Bold Prediction Made for Orioles With Felix Bautista Ahead of MLB Trade Deadline

The Baltimore Orioles have been the most disappointing team in baseball during the 2025 MLB regular season.

They enter play on June 27 with a 34-46 record, sitting in last place in the American League East, trailing the New York Yankees by 12 games. Their wild card outlook isn’t much better, seven games out of the race there.

The Orioles certainly look like a team that should be selling ahead of the MLB trade deadline, but they have not yet waved the white flag on the season.

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When they do, as it feels like a matter of if, not when, there are a lot of players that teams will be calling about.

Designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn, center fielder Cedric Mullins and starting pitcher Zach Eflin are the trio likeliest to be on the move. All of them are set to hit free agency after the campaign and don’t look to be a part of their long-term plans.

Another player whose name has been mentioned on the rumor mill is closer Felix Bautista.

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After undergoing Tommy John surgery late in 2023 and missing the 2024 season, he is starting to look more and more like his old self.

Bautista hasn’t allowed a run since May 30, a stretch of 10 consecutive scoreless outings. With his velocity ticking up and his strikeouts on the rise, with multiple in five of those 10 outings, he would be a massive upgrade for several contenders.

However, Greg Jewett of The Athletic (subscription required) is throwing some cold water on the rumors.

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“I have seen reports suggesting Félix Bautista could be moved, but I do not think it will happen,” he wrote in a recent piece.

One of the reasons Baltimore has no incentive to move their All-Star closer is that he is under team control through 2027.

There is no urgency to extract some value out of him as there is with other players on the team set to hit the open market.

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It would take a massive offer for the Orioles to even consider parting ways with him, especially because they should have plans of competing for the postseason again as soon as 2026.

This roster isn’t far from contending again. The right managerial hiring could lead to a few necessary tweaks being made and the team returning to the winning ways they had been showing the last two years, with Bautista anchoring the backend of the bullpen.

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