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Last season, the Baltimore Orioles were one of the busiest teams ahead of the trade deadline. They made buyers moves to add veteran pieces around a young core of offensive weapons ready to contend for the World Series.
The team traded for a great reliever in Gregory Soto, and they made another deal for Austin Slater and Livan Soto. They also dealt for Eloy Jimenez, Trevor Rogers, and Zach Eflin in three separate deals. Furthermore, they swapped Austin Hays for Seranthony Dominguez. Unfortunately, none of those moves really panned out the way the Orioles hoped.
The majority of those players underwhelmed in Baltimore, and the team has already moved on from many of them. Now, the O's will likely take a much different approach at the 2025 MLB trade deadline. After letting Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander walk in free agency, the Orioles have had a letdown of a season and are on the outside looking in of the postseason picture.
The team is still geared up well for the future because their core is so young, but they will be best to sell for the future this deadline and try at a postseason run again next year. The team has already traded away Gregory Soto and Bryan Baker in separate deals, and more moves are likely to come. So what is another trade the Orioles should make before the trade deadline?
Orioles should trade their expiring contracts to a contender
Orioles receive: Bryce Rainer (Tigers No. 3), Hao-Hu Lee (Tigers No. 6), Jake Miller (Tigers No. 14), RJ Pettit (Tigers No. 28)
Tigers receive: Ryan O'Hearn, Charlie Morton, Seranthony Dominguez
The Orioles shouldn't be full-blow sellers at the deadline. Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday, Colton Cowser, and Heston Kjerstad should all be safe, as all of those young, former elite prospects could rake in Camden Yards for years to come despite the fact that many of them have underwhelmed this season.
The Orioles are much more likely to trade veterans on expiring contracts. Starting pitchers Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano, and Zach Elfin are all on expiring deals, so the Baltimore Orioles would likely take a trade package for any of them before they bolt in free agency.
The Orioles have a number of injured pitchers who will return to the fold by the time the team is ready to compete again, such as Grayson Rodriguez, Tyler Wells, Kyle Bradish, and Cade Povich.
The team also has intriguing offensive players on expiring deals. Ryan O'Hearn has slowed down as of late, but he was one of the hottest players in baseball to start the season, so much so that he became Baltimore's lone All-Star this year.
The designated hitter/first baseman is batting .284 with 12 home runs. Cedric Mullins is another trade candidate in the last year of his deal. Mullins offers both power and speed, evidenced by his 15 home runs and 14 stolen bases.
The Orioles should look to trade these players as well as a rental reliever like Seranthony Dominguez for a haul of prospects and players who can better help out the team next season and beyond. The Detroit Tigers are one of the teams they should be most willing to do business with.
The Tigers have one of the best farm systems in baseball. They came into the year with six Top 100 prospects in their system, according to MLB Pipeline, and the Orioles should look to pry a few of those youngsters away. After all, the Tigers are desperate right now after losing 12 of their last 15 games.
In this proposed deal, Baltimore would give up O'Hearn, Morton, and Dominguez for five of Detroit's prospects. Bryce Rainer would be the most intriguing as he ranks 34th in MLB's Top 100 prospect list. The other three prospects are pitchers, which Baltimore needs an influx of pitching to match their deep offensive core.
The Orioles are 14.5 games out of first place in the American League East. They have the talent to compete, but they won't contend this year. This trade would revitalize hope in the team for years to come.
Would the Tigers trade with the Orioles?
As mentioned above, the Tigers have been struggling recently. That was certainly not the case for most of the season, though. In fact, Detroit had the best record in baseball for most of the year before their recent slump, which has allowed five teams to surpass them for best record.
They are still contenders this year, and they are still atop the AL Central standings. They just need to make a trade deadline deal that gets them back on track. A left-handed hitter, a starting pitcher, and bullpen arms are the needs that the Tigers should pursue.
The Orioles have all of that to offer in the form of O'Hearn, Morton, and Dominguez. O'Hearn isn't great against left-handed pitchers, but he smashes against righties.
The Tigers' depth chart is filled with right-handed hitters, so O'Hearn would bring balance to their offense. The team arguably outperformed their offensive expectations earlier in the year, too, so adding a player who can give them an offensive boost going forward makes sense.
Detroit would also land Morton in this deal. The pitcher is 41 years old, but he is still going strong and has plenty of playoff experience. In fact, Morton has two World Series titles to his name.
Dominguez could slot in as a late-inning reliever. He has the most innings pitched of all of Baltimore's relievers, and he has been arguably the best of the bunch besides closer Felix Bautista.
The Tigers can't afford to keep this negative momentum up, so they are likely going to be desperate for a big move at the deadline. Few deals would be bigger than this one, considering the team would land three very solid players for their World Series push.
