The Baltimore Orioles were one of the most active teams at the trade deadline this season. However, they made a series of smaller moves instead of going after any of the biggest names who were rumored to be available like Tarik Skubal or Garret Crochet.
Was Jackson Holliday, the top prospect in all of baseball according to MLB Pipeline, ever in danger of being traded? After his most recent promotion to the big leagues, Orioles general manager Mike Elias addressed the rumors that he was shopping Holliday at the trade deadline.
Elias said that “he never says a player is untouchable in trade deadline discussions,” but conversations never came up regarding Holliday, or Orioles No. 2 and No. 3 prospects Samuel Basallo and Coby Mayo according to MLB.com's Jake Rill.
Elias continued, saying that it would have been difficult to “even find a trade worthy of including any of them in,” including Holliday.
Should the Orioles have traded Jackson Holliday?
The 20-year-old Holliday, who made his Orioles debut in April, had a difficult start to his major league career. Holliday went 0-13 to start his career before finally getting his first hit. In 10 games and 36 plate appearances during his major league stint, Holliday only recorded two hits before being sent back down to the minor leagues.
Even though Holliday is still only 20 and trading him would have seemed inconceivable before this season, his slow start had people wondering if the Orioles would consider moving him for the right price. With the Orioles desperately needing starting pitching after injuries to their rotation and Skubal and Crochet reportedly being available for the right price, Holliday's name would inevitably come up in trade conversations for a young, controllable All-Star caliber starting pitcher.
While a player like Skubal or Crochet would have of course helped the Orioles this season, they probably made the right call holding on to Holliday. Holliday is considered by many to be the best pure-hitting prospect in all of baseball. That, along with a plus glove and plus speed, could make him a perennial All-Star and give the Orioles an all-time middle of the infield with Holliday at second base and Gunnar Henderson at shortstop.
The Orioles are still a very young team. Even if they don't win the World Series this year, with their young core and prospects like Holliday still on the way up, the future is very bright. And, he made noise on Wednesday by smacking his first career home run, a grand slam.
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