Orioles 'Still Poised To Sell' Despite Recently Improved Performance on Field

The Baltimore Orioles dug themselves an incredibly deep hole to climb out of with how poorly they performed early in the season.

It led to the firing of manager Brandon Hyde, who was relieved of his duties when the team had a record of 15-28. Their low point of the season would come shortly after that, dropping a season-low 18 games under the .500 mark on May 24.

Since that point, they have been playing much better baseball under interim manager Tony Mansolino, going 24-13 and improving their record to 40-49 overall.

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It has been an impressive turnaround for the Orioles, given how many obstacles they have had to overcome.

They have been hit incredibly hard by injuries, placing key contributors after key contributors on the injured list. There are currently six catchers on their 40-man roster, with everyone at the position going down.

The spirited performance has been encouraging to see, as the players have certainly not thrown the towel in on the campaign.

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However, Baltimore still looks like a team that will be selling ahead of the MLB trade deadline later this month.

They are still 7.5 games behind the Seattle Mariners for the final wild card spot in the American League. And, there are six teams between them and the AL West contenders.

Making up that kind of ground would certainly not be easy, as a lot would need to go in the Orioles favor outside of even their own performance remaining at an elite level.

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“A pessimist notes that yeah, that sounds like it has a 4.1 percent chance of happening, and that’s why Baltimore is still poised to sell impending free agents like Cedric Mullins and Ryan O’Hearn at this month’s trade deadline,” wrote Tim Britton of The Athletic (subscription required) in this week’s MLB power rankings.

It would be best for the franchise to eventually trade away players who are on expiring deals. Beyond Mullins and O’Hearn, the team could also dangle starting pitchers Zach Eflin, Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano and relievers Gregory Soto and Seranthony Dominguez.

Trading away controllable players such as closer Felix Bautista, Bryan Baker or any of their young positional players seems unlikely, especially with the team playing better.

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But, if a team comes with a strong offer, general manager Mike Elias needs to think long and hard about pulling the trigger.

This is a roster that isn’t too far away from being playoff contenders again. A few tweaks, mainly to the starting pitching staff, and Baltimore would be right back in the mix of the AL playoff picture.

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