Baltimore Orioles Must Make Most of Red-Hot Slugger at Trade Deadline

It is not a stretch to say that the Baltimore Orioles are the most disappointing team in baseball this season.

Coming into the year, they had legitimate aspirations as contenders in the American League. Their lineup was loaded with young talent and the team thought they had enough pitching depth, despite the lack of a traditional ace, to get the job done on the mound.

Alas, nothing has gone right for the Orioles.

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Their young core has not produced at the plate, with some, such as catcher Adley Rutschman, showing concerning signs of regression.

The pitching staff has been worse than even the most pessimistic of people would have predicted, with a starting rotation that has been amongst the worst in baseball before a recent hot streak for the team.

With a 26-37 record, 13 games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East, it is only a matter of time until Baltimore accepts the harsh reality of not being a playoff team and starts selling some of their assets.

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There are several players on the team who would be worth something to contending teams around the league, such as center fielder Cedric Mullins and starting pitcher Zach Eflin.

But, the Orioles’ player who may have the most value on the trade market is slugger Ryan O’Hearn, who picked the perfect time to have a career year.

In a trade deadline big board put together by Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report, the Baltimore designated hitter/first baseman/right fielder was ranked No. 7.

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O’Hearn will be deployed as a platoon player by anyone who lands him, but his numbers have been excellent against right-handed pitching.

“He was enough of a terror against them in 2023 and 2024, and now he's out there with elite metrics to go with his elite numbers. This is one of the top bats on the market, full stop,” Rymer wrote.

Set to hit free agency after the season, O’Hearn is trending toward career season with a .316/.397/.500 slash line with nine home runs, eight doubles and 24 RBI.

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He has already produced a 1.6 bWAR and 158 OPS+ as the most productive hitter in the Orioles lineup in 2025.

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