During his most recent media scrum in the home dugout Friday afternoon, Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias offered some hints at his trade deadline strategy without getting too specific.

“We’re not gonna have a strong bias towards being in one of those buckets, buyer or seller,” he said. “I think we put ourselves in a position where we can’t have a bias in either direction.”

By 6 p.m. this evening, Elias had dealt catchers Adley Rutschman and Jake Rogers, outfielder Taylor Ward and reliever Tyler Wells, along with starter Dean Kremer a few nights ago. The Red Sox surrendered three prospects, a backup catcher and a player-to-be-named-later or cash considerations for Rutschman. The Mariners gave up three right-handers, including two low-to-mid level minor leaguers. The Rays returned a minor league pitcher to the Orioles. The Twins parted with an 18-year-old outfielder.

Out of that haul, the team is certain to have catcher Carlos Nárvaez on Tuesday’s roster and probably reliever Alex Hoppe.

Separate press releases from the team stated that Triple-A outfielder Christian Franklin, acquired from the Nationals for Double-A pitcher Joe Glassey, and right-hander Codi Heuer and outfielder Rece Hinds, obtained from the Brewers and Marlins, respectively, for cash considerations, hadn’t yet reported.

No matter. The seller bucket easily was the heaviest.

“We lost a couple games to the Phillies and we are at the point where game-by-game results kind of gyrate the odds a little bit,” Elias said in a video call. “This was not a major factor, but our play over the weekend was not helpful. Sometimes in my position, I have to hold my cards close to my vest and I can’t come out and declare my intentions because my competitors hear them, too. So I think it was a combination of those things.

“We did go into the deadline with a buy-sell mindset. We had a lot of conversations and were ultimately looking for baseball trades, exchanges of talent that we wanted to do that we thought would help the overall talent level of the organization, and do right by the organization. And I think we made a lot of really successful talent exchanges today, even though this was not the situation that we wanted to be in at the beginning of the year.”

While it appeared that a white flag was waved today, Elias said he still thinks the Orioles have a chance to make the playoffs.

“We’re going to be playing for the postseason the rest of the way,” said Elias, who didn’t know whether he’d address the team on Tuesday. “I think our activity today in a lot of ways put us in position to continue that quest. As I said before the deadline, I think the reality is that our (54-58) record and the odds that come with that record were not strong enough for me to go into the deadline with 2026 as the sole focus. We had to start looking at future years and take those into account as we assessed moves.

“But we did not dismantle the team. We still have a very good team, very good rotation, and we’re going to keep grinding. And we’ve got talent in the minor leagues, some new talent, some players that will come up. This is part of running the baseball organization is sometimes with the deadline, you sell some guys off, especially as they’re toward the end of their contractual control.”

The Orioles finished in last place in 2025 and fired manager Brandon Hyde after back-to-back playoff appearances and are in fourth today, 2 ½ games out of the last Wild Card. Elias was asked why fans should trust that he’s the right person to get the team back on the winning side.

“When I joined this organization, and when a lot of our front office came into the organization, the team, the organization, was in a tough spot. The ownership was in a bit of a transition, a little bit of stress surrounding the ownership situation with the team. We had a lot of work to do around the org. And we did it,” he said.

“For a period of time there, we won 100 games in 2023, we had a consensus farm system and a core that looked like it was in a tremendous spot, in a really historically strong spot. And I think, to some degree, I personally, looking back, got caught up in a narrative about a rebuild that probably … baseball is very, very humbling and it doesn’t go linearly. Things shifted and changed, and we had a lot of bad luck on the injury front, we had a lot of injuries. And we had regression and things that changed course. Ultimately, while the last couple of years have really felt like a step back, and have been a step back from where this team was in 2023 and 2024.

“We have so many good players in this organization, we have so many things going for us in this organization, in terms of the strength of the infrastructure, the business side of the operation, the ownership, the facilities. We now have a top farm system, and we have a great roster with a lot of really good players that are signed up for many years. And we have a lot of things going for us right now. And so, for me, I have to keep that perspective as we’ve all sort of felt the disappointment that 2025, and so far, the first half of 2026, have been. But we’re in a really good spot with the health of the org, the talent that’s in the org, the players, the system that we have.

“We need to get better. We need to continue to adjust and evolve. Our competition is very, very stiff. But I like where we’re at. The way that we’ve gotten here has felt different, because of the last couple of years and how we’ve tapered down the last couple years from where our record was in 2023 and 2024. But the future is strong, and I think it starts right now.”

Elias began his nearly 30-minute call by thanking the traded players for “pouring their hearts and souls into this organization.” It wouldn’t be the last time that he stressed the difficulty in moving on from Rutschman, his first draft pick after being hired in November 2018.

“It is an incredibly emotional moment to have Adley depart the organization in this way,” Elias said. “When he was projected to be the No. 1 pick and he realized the gravity of the assignment ahead of him with the Orioles, with the way that the Orioles organization had been playing recently, he really embraced it. And I felt Adley worked together with us as an organization to elevate the Orioles back into a very competitive state. And he was an enormous part of that.

“He’s a wonderful human being. We love his family. This was an unfortunate reality of the business of major league baseball.”

Elias said multiple times that he was trying to collect his thoughts on such an emotional and exhausting day. Articulating them wasn’t easy. He expressed regret that Rutschman’s tenure after being the first-overall draft pick in 2019 didn’t go according to script. The personal successes were countered by the failure to win a playoff game, and ultimately, his departure from the team.

After reciting how the organization has been elevated to become cutting edge, rising to a healthy and strong status and with a “wonderful” ownership group, Elias added, “But I think Adley and I both wish some of these seasons hadn’t gone the way that they had.”

Elias again declined to get into any specifics regarding contract extension talks with Rutschman and the catcher’s willingness to make a long-term commitment. Rutschman can become a free agent after 2027.

“He wasn’t signed to a contract,” Elias said, “and when that becomes clear that that’s the case and our team fades out of direct contention that season to that degree, we have to start looking at opportunities as a player nears the end of those term. So we went out on this market and wanted to see what was available with Adley with a year and a half remaining on his present deal. And it wasn’t going to be any trade. It had to be something that we were overwhelmed by, and we were.”  

MLB Pipeline redid its top 30 prospects list for the Orioles, and pitcher Anthony Eyanson is the new No. 1. Outfielder Nate George is lowered to second.

Pitcher Kyson Witherspoon is No. 7 and outfielder Enddy Azocar is No. 8. They were slotted among Boston’s top five. Pitcher Michael Forret, back with the Orioles after they traded him to the Rays, is sixth.

“We brought in a really good catcher in Carlos Nárvaez that’s going to continue to shepherd our staff,” Elias said. “Overall, it was the right move for the organization in my estimation with all things under consideration, but certainly one of the weightier decisions that I’ve been a part of. My personal affection, admiration for respect for Adley Rutschman and his connection to the organization, to the city, to everything, weighed very heavily. But it was the right thing to do for us to make this trade. It’s gonna benefit us in the future, but I think it’s also gonna benefit us now in the immediate term.

“We got a tremendous amount of impact pitching in this trade.”

As for trading Rutschman to a division rival, Elias noted how several teams in the market for a catcher resided in the American League East.

“I knew that was going to be a factor,” he said. “It’s something that’s on your mind when you make that trade. But the Red Sox are sending a lot of talent our way, too, and they’re gonna have to watch some of these guys when we play each other. So it goes in both directions.”

Left-hander Trevor Rogers, a pending free agent, wasn’t traded today and likely will receive a qualifying offer as he approaches free agency. Veteran reliever Andrew Kittredge, also working on an expiring contract, figured to go before Wells but stayed in the bullpen.

So it wasn’t a fire sale. But it was a day of impactful departures.

*Heuer, 30, was acquired by the Brewers two days ago in a trade with the Guardians. He has a career 3.76 ERA in 97 relief appearances with five teams. He pitched in eight games with Cleveland and allowed five runs and 12 hits in 9 2/3 innings.

Hinds, 25, is a right-handed hitter drafted by the Reds in the second round in 2019 out of the IMG Academy in Bradenton. He’s batted .169/.218/.419 in 52 games over parts of three seasons.

Heuer and Hinds each have one option left.

The 40-man roster has 39 players.

*The Orioles announced two-thirds of their probables for the Angels series:

Tuesday: TBA
Wednesday: Rogers
Thursday: Brandon Young