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.
Question: The Orioles have lost five pitchers to arm injuries, with four out for the remainder of this year. That is a huge loss. It cannot be solved by making a wholesale trade of future stars for a short-term pitching addition. Let the O’s write off this season. They will be able to buy pitchers in the offseason without giving up their future. Why part with those young players just to gamble on a short term/expensive pitching addition? From: Fred Miller
Answer: Fred, the Orioles aren’t going to stand pat and write off the season. Kyle Bradish was a huge loss, as was John Means and Tyler Wells, but the Orioles are going to be in the postseason, and once you get in the playoffs, you owe it to your team and fans to do anything you can to try to win.
In recent years, unlikely teams like the Nationals in 2019, the Braves in 2021, and the Rangers in 2023 won the World Series.
While the Orioles have a strong young core and good players in the minors, it’s difficult to win the World Series and they need to take advantage of every opportunity. I expect the Orioles to be aggressive at the trade deadline, and they should be.
Question: Do you think the front office has much more confidence in selecting/projecting an infielder or outfielder than they do a pitcher? Or is their philosophy that they can always trade someone from their abundance of riches? From: Richard Greenberg
Answer: Richard, they’ve never said that they have more confidence in selecting position players over pitchers in the higher rounds of the draft, but I think it’s obvious they think that selecting pitchers with high draft picks is risky.
They’ve drafted lots of shortstops, centerfielders and catchers because they’re always positions in demand.