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The Baltimore Orioles are in a precarious position heading into tonight’s series against the Atlanta Braves — the final series before the MLB trade deadline. The next three games could determine whether or not the team becomes buyers or sellers heading down the final stretch of the season. At 48-49, the Orioles are within reach of both the AL Wild Card (3.5 GB) and AL East division (7 GB), but there are a multitude of factors to consider that would have major implications on the team’s future.
First, the Orioles’ minor league farm system is extremely weak. Baltimore’s farm ranked 29th out of 30 teams heading into the season — and that was before top pitching prospects Dylan Bundy and Hunter Harvey suffered season-ending injuries. The Orioles lack the high-level prospects in the minors to pull of a blockbuster deal at the deadline this season.
Another impediment to Baltimore’s ability to maneuver at the deadline is the plethora of pending free agents next season. Chris Davis, Matt Wieters and Wei-Yin Chen top the list of players who will become free agents in 2016. The Orioles will have a difficult time re-signing all or any of these key contributors in the upcoming offseason. With so much turnover expected on next year’s roster, it might be foolish to trade away the prospects or potential replacements to these possible departures.
The Orioles will seriously have to consider which direction the team is headed — not only in the next couple days but in the future as well. Would it be worth it to rent Justin Upton or Carlos Gomez for the second half of the season and lose key prospects in the process, only to have the season come down to a one-game playoff? Or would it be wise to sell pending free agents like Davis and Wieters, knowing that with one good week of baseball, Baltimore would be right back in the hunt for the division title?
The Orioles are truly at a crossroads as the trade deadline approaches. The next three days could define the direction of the franchise for the next three seasons. Baltimore could either extend the window of opportunity to compete for a championship, or submerge into another period of futility. That’s quite a dilemma for a team that was four wins away from a World Series berth last season.
Ben Linton is a MLB writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @Ben_Linton91, or add him to your network on Google.
