Very little has gone right for the Baltimore Orioles this season. At 25-36 on the season, the Orioles find themselves a full 13 games back of the New York Yankees in the AL East race and in last place in the division.
The only teams worse than them in the American League so far are the Athletics and the Chicago White Sox. That is not company you want to keep when you are playing in the Junior Circuit.
So what are the Orioles to do? Have a fire sale? Precisely. One player who could be moved at or before the deadline is 30-year-old outfielder Ramon Laureano
. While he is currently on the 10-day injured list with a sprained ankle, retroactive to May 29, he was on a tear at the plate in his five most recent games. He was 10-for-16 in his last five games played for the Orioles, dating back to May 20.
Despite only 103 plate appearances on the year, Laureano ranks fourth on the lowly Orioles in WAR at 1.2. On the season, he is hitting .266/.320/.532 with six home runs and 11 runs batted in over the course of 36 games. The only Orioles hitter who has been as consistently strong as Laureano has been in spots this season is designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn.
His WAR of 2.0 leads the team as of June 5.
The fact Laureano is in a contract year and is notoriously streaky should signify he has to be dealt.
Baltimore Orioles should sell high on Ramon Laureano while they can
Throughout his eight-year MLB career, fans of the Athletics, Cleveland Guardians, Atlanta Braves and now Orioles can tell you all you need to know about Laureano’s game.
When he is on, you sometimes wonder why he has not been named to an All-Star team just yet. When he is off, you wonder why he is even on an MLB roster.
The answer lies in the in between. The guy is an incredibly streaky ballplayer.
Laureano should be back in Baltimore in about a week after he finishes his rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk Tides. Will he be hitting at a .556 clip like he was before he went on the injured list? I sincerely doubt it.
At this stage of his career, Laureano feels like a player who will be a year-by-year contributor until he eventually washes out of the league. Baltimore could conceivably re-sign him.
That is even more of a reason to potentially sell high on a player like Laureano. He may feel right at home in Baltimore, but this team is not ready to compete at the level it needs to just yet.
Rather than selling off on emerging players in their core who have not quite ripened yet, Laureano for a prospect seems like an easy fix. In the end, Baltimore is in the midst of one of its worst seasons in some time.
It all comes down to the right buyer in the case of Laureano, but the Orioles are likely sellers here.
