With the trade deadline now less than a week away, trade talks are beginning to heat up. As teams decide whether to buy, sell, or stand pat, at least one team knows, and has known almost all season, their position. Undoubtedly sellers, there are a number of interest Baltimore Orioles trade candidates.
Baltimore Orioles Trade Candidates
Mychal Givens
Twenty-nine-year-old relief pitcher, Mychal Givens, has drawn the most interest from other teams. Although Givens is currently sporting a 4.23 ERA, he has shown that he can be a solid arm out of the bullpen. While is ERA is high, he currently also has a 12.2 strikeout per nine inning ratio. The biggest concern for him is that he has given up eight home runs in 38.1 innings this season. However, this needs to be taken in context because, while Givens has given up the long ball, so has almost every other pitcher in Major League Baseball.
Trade likelihood: High
Potential landing spots: Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies
Trey Mancini
While Trey Mancini has cooled off since his hot start, he has started to get hot again. He has hit five home runs in his last seven games. On the season, Mancini is hitting .285 with 22 home runs and 48 runs batted in. Back in April, I wrote about how Mancini could be an interesting story as the deadline approaches. With the market being focused on pitching this deadline and without a real incentive to move him, the Orioles are probably going to hang on to Mancini.
Trade likelihood: Low
Potential landing spots: New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves
Dylan Bundy
Toward the end of June, Dylan Bundy became a dark horse candidate to be traded. That took a hit when he went on the injured list after the All-Star break. However, Bundy came back and pitched pretty well against the Arizona Diamondbacks, going six innings giving up only two runs. He hasn’t had the greatest season, but that doesn’t mean he won’t have a market. In 2013, the Orioles traded Jake Arrieta to the Chicago Cubs when he was in similar circumstances. Arrieta was 27, had a 7.23 ERA that season with the Orioles before the trade, and never had better than a 4.66 ERA in his career. Bundy is currently 26, has a 5.14 ERA this season, and has a career best 4.02 ERA. Arrieta went on to with the Cy Young Award two seasons later. Will Bundy have the same career turn around? Very unlikely. Will the Orioles get the short end of the stick again, like they did with Arrieta? One can only hope.
Trade likelihood: Moderate
Potential landing spots: Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves
Other Possibilities
The Orioles drafted Adley Rutschman, have Ryan Mountcastle as the future at first base, and have young outfield depth in Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander, and Stevie Wilkerson. Where does this leave Chance Sisco? With a catcher coming up behind him, outfield and first based covered, there’s no obvious solution here. Sisco has been productive this season, although he has recently found himself in a slump in his last 15 games. He’s only 24 and very unlikely to be moved, but could have value in a package with one or more of the aforementioned players.
There are a number of players who could be Baltimore Orioles trade candidates. The Orioles will likely try to make at least one or two moves as the deadline approaches. However, don’t expect new general Mike Elias to get too eager and make moves if he doesn’t think the return is right.
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