Of all the rumors we’ve gotten about the Orioles this offseason, the most recent news about Ryan Mountcastle reportedly being discussed in trade talks seems fairly realistic.

The 27 year old has been a solid piece of the Orioles lineup for the past five years but at this rate, it seems unlikely that the O’s will offer him a contract extension and seeing as he’s due to hit free agency after the 2026 season it does make a bit of sense to put him on the trade block and see what’s out there.

A big part of why GM Mike Elias and the Orioles would theoretically be open to moving Mountcastle is that they’ve got a couple replacement options on hand. Ryan O’Hearn has been quite consistent over the past two seasons and there’s reason to believe that will continue into 2025.

The O’s also have top prospect Coby Mayo in the mix, who despite coming up through the system as a third baseman has gotten enough reps at first and profiles as a strong presence there.

And in addition to O’Hearn and Mayo, the O’s also have Heston Kjerstad on the roster, who’s primarily worked as a corner outfielder to this point but there have been rumors about the Orioles’ willingness to get him reps at the cold corner in order to boost his chances of seeing significant playing time in Baltimore this year.

When you add all that up, you can start to see the case for moving Mountcastle as trading from a place of strength to potentially address an area of weakness.

For many Orioles fans, the idea is that Mountcastle would be served best as a trade chip to acquire a rotation upgrade.

There have been theories about including him in a deal to acquire someone like Mariners’ starter Bryan Woo, or Cardinals starter Sonny Gray.

Orioles’ first baseman Ryan Mountcastle reportedly discussed in recent trade talks

But these recent rumors are a bit different. Pat Ragazzo of Sports Illustrated reported earlier this week that the Orioles had been in talks with the Mets, who are looking to find a replacement for their erstwhile star first baseman Pete Alonso

Though he hasn’t found a home yet, Alonso is seeking a long-term deal that the Mets just don’t want to give out, at least not to him.

That’s led the Mets to have conversations with teams like the Orioles about Mountcastle, as well as the Tigers about a post-hype guy in Spencer Torkelson.

On paper, both Mountcastle and Torkelson seem like steps backward for the Mets, and that’s probably the case.

But given that agent Scott Boras has come out and said that the Alonso camp is looking for a deal similar to the one Prince Fielder got, that being 9 years and $214 million, it’s not that big of a surprise that the Mets are looking elsewhere.

While sending Mountcastle to New York seemingly works from the Mets’ perspective, it’s an interesting proposal from the Orioles side.

What exactly would the Mets have to offer that would make the Orioles want to move forward with a deal? They don’t have a ton of expendable pitching at the major league level, and you’d have to think the O’s want to get arms back in this type of deal.

Even if the O’s could get the Mets to part with someone like David Peterson or Paul Blackburn, those guys aren’t really moving the needle.

It’s unlikely that Mountcastle, given the limited control and admitted lack of star power, isn’t going to get you a top prospect like Christian Scott or Brandon Sproat.

Brian Germinaro of Rising Apple suggested a deal that would include Mets prospects Blade Tidwell and Jack Wenniger heading back to Baltimore.

That’s probably fine from New York’s perspective but Elias likely isn’t looking to just dump Mountcastle for prospects.

The Orioles are still trying to win in 2025. It’ll be interesting to see if a deal winds up happening here, because these two sides just don’t seem to line up all that well.