Orioles fleeced Rays in Bryan Baker trade, per former MLB executive

Jim Bowden of The Athletic (subscription required) highlighted this deal in a recent piece where he handed out superlatives, calling it the “Player who was acquired but should not have been”. The former MLB executive was surprised that the Rays were willing to give up a competitive balance draft pick, especially one as high as No. 37, for a relief pitcher.

Baker is under team control through 2028, so there is certainly some value in that for the small-market Rays. But he is a middle reliever who had accrued 1.7 bWAR across 177.1 career Major League innings before being acquired, with a 3.71 ERA.

Those numbers are serviceable, but turning that kind of player into a first-round pick is excellent work by Orioles general manager Mike Elias. Considering how many of Baltimore's core players like Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday, and Adley Rutschman were acquired through the draft, the Orioles theoretically may have gotten another player to add to that young nucleus for a pitcher who typically goes just one inning in a game.

If de Brun turns into a productive player at the major league level, then the Baker deal may be one of the most lopsided trades of the year.