Chances are that had Baltimore Orioles’ first baseman Ryan Mountcastle not suffered a hamstring strain at the end of May, he would have been part of the fire sale at the trade deadline.

Under control for one more season, it feels like the Orioles would have been willing to trade the 28-year-old first baseman had he been back in the lineup before the MLB trade deadline.

Of course, Mountcastle being sidelined set the stage for Ryan O’Hearn to be one of the Orioles’ biggest trade chips this season.

Looking at Mountcastle’s season as a whole, it’s been the worst season of his career with a wRC+ well under 100 and less than 5 home runs on the season. Of course, the sample size is limited, considering he entered this weekend with only 223 plate appearances.

The assumption is that the Orioles will look to trade Mountcastle this offseason as a way to address other areas of need on their Major League roster.

Orioles counting on this slugger to revive bat for big trade push this offseason

The good news is that Mountcastle seemingly has returned to form upon his return to the Orioles’ starting lineup. Mountcastle returned on August 8 and is slashing .250/.204/.550 during his first week back to go along with 2 home runs and a 128 wRC+.

With Mountcastle only under control for one more season, it feels like the veteran first baseman is not going to be a part of the next Orioles team that is a contender. Considering the timeline for many of the prospects the team added at the deadline is not 2026, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where the Orioles are a legitimate contender next season. There certainly is a path available to them where they could become a contender, but that is placing too much confidence in Mike Elias.

Assuming Mountcastle stays hot, he is in line to be an ideal trade chip this offseason.

For Elias, he could look for a path toward a controllable starting pitcher while using Mountcastle as the key piece in a deal. Especially when you consider Elias’ previous reluctance to trade top prospects.