spikes.
Tyler Wells was dealt to the Tampa Bay Rays as part of the recent roster churn, another reminder that the relief picture keeps changing without producing a clear answer. The broader concern is not just who handles the final inning today, but whether the current group can hold up over the stretch run if the club keeps getting into tight, high-leverage spots with no reliable stopper to end them. [Read more 🡒]