Question: How many of the 16 prospects we got in return for the July fire sale would you guess have major league potential? Considering I think our best window to win is with this core, and we know we won’t be able to keep all of them, how many would you part with, and how many have enough value to bring in some players who can help us win now? We aren’t going to win a World Series with those guys, but maybe we can add some pieces, or is it just too early to get any real value for them? From: Rob Anthony
Answer: Rob, I don’t know that much about the prospects, but two of them, relievers Cameron Foster and Anthony Nunez, are already on the 40-man roster. That means the Orioles think they have enough value to protect them in the Rule 5 draft, and both could pitch for the team in 2026.
Lots of scouts are high on left-hander Boston Bateman, who’s 6-feet-8, 240 pounds. He was one of six players who came from San Diego in the trade for Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano. He started five games for Delmarva and Aberdeen.
Another interesting name is Juaron Watts-Brown, a right-hander who came from Toronto for Seranthony Domínguez. He had a 3.82 ERA in five starts for Double-A Chesapeake.
Bateman is ranked ninth and Watts-Brown 13th on MLB Pipeline’s list of Orioles top 30 prospects.
Infielder Cobb Hightower, who also came from San Diego is ranked 26th, and right-hander Wellington Aracena, ranked 29th, was traded from the New York Mets along with Foster for left-hander Gregory Soto. Nunez was obtained from the Mets for Cedric Mullins.
A long-term prospect is shortstop Wilfri De La Cruz, who is the 24th-ranked prospect. The 18-year-old was traded from the Chicago Cubs for Andrew Kittredge.
Another long-termer is 18-year-old outfielder Slater de Brun, who was drafted 37th overall by the Orioles. He was taken in the Competitive Balance A Round. That pick was relayed from Tampa Bay in exchange for reliever Bryan Baker.
Some of these and the others acquired could be used as part of deals this winter.
It’s too early to measure the trades, but if four of the 16 became productive major leaguers, I’d say the deals worked out well.
Question: Since Taylor Ward was originally a catcher, does that eliminate the need for a third catcher? Would he be the emergency catcher? From: Charliy Nash
Answer: Charliy, Ward did address that question in his video conference call on Monday.
Ward has two innings of major league catching experience in 2021 and hasn’t caught regularly since 2017, so I don’t believe the Orioles are thinking about him as a possible third catcher.
“I believe a lot of that I still have in me,” he said. “I think if that is something that they were interested in, I feel like they would have told me that by now. But like I said, help the team out, definitely take reps wherever they need me.”
I think he’d be a true emergency catcher and not a catcher who’d be used more regularly as Alex Jackson was. I’m sure the Orioles will consider carrying a third catcher, but I don’t think that’s a priority for them. They have lots of decisions to make over the winter and in spring training, and composition of their bench is one of them.
The Orioles will have four players on their bench in 2026, and I’m not sure that one of them will be a player who’s primarily a catcher.
Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.