Orioles Underwhelming Performance Leads To Brutal Assessment From MLB Insider

There are a number of teams that haven’t quite lived up to expectations during the 2025 MLB regular season, but many people would likely select the Baltimore Orioles as the most disappointing.

After making the playoffs the last two years, the Orioles were a popular pick to not only qualify for a third consecutive campaign, but also challenge for first place in the American League East.

Instead, entering play on July 7, Baltimore is in the cellar of the division with a 40-49 record, 11.5 games behind the surging Toronto Blue Jays.

More News: Insider Believes Orioles Will Call Up Samuel Basallo This Summer

A huge gap exists to make up in the wild card standings as well, with six teams between them and the Seattle Mariners, who currently hold the third spot in the AL wild card standings, 7.5 games ahead of the Orioles.

The team has performed better in recent weeks, but nothing has gone right for Baltimore this year.

Their pitching, which was considered suspect coming into the season, struggled mightily out of the gate. Injuries have played a big part in their underwhelming performance, along with the regression of some of the youngsters in their lineup.

The offense hasn’t been there, with their minus-82 run differential being the fifth-worst in baseball, ahead of only the Colorado Rockies, Washington Nationals, Athletics and Chicago White Sox.

More News: Former Baltimore Orioles Pitcher, Key Trade Piece, Retires from MLB

A bottom-10 offense combined with a bottom-five pitching staff has led to disastrous results on the field.

It has culminated in MLB insider Jayson Stark of The Athletic (subscription required) sharing an incredibly bold take on their performance, calling them the most disappointing team in modern baseball history.

“I’m just going to say it: The Orioles are the most disappointing team I can remember since I’ve been following baseball. I’m not alone,” he wrote.

More News: Baltimore Orioles Learn Fate of Rest of Roster for MLB All-Star Game

There have been plenty of teams to fall short of expectations, but there is something that separates this Baltimore squad from other teams that have underachieved in the past.

They weren’t built in free agency with major spending or a splash trade acquisition.

This is a homegrown roster featuring several stars who aren’t even arbitration-eligible yet that fell short because the front office didn’t do enough to build upon the core that was in place.

“I think the difference with them,” an NL exec said of the Orioles, via Stark, “is that most of the teams that we would qualify as disappointing were teams that added big-time free agents and spent a bunch of money and then it just didn’t work. Where this one probably is even more disappointing is, I think we all just felt like it’s a lot of young positional players that are just going to continue to get better.”

More News: Baltimore Orioles Don’t Promote Superstar Prospect After Gary Sanchez Injury

What once looked like a potential dynasty being built for long-term success has turned into a nightmare in such a short period of time.

It wouldn’t take too much for Baltimore to get back on track, as this young core still has considerable long-term upside.

But a small reset -- selling ahead of the deadline and finding some controllable pitching -- is a necessary first step to turning things around.

For more Orioles news, head over to Orioles On SI.