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Attempts to get comfortable with the structure of the Orioles’ roster is time wasted. The changes and debuts are coming at a dizzying pace.
The Orioles set a club record by using 62 players in the 110-loss 2021 season. The total is 54 this year and they have infielder/outfielder Vidal Bruján and relievers Elvin Rodríguez and Houston Roth waiting for their first chance. Bruján will meet the team in Philadelphia.
Terrin Vavra received in his first at-bat Saturday since 2023, and before the Orioles designated him for assignment the following day. He just made it under the wire.
A corresponding move is pending with Bruján. Vavra seemed to be the most likely player to go but he’s already out the door. Shortstop Luis Vázquez could be vulnerable.
Jeremiah Jackson has started in right field the past two games and he’s hit, moving up to fifth in the order yesterday. The ground beneath his feet might be more solid.
The trade deadline left plenty of room for the Orioles to add players to their 26- and 40-man rosters. It’s a byproduct of being sellers. Lots of subtractions allow for future additions.
Two more moves came this afternoon while the Orioles played the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias claimed infielder/outfielder Vidal Bruján, 27, on waivers from the Cubs. He hasn’t reported but should join the Orioles in Philadelphia.
Elias also claimed right-hander Carson Ragsdale, 27, from the Giants, and the Orioles optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk.
The 40-man roster has increased to 37 players.
The latest roster move this morning brings Ryan Noda to the visiting clubhouse at Wrigley Field.
Noda, claimed on waivers yesterday from the White Sox, has been recalled from Triple-A Norfolk. He’s wearing No. 41.
The Orioles designated infielder/outfielder Terrin Vavra for assignment.
The 40-man roster has 35 players.
Noda, 29, appeared in 16 games with the White Sox this season and went 3-for-34 with a home run and 10 strikeouts. He played in 128 games with the Athletics in 2023 and 36 in 2024 and is a career .204/.341/.357 hitter. He smacked 16 home runs with 54 RBIs and a .770 OPS in ’23.
The Orioles didn’t free up as much room in their rotation as anticipated at the deadline.
They also didn’t bring in a starter or reliever who would be assured of a roster spot in 2026, though they considered it. The role of seller comes with certain limits.
“Yeah, we definitely tried for that,” executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias said in Friday’s video call. “It’s a rental reliever, a rental player, and I say, ‘Hey, give me your major-league-ready starting pitcher that’s under control for six years,’ it’s just not a real likely trade to happen in that context. So rather than try to force that and either come away with nothing or come away with a guy that’s not very good, I think the right thing to do is get the most value back for the organization, and so that’s what we did.
“Obviously, we would have loved to do that, but you’ve got to be realistic and there’s just not a lot of major-league-ready starting pitchers being traded by teams that are right there in contention, especially for rental-type returns.”
Charlie Morton was in a late trade to the Tigers, but Elias didn’t move Zach Eflin or Tomoyuki Sugano. Eflin is on the injured list with lower back discomfort, his third trip but nothing that should keep him out for an extended stretch, and Sugano started yesterday and allowed three runs in five innings.
Tyler O’Neill was supposed to serve as the designated hitter today at Wrigley Field, but he’s been removed from the lineup due to an unspecified illness.
O’Neill has made two trips to the injured list this season with neck inflammation and a left shoulder impingement, and he recently was bothered by "general soreness." He went 9-for-16 and hit a home run in four consecutive games between July 24-29 but has gone 0-for-9 in his last three games.
Interim manager Tony Mansolino has moved Gunnar Henderson from shortstop to designated hitter. Luis Vázquez enters the new lineup at shortstop, and he’s batting ninth.
O’Neill was supposed to bat fifth. Coby Mayo moves up one spot.
For the Orioles
The Orioles filled the last opening on their 26-man roster this morning by activating left-hander Dietrich Enns. He’s in the bullpen for this afternoon’s game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Enns is wearing No. 71.
Today’s lineup has the same nine players but the order and positions are altered.
Jeremiah Jackson, who collected his first major league hit yesterday, is the right fielder instead of designated hitter, a role filled today by Tyler O’Neill. Mayo is batting sixth instead of seventh.
Dylan Carlson remains in center field, with Colton Cowser in left.
The Orioles wouldn’t budge.
Talks with the Padres leading to the trade deadline took multiple shapes. First baseman Ryan O’Hearn and outfielder Ramón Laureano could be dealt separately or packaged. Different prospects were discussed. The whole thing would have fallen apart if the Guardians accepted an offer for Steven Kwan.
To make it work for the Orioles, they had to get left-hander Boston Bateman. He was the potential deal-breaker.
I’ve heard that the Padres were reluctant to part with him. They tried other combinations to avoid losing their No. 4 prospect. The Orioles had to include Laureano, whose contract contains a $6.5 million option for next season. And they had to stay patient and stick to their demand.
The six minor leaguers who came to the Orioles are products of the 2024 draft – Bateman in the second round, infielder Cobb Hightower in the third, pitcher Tyson Neighbors in the fourth, shortstop Brandon Butterworth in the 12th, pitcher Tanner Smith in the 15th, and first baseman Victor Figueroa in the 18th.
The 2025 trade deadline is over and the Orioles are left to play the final 53 games of their season with a roster that’s undergone a serious makeover and a room full of players who aren’t kidding about their intent to keep winning.
Doing so just got a lot harder.
Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias did what he felt was necessary in trading away nine players and aiming mostly at the lower levels of the farm system with the returns. It wasn’t supposed to be this way in 2025, but the Orioles tried to spin a negative into something positive.
“As we saw yesterday, we had a very active trade deadline,” Elias said earlier today in a video call that lasted almost 27 minutes. “We were in a position to have to sell because of a very disappointing first half with this team. I’ve spoken about it. This is not how we envisioned this season going and it’s something that we’re taking a hard look in the mirror about, about how we got here. I think a lot of it was bad luck, but there’s also stuff that we need to improve on as an organization, and we’re going to do that. But this is a business where there’s a lot of competition and we fell short in the first half.
“I think the team has played really well lately and we’ve gotten healthier, and we’ve seen the style of play and some of the success that we were hoping for in the last few weeks on the field. But looking at our record, our front office and our entire operation made a decision to sell at the deadline, and I think in the context of that, we are very pleased with the talent that we’ve received in return. And I think along with our draft, this has been an enormous injection of talent into the Orioles organization over the month of July.”
The Orioles filled the remaining openings on their roster this morning by selecting the contract of outfielder Jordyn Adams from Triple-A Norfolk and infielder Terrin Vavra from Double-A Chesapeake and recalling infielder Luis Vázquez from Norfolk.
The trio joins infielder Jeremiah Jackson and reliever Yaramil Hiraldo, who were recalled last night.
Ryan O’Hearn, Cedric Mullins and Ramón Laureano will be by their absences from today’s lineup against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Jordan Westburg has nine hits and seven runs scored over his last three games. He's likely the starting third baseman.
Left-hander Trevor Rogers has registered a 1.49 ERA and 0.786 WHIP in eight starts.
OK, so now what?
The Orioles traded center fielder Cedric Mullins to the Mets yesterday for three minor league relievers, first baseman/outfielder Ryan O’Hearn and outfielder Ramón Laureano to the Padres for six players drafted last year, and starter Charlie Morton to the Tigers for a left-hander also drafted last year, after they made earlier moves with relievers Bryan Baker, Gregory Soto, Seranthony Domínguez and Andrew Kittredge and infielder Ramón Urías. This isn’t an entirely new team, but it’s got a drastically different look heading into the weekend series against the Cubs.
The final count: Nine players traded and 17 received, including left-hander Dietrich Enns, who arrived for cash considerations and is expected in the visiting bullpen tonight at Wrigley Field. No one else among the newbies gets in without a ticket.
The bullpen is almost unrecognizable, and that perception is enhanced by Félix Bautista’s extended stay on the injured list. The inflammation in his right shoulder made an MRI inconclusive and it’s going to take a few more weeks to get a reading.
Yennier Cano and Keegan Akin should hold hands.
The Orioles had six openings on their 26-man roster after today’s flurry of trades at the deadline. They narrowed it to five with one last transaction.
Left-hander Dietrich Enns was acquired from the Tigers for cash considerations, another move that apparently came just under the wire.
Enns, 34, made seven appearances with the Tigers this season, including a pair of starts, and allowed 11 earned runs and 12 total with 23 hits, four walks and 15 strikeouts in 17 2/3 innings. The two starts came on June 26 and July 3, his first appearances with Detroit, and he had mixed results – five scoreless innings with one hit allowed against the Athletics and seven earned runs (eight total) and eight hits in four innings in D.C.
Four of his five relief appearances were scoreless. The exception came on July 24 against the Blue Jays, with four runs allowed in 1 1/3.
Enns made 14 starts with Triple-A Toledo this year and registered a 2.89 ERA in 62 1/3 innings. He walked 15 batters, struck out 71 and surrendered only four home runs.
The inevitable for first baseman Ryan O’Hearn became reality today.
The Orioles traded O’Hearn and outfielder Ramón Laureano to the Padres, an industry source confirmed. Six players are believed to be coming back to the Orioles, with The Athletic reporting the inclusion of left-hander Boston Bateman and infielder Brandon Butterworth.
A summer that brought O’Hearn’s first All-Star appearance, as the designated hitter for the American League, is changing his life again. And Laureano lasted only a half-season after signing a $4 million deal with a $6.5 million option.
Bateman was the No. 4 prospect in San Diego’s system, according to MLB Pipeline’s rankings, after his selection in the second round of the 2024 draft out of Adolfo Camarillo High School. He gets noticed for being 6-foot-8 and 240 pounds, but also a 60-grade curveball and upper-90s fastball. He’s posted a 4.08 ERA and 1.317 WHIP in 15 starts in his first professional season, with 75 strikeouts in 68 1/3 innings.
Butterworth, 22, was a 12th-round pick last year out of North Carolina State. He’s hitting .267/.327/.455 with 17 doubles, seven triples, 11 home runs and 46 RBIs in 89 games with High-A Fort Wayne. He plays second and third base, but also has some experience in center field and left field.
The only 30-home run, 30-steal Oriole in franchise history will be playing for another team. The deadline got him, too.
Cedric Mullins has been traded today to the Mets in exchange for minor leaguers Raimon Gómez, Anthony Nunez and Chandler Marsh, a source confirmed.
Gómez, 23, is a Venezuelan native who has a combined 4.63 ERA and is averaging 6.4 walks and 12.3 strikeouts per nine innings at two Single-A levels. He reportedly hit 104.5 mph earlier this season with his 80-grade fastball. MLB Pipeline ranked him as the Mets' No. 30 prospect.
Nunez, 24, was the Padres’ 29th-round pick in the 2019 draft out of Miami Springs High School in Miami who enrolled at the University of Tampa after playing two professional seasons as an infielder and being released. He converted to pitching and was the Mets’ No. 14 prospect this year while posting a combined 1.58 ERA and 0.800 WHIP between High-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton. He’s walked 17 and struck out 60 in 40 innings.
Marsh, 22, is a 6-foot-4, 245-pound right-hander with a combined 2.57 ERA and 0.857 WHIP in 33 games at two Single-A levels. He’s walked 17 and struck out 52 in 42 innings.
Zach Eflin is headed to the injured list again before possibly going to another organization in a trade.
The Orioles put Eflin on the 15-day IL today with lower back discomfort, retroactive to yesterday. They recalled Brandon Young from Double-A Chesapeake.
Young is eligible to return because he’s replacing an injured player.
Eflin went on the IL in April with a mild lat strain and again in June with the lower back strain. He’s made 14 starts and posted a 5.93 ERA and 1.416 WHIP in 71 1/3 innings.
Eflin faced the Blue Jays on Monday and allowed four runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. He held the Guardians to two runs and two hits in five innings after his reinstatement.
Interim manager Tony Mansolino didn’t know yesterday morning whether certain players would make it through the series finale against the Blue Jays. Whether he’d hear from the front office, alerting him to a trade, or at least the possibility of one.
Former manager Brandon Hyde knew the drill during the rebuild period. Mansolino is getting his first experience with it.
“There’s always things kind of cooking with that,” he said. “For a couple days, we’ve gotten a phone call during the game, essentially like, ‘Hey, heads up in these scenarios.’ So I think that’s pretty normal this time of the year if you’re a team that’s kind of selling.”
Or full-in, without-question selling.
The Orioles aren’t straddling the fence. They traded relievers Bryan Baker, Gregory Soto and Seranthony Domínguez and infielder Ramón Urías and are receiving offers on numerous other players. First baseman Ryan O’Hearn and center fielder Cedric Mullins are high on the list, with the Reds among the teams tracking Mullins. The Cubs are a possible match for Zach Eflin based on their interest level, but the Orioles also could move Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano.
The Orioles are willing to move more than expiring contracts at the deadline.
An industry source confirmed tonight that the Orioles are trading infielder Ramón Urías to the Astros.
Urías doesn’t reach free agency until after the 2026 season. He’s batting .248/.300/.388 with 12 doubles, eight home runs and 34 RBIs in 77 games.
Urías has made 66 starts at third base, where he won a Gold Glove in 2022.
Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias swings a deal with his former organization, and he parts with a player claimed on waivers from the Cardinals on Feb. 11, 2020 – an under-the-radar move which turned out nicely for the Orioles.
Ryan O’Hearn swung, stood and tossed his bat. He watched José Berríos’ fastball land on the flag court in right field, began to jog up the line and pointed at the dugout.
The significance of the moment wasn’t lost on anyone.
O’Hearn might have played his last game with the Orioles, who failed to complete their sweep today with a 9-8 loss to the Blue Jays at Camden Yards. The same goes for Cedric Mullins, who made another leaping catch at the fence to rob a home run and preserve the lead. Moments that fed the hopeless baseball romantics.
The trade deadline is approaching the 24-hour mark and both players are generating heat.
The entire team was getting hot with five wins in a row, but reliever Yennier Cano, tasked with holding a 5-4 lead, allowed five runs in the seventh inning. They answered with three in the bottom half but fell to 50-59.
The Orioles will go for the four-game sweep this afternoon, in the final game before the trade deadline, with Adley Rutschman serving as designated hitter and cleanup hitter, and Dylan Carlson in right field.
Tyler O’Neill and Ramón Laureano are on the bench.
Dean Kremer allowed five runs in six innings against the Rockies in his last start after surrendering one run over 14 innings in his two previous outings. His first start came in Toronto on March 29 and he allowed five runs in 5 2/3 innings.
Kremer owns a 5.14 ERA and 1.516 WHIP in 12 career games (11 starts) against the Blue Jays. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is 11-for-31 with two doubles and five home runs.
The Orioles have won five games in a row and six out of seven, but they remain seven back for the last Wild Card with seven teams ahead of them.
The swing and the sound were vintage Tyler O’Neill. A positive perfect storm creating a loud clap of thunder and putting more runs on the scoreboard.
This is the version of Tyler O’Neill that the Orioles anticipated for the 2025 season and perhaps beyond, depending on the opt-out clause in his three-year, $49.5 million free-agent contract.
His health didn’t allow it, whether keeping him off the field or out of the batting cages, but O’Neill is teasing again – just like he did in March with three hits on Opening Day, including another home run, and four on the 31st in Boston.
O’Neill homered in four consecutive games and almost made it five last night in the nightcap of a doubleheader, his drive to deep left field in the fifth inning so close to sneaking inside the pole that the Orioles challenged the call. The at-bats are much better, much more competitive.
For example, O’Neill saw 19 pitches in his first three plate appearances in Game 1, running the count full each time and producing a sacrifice fly, a walk and single after falling behind 0-2. O’Neill changed his approach and homered on a first-pitch slider in the sixth, and he struck out on six pitches in the seventh.
Yennier Cano left his seat in the Orioles’ dugout after the bottom of the third inning and began his stroll to the home bullpen. He’s already said his goodbyes to Bryan Baker, Gregory Soto and Seranthony Domínguez. Just part of the business. And it creates major complications for those left standing, and walking, who want to keep winning.
Rookie Brandon Young, recalled today as the 27th man in Game 2, hadn’t completed the fifth inning in six of his seven starts. Interim manager Tony Mansolino probably spent part of his afternoon introducing himself to his new relievers and wondering how he’d piece together nine frames. And whether everyone in the room was ready for the possibility of high-leverage work.
Young retired the side in order in the fifth and earned the chance to keep going, getting through the sixth and leaving with the score tied and a quality start on his resume. That was one worry put to bed.
Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman hit back-to-back doubles off Jeff Hoffman in the eighth and Corbin Martin earned his first career save in the Orioles’ 3-2 victory over the Blue Jays before an announced crowd of 14,929 at Camden Yards. The bullpen logged three scoreless innings, and the Orioles won their fifth game in a row and sixth out of seven.
Oh, these silly sellers.
