Orioles Expected By Insider to Trade Nearly Entire Starting Rotation at Deadline

The Baltimore Orioles have had a nightmarish season that has seen their manager fired and fans calling for the decision makers to suffer the same fate.

For the moment though, general manager Mike Elias remains in position as his team prepares to approach the trade deadline with selling on their mind.

Baltimore already got the ball rolling with a divisional deal that saw productive reliever Bryan Baker shipped off to the Tampa Bay Rays, signaling to the rest of the league that they are open for business.

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One of the major reasons for the season going the way it has for the Orioles has been just how both injured and unproductive the pitching staff has been. With virtually the entire nucleus of the rotation set to hit free agency following the season, there is not much reason to keep them.

A very revealing update from Bob Nightengale of USA Today said Baltimore is likely to trade not one, not two, but three of their starting pitchers.

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"Baltimore Orioles starter Zach Eflin, who has been out with back discomfort since late June, is expected to return to the Orioles rotation after the All-Star break, and will become immediate trade bait," Nightengale wrote before addressing two other trade candidates. "The Orioles also are expected to trade Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano barring a dramatic winning streak after the break."

Eflin has made just 12 starts this year and pitched to a 5.95 ERA and 1.435 WHIP, however now that he is healthy, perhaps the Orioles will be able to salvage something from him assuming the medicals are clear.

Ironically, he was, of course, acquired from Tampa Bay at the deadline last year, and while he has done some good things for the team, ultimately it's a trade that did not work out.

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Getting back some value for him now would be the best of a bad situation.

As for both Sugano and Morton, each signed one-year deals and were unable to be what Elias had hoped.

Sugano has posted a 4.44 ERA and 1.299 WHIP with a 7-5 record over 18 starts in his MLB debut season following a decorated career in Japan and should fetch some fairly significant value in exchange for his rental.

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Morton, on the other hand, was off to an absolutely dreadful start, but he has salvaged things with a 5.18 ERA over 20 appearances, including 14 starts. The last month (four starts) have done a nice job to raise the trade value for the veteran with a 2.82 ERA and 1.16 WHIP with a 2-0 record.

It's not the way anyone wanted the year to go, however, things have shaped up nicely for Baltimore to be able to get some young talent in the organization for the embattled, impending free agent arms.

Perhaps they should focus on getting some young pitching in order to avoid having to rely solely on the veteran route in future offseasons.

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