The Baltimore Orioles are currently in a close battle for the American League East division title with the New York Yankees. The Orioles made an abundance of trades ahead of the July 30th trade deadline to help improve their pitching staff and overall depth in the lineup. Here’s a breakdown of their most significant moves as well as what each piece can bring to the team.
Orioles acquire RHP Serathony Dominguez and OF Cristian Pache from Phillies for OF Austin Hays
The Orioles add a solid reliever arm in Seranthony Dominguez and an additional piece of depth with Cristian Pache. Let’s start with Pache. The 25-year old has yet to find it with the bat but adds value in the field. Pache has above average sprint speed and great arm strength, giving Baltimore more depth in the center field position. Although a career .181 hitter, he makes solid contact, and you get a good glove in Cristian Pache.
Dominguez should help boost the Baltimore bullpen immensely in the postseason. Dominguez in 16 IP has a 1.13 postseason ERA. In 2024 with the Phillies, Dominguez posted a 4.25 ERA with a 10.0 K/9 rate.
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Orioles acquire RHP Zach Eflin and cash from the Rays for INF Mac Horvath #19, RHP Jackson Baumeister #14, and OF Matthew Etzel #29
A great trade for both sides, Eflin provides Baltimore with a very quality arm while the Rays get a haul of solid Top 30 prospects back. Eflin’s 6-7 this season with a 4.11 ERA in 116 innings pitched. While those numbers don’t make him look great on paper, that could not be further from the truth.
Eflin excels at limiting walks, with great control at just a 2.7% walk rate. The right hander also gets a lot of chase on his phenomenal cutter-slider combo. Eflin now strengthens the rotation with his pitch mix and control, something the Orioles desperately needed help in during their recent struggles.
Orioles acquire LHP Trevor Rogers from the Miami Marlins for 2B/OF Connor Norby and OF Kyle Stowers
This trade was a great return for Miami, and provides Rogers with a change of scenery where he can maybe improve his numbers with a championship caliber squad. Rogers is below average in many underlying metrics, but is good at getting ground ball contact. For a team that needed starting pitching help, it’s not a terrible trade as Norby and Stowers didn’t quite fit into the future scheme of the team.
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Orioles acquire DH Eloy Jimenez for LHP Trey McGough
This trade is one of the more interesting moves the Orioles made at the deadline. A high upside bat that has battled injuries, Jimenez hits the ball hard with an average exit velocity of 92.4 MPH. He can hopefully channel something with a better ball club, similar to Jazz Chisholm Jr. with the New York Yankees.
Orioles acquire LHP Gregory Soto from the Phillies for RHP Seth Johnson (#10) and RHP Moises Chace (#25 MLB Pipeline, #15 FanGraphs)
Another great addition to the new Orioles bullpen comes courtesy of Philadelphia yet again. Soto’s kicker is his sinker with his tough to read left handed delivery that averages at nearly 98 MPH. Soto excels at getting whiffs with a 30.7% whiff rate. The left hander is also good at getting ground ball contact, and should be a great addition to Baltimore.
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Trade Deadline Grade: A
The Orioles may not have made the craziest moves in the world, but they improved their team. They added depth in the lineup and within both the starting rotation and the bullpen. With other teams in the division not making many moves to better their teams this season, it was overall a solid deadline.
They didn’t end up having to part ways with prized prospects such as Jackson Holliday, Samuel Basallo, Coby Mayo, or Enrique Bradfield Jr. With their future still looking very bright and their roster upgraded, the Baltimore Orioles deadline grades out to an A.