Every indication is that the Baltimore Orioles, despite turning the corner from their atrocious start to the season, will be sellers ahead of the MLB trade deadline at the end of the month.
While the idea of the Orioles completing a fire sale at the deadline hasn’t entirely been ruled out, it feels like a safe assumption that Ryan O’Hearn will be on the move.
A free agent after the season, it would be an egregious offense by the Orioles’ front office did not cash in on O’Hearn’s breakout season by moving him at the deadline. With 11 home runs and 137 wRC+, O’Hearn would be a great fit for any team in the market for a first baseman who can provide some pop.
That was the connection ESPN’s Jeff Passan made during his latest drop of trade deadline intel. While labeling a fit for each contending team, Passan makes the suggestion that the Orioles should trade O’Hearn to the Milwaukee Brewers.
“They could easily move a starting pitcher and tap into their deep prospect well for O’Hearn. The add-and-subtract maneuver is risky, sure, but the Brewers have steeled themselves to weather it.”
Trading Ryan O’Hearn to the Brewers? Jeff Passan says don’t rule it out
In the aftermath of losing Rhys Hoskins for the next several weeks, it would seem that the Brewers could be in the market for a first baseman.
Targeting O’Hearn and offering up a Major League-ready starting pitcher would see the Brewers follow a blueprint they already laid this offseason. Last month, the Brewers shipped veteran starting pitcher Aaron Civale to the Chicago White Sox for Andrew Vaughn. Vaugn has been the next man up for the Brewers in the aftermath of Hoskins’ injury.
It would be a similar type of deal for the Orioles, though, given O’Hearn’s established production this year, they can likely net an organizational top 20 prospect in addition to a starting pitcher from the Brewers.
Trading O’Hearn, along with moving Cedric Mullins for the same reasons, should be the goal for the Orioles’ front office this deadline season.
The Orioles still have a core that can contend as soon as next season, but reconstructing the pieces around them is desperately needed.
