Baltimore Orioles: Mike Elias quietly wins big at the trade deadline
The Baltimore Orioles quietly put together an impressive group of trades at the 2020 MLB trade deadline.
You likely won’t find the Baltimore Orioles in any “Trade Deadline Winners” articles over the next day or so, but general manager Mike Elias was able to complete three deals ahead of Monday’s deadline, accomplishing one very important goal, improving the farm system.
Despite a hot start to the season and the thoughts of “what if” creeping into the minds of many fans of the Baltimore Orioles, a playoff spot just isn’t in the cards for the O’s this year, and that’s ok.
More from Baltimore Orioles
- Baltimore Orioles: John Angelos should learn that silence is golden
- Watch out American League, the Baltimore Orioles are here to stay
- Stock Up, Stock Down: MLB trade deadline winners and losers
- MLB Rumors: Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Twins
- Baltimore Orioles: How about a little love in MLB history for Jim Palmer?
The Orioles are still in the very early stages of a rebuild, but Elias has already been able to find a few diamonds in the rough (Hanser Alberto, Pedro Severino to name a few), make the most of his two draft classes, and has improved his farm system into what many consider a top ten system.
The improvements continued over the weekend and right up to Monday’s 4 pm trade deadline, with Elias making three different trades and bringing in three new prospects immediately into the system and up to four players to be named later in exchange for two relievers and a starting pitcher originally signed in the offseason to a minor league deal who had to compete with names like David Hess and Asher Wojciechowski for a rotation spot.
Let’s take a look at each of these three trades and see why each can be considered a big win for Mike Elias and the Baltimore Orioles.
Two possible lottery tickets may be making their way back to the Baltimore Orioles for Tommy Milone.
It wasn’t a total shock to see the Baltimore Orioles move starting pitcher Tommy Milone, but it was a bit surprising to see the Orioles acquire two Players To Be Named Later from the Atlanta Braves for the 33-year-old soft-tossing lefty.
With the Braves in desperate need of starting pitching help to slot in behind Max Fried and Ian Anderson, they decided to go the cheaper route to see if Milone can continue to be a valuable asset. That desperation turned out to be a win for the Orioles.
Milone was signed to a minor-league deal late in the offseason to compete for a back-end rotation spot in Baltimore but ended up being named the Baltimore Orioles Opening Day starter due to an injury to John Means.
After a rocky Opening Day outing, Milone gave up just nine earned runs across his next five starts, including six shutout frames against the defending World Series champion Washington Nationals, as he struck out 26 and walked only one batter across 24 innings.
That hot stretch was able to net the Baltimore Orioles two players, likely lottery tickets from the low levels of the Atlanta farm system, possibly a return similar to what the Orioles saw in last year’s Andrew Cashner deal with the Boston Red Sox.
Milone wasn’t supposed to crack the Orioles starting rotation this year and he certainly wasn’t going to be in the mix next season with a plethora of prospects knocking on the gates of Camden Yards.
Now, the Orioles can look forward to developing two potentially very young prospects in what is quickly becoming a modern and impressive player development system. Despite not know what the return is, mark this deal as a win for Mike Elias.
The Baltimore Orioles added another 2021 starting rotation candidate.
You can always count on the New York Mets doing Mets things, luckily for Baltimore Orioles fans, Mike Elias was able to capitalize on whatever Brodie Van Wagenen thinks he’s trying to do in New York.
In what may be the most impressive deadline deal for the Orioles, Baltimore secured left-handed pitcher Kevin Smith and a Player To Be Named Later (or cash considerations) for reliever Miguel Castro.
After years of Orioles fans placing a lot of hope and optimism on Castro’s electric raw stuff, the roller coaster that is the Miguel Castro experience is over in Birdland.
At one point this year, Castro led all relievers in Wins Above Replacement, thanks to a wicked 98 mph fastball and fascinating 93 mph changeup regularly featured on Pitching Ninja’s timeline. Since then, Castro has seen his ERA jump to 4.02, and his fWAR drop to 0.2 after allowing 13 hits and seven earned runs across his last 7.2 innings.
Relievers are extremely volatile, we all know that, and Miguel Castro is no exception.
What the Orioles were able to get in return is a 23-year-old, 6’5″ deceptive lefty who has climbed from part-time reliever/part-time starter at the University of Georgia to the New York Mets Minor League Pitcher of the Year in just over 100 professional innings.
Brodie Van Wagenen was quoted as saying the Mets viewed Kevin Smith as a starting rotation option at the major league level, yet he sent him to Baltimore (along with another unnamed player), in exchange for a slight chance he catches lightning in a bottle with Castro.
It’s an optimistic move, but as one of the very few card-carrying members of the Miguel Castro fan club, I wouldn’t even make this deal if I’m the Mets.
The Orioles now have another starting rotation candidate to add the mix in 2021 and a prospect who ranks 12th in what is now one of the top farm systems in baseball.
Chalk this one up as yet another big win for Mike Elias.
The Mychal Givens era is over for the Baltimore Orioles.
Lastly, there was the swap of Mychal Givens to the Colorado Rockies exchange for infield prospects Tyler Nevin and Terrin Vavra, and yet another Player To Be Named Later.
For those keeping track at home, that’s six PTBNL coming to Baltimore this offseason (the Orioles also dealt pitchers Hector Velazquez and Richard Bleier for PTBNLs).
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
Givens put together a few solid seasons in the backend of the Baltimore Orioles bullpen, but over the last two seasons, he’s proven to be an unreliable option to close out games at Camden Yards. Thanks to the additional years of control Givens brings to the table, the Orioles were able to acquire two prospects, both ranked among the top 25 in the Rockies system, plus a PTBNL.
The Mychal Givens trade rumors have swirled for years now and the patience to hold on to him for the desired return paid off for Mike Elias.
The Orioles are pretty slim at middle infield options in the upper minors and they have virtually no first basemen in the minor leagues. Both Vavra and Nevin fill those voids.
Both prospects are also the type of player you don’t see often in the Orioles farm system, with both being high OBP guys who can draw a lot of walks.
If Nevin can stay healthy and turn some of his raw power into game power, the Orioles have a valuable power-hitter who can get on base and play both corner infield and outfield spots. Versatility is key in today’s game and Mike Elias absolutely loves his versatile young players.
There’s a very real possibility that Vavra is the starting second baseman for the Baltimore Orioles in the near future. The hit tool is very impressive, he gets on base, and the glove plays very well at second.
Not a bad return at all for a middle reliever.
dark. Next. Pedro Severino continues to stay hot in 2020
At the end of the day, the Baltimore Orioles didn’t make any high-profile moves, but Mike Elias made this organization better over the last 48 hours and that’s all you can ask for right now.