The Boston Red Sox are the hottest team in baseball entering the All-Star break, and have played their way into being trade deadline buyers.
For them to handle the deadline appropriately, they’ll need to add starting pitching. Fortunately, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal listed them to an intriguing arm, Baltimore Orioles’ right-hander Charlie Morton.
Morton might not thoroughly enthuse Red Sox fans who are eager to see Craig Breslow make a splash, given his high ERA and the fact that he’s 41 years old, but the right-hander has a 2.76 ERA in eight starts since rejoining the Orioles rotation in late May.
From Baltimore’s perspective, selling high on Morton is a no-brainer. The 41-year-old likely won’t be back with the team next season, and the O’s are all but out of postseason contention, so they might as well get what they can for him.
Morton’s value is not easy to predict. On one hand, he’s a 41-year-old on an expiring contract, and he might be in the middle of the final season of his career.
On the other hand, he’s been outstanding of late, and happens to play a position virtually every contending team needs. If the Orioles do commit to trading Morton to their AL East rivals, here are some prospects the team should demand in return.
3) Yordanny Monegro, starting pitcher
The Orioles would obviously love to acquire a prospect like Roman Anthony, but with only two months of Morton up for grabs, expectations must be tempered.
A guy like Yordanny Monegro might not be Roman Anthony, but he’s an intriguing prospect that the Orioles might be able to acquire from the Red Sox.
If there’s one thing that the Orioles need, it’s starting pitching, and Monegro is that. Monegro is MLB Pipeline’s No. 21 prospect in the Red Sox organization, and has only raised his stock as the season has progressed.
The right-hander has a 2.67 ERA in nine appearances (eight starts) for Double-A Worcester this season, and has struck out 49 batters compared to eight walks in 33.2 innings of work.
He’s an exciting prospect, but with guys like Connelly Early, Payton Tolle and Luis Perales in their organization, Monegro is tradable in a deal for Morton, and he could conceivably help the Orioles sometime next season.
2) Blaze Jordan, 3B/1B
Blaze Jordan had a wildly disappointing 2024 campaign, but has rebounded in a big way this season. He had a .928 in 44 games for Double-A Portland, leading to a promotion to Triple-A Worcester.
As his .785 OPS at that level would suggest, Jordan can hit at that level, and he might not be too far off from being MLB-ready at the plate.
The 22-year-old doesn’t offer much defensive value, but he’s played a lot at third base and first base throughout his minor league career.
Ryan O’Hearn is a free agent after the year, and Ryan Mountcastle has been on the trade block for a while now, so the Orioles might have room at first base and DH in the not-too-distant future. Getting a guy who can hit as well as Jordan and be ready sometime soon would be nice.
1) Yoeilin Cespedes, shortstop
This one might be a bit of a stretch, but Yoeilin Cespedes might be gettable for the Orioles.
Cespedes began the year with a lot of buzz, but he’s had himself a really rough season, potentially lowering his stock to the point where the Orioles might be able to acquire him in a deal with the Red Sox.
Cespedes has slashed .213/.264/.350 with four home runs and 33 RBI in 70 games.
Players are entitled to the occasional down year, but seeing the 19-year-old struggle like this in Single-A is far from ideal. The Orioles might be able to buy low on a guy who began the year as a top-100 prospect on some outlets.
There’s always the chance Cespedes doesn’t revert to the form he displayed in 2023 and 2024, but he’s a player worth taking a chance on if you’re Baltimore.
He’s a ways away from being MLB-ready, but is as talented a player as the Orioles can somewhat realistically get for Morton.
