CHICAGO—After an incredibly busy trade deadline for the Orioles, executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias is unhappy with how the season has gone, but he’s happy with the group of players he’s acquired.
“We are sorry that 2025 has gone this way,” Elias said in a video conference call on Friday morning. “A lot had to go wrong and it has, and we’re addressing that. And part of it is doing the right thing by the talent in the organization with the deadline, and between the draft and the deadline, we’ve had an enormous injection of talent into the organization.
“It’s going to benefit us short-term but also long-term, and it needed to be done and we executed well in those constraints. We have an extremely exciting group of young players on the Orioles that we’ve all come to enjoy and these guys are still here, they’re fighting hard, they’re aware as a group of where we’re at and very determined to do better going forward.
“These guys are still here as the heart and soul and they are still with us and we have a great place to start as we build for the rest of 2025 and 2026.”
In the final two days before the trade deadline, the Orioles dealt reliever Andrew Kittredge, infielder Ramón Urías, outfielders Ramón Laureano and Cedric Mullins, first baseman/outfielder Ryan O’Hearn and starter Charlie Morton.
They had previously traded relievers Bryan Baker, Seranthony Domínguez and Gregory Soto. In return, they received 15 minor leaguers and a Competitive Balance Round A pick, high school outfielder Slater de Brun.
There were no major leaguers among the players received by the Orioles.
“It’s really, in my view, it’s not really how it works when you’re at the trade deadline,” Elias said. “If you were to go to the market and say I only want players who are ready in 2025 or 2026, first of all, the teams you’re dealing with by nature are contending and worrying about their major league depth, so they’re not going to want to put those players available as easily.
“And second of all, you’re going to get less talent, less value, in return with those confines. So my view, we don’t want to be selling this year. A lot has gone wrong to put us in that place. But once we’re here, let’s make the most of it, let’s get the most talent back, let’s extract the most that we can for the organization.
“A lot of the players we got back were in the lower part of the minor leagues, but you can use players to trade for the near term, and then also it can pay off in the long run. So I just look at it in terms of overall talent, wealth, for the organization and making the most of an opportunity that you have that you don’t want to have at the trade deadline.”
Laureano and Urias could have been Orioles in 2026. Laureano has a $6.5 million option for next year, and Urias has another year of club control. Kittredge has a $9 million option.
Laureano and O’Hearn were traded to San Diego for six prospects.
“I’m not sure that we trade Ramón Laureano without the return level that we feel like we got from the Padres,” Elias said. “So that’s something that, again, it’s just a matter of what we’re getting back with a player that we were possibly planning on retaining in 2026.
“I think Boston Bateman in particular, a very premium pitching prospect from the left side, the likes of which very hard to get your hands on. Did a very good job, the Padres, IDing him and drafting him in the second round last year, and he’s off to a great start and looks really good. And it’s just something that brought us to the table on Ramón and that entire trade. We’ll look to get back the most that we can if we’re putting a player like him on the table.”
Roster additions: The Orioles recalled right-handed pitcher Yaramil Hiraldo from Double-A Chesapeake and infielder Jeremiah Jackson, who’s making his major league debut as the designated hitter on Friday, from Triple-A Norfolk. They also recalled infielder Luis Vázquez from Norfolk and selected the contracts of utilityman Terrin Vavra and outfielder Jordyn Adams from Chesapeake.
Catcher Jacob Stallings declined an assignment to Norfolk and elected free agency.
Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.