The Baltimore Orioles sell their season at the MLB trade deadline

Entering Thursday’s play, the Baltimore Orioles are still just 1.5 games out of a Wild Card spot despite trading away Trey Mancini and Jorge Lopez in the last few days.

The Baltimore Orioles decided to sell at the deadline and put themselves into a better position long term. It’s a tough message to send to a clubhouse that’s competing for a postseason berth, but the O’s didn’t want to divert from the long-term plan.

Despite recent success, the Baltimore Orioles are still a team that needs more to compete in future seasons.

Even if they make the playoffs, it would’ve most likely resulted in a first-round exit. General manager Mike Elias decided to trade Mancini to the Houston Astros in a three-team deal with the Tampa Bay Rays. He then sent Lopez to the Minnesota Twins.

Let’s take a look at the return for each deal.

For Mancini, the Orioles received two right-handed pitchers, one from the Astros and the other from the Rays (Houston’s 12th-ranked prospect in Chayce McDermott and Tampa Bay’s sixth-ranked prospect in Seth Johnson). The Astros also sent center fielder Jose Siri to the Rays.

This is not a bad return for Mancini considering he is a free agent at year’s end. McDermott has played in High-A this season and has an ERA of 5.50. One positive aspect of his game is his strikeout rate with 114 in 72 innings. Johnson has only pitched 27 innings this season in High-A, but he’s fared better with an ERA of 3. Johnson has 41 strikeouts and he could be an asset for Baltimore in a few years.

Mancini, by the way, is already paying dividends for Houston as he hit his first home run in an Astros uniform on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Jorge Lopez was a stud for the Orioles this season after being converted to a closer. He has 19 saves with an ERA of 1.68. He struck out 54 batters in 48 innings. Lopez was a subpar starting pitcher with an ERA over six. His turnaround has been incredible and his contract is extremely cheap. He’s making just $1.5 million, and he’s eligible for arbitration in the next two years.

The Twins filled a huge area of need by giving up four minor league pitchers for Lopez (right-handers Yennier Cano and Juan Nunez, and left-handers Juan Rojas and Cade Povich). Povich leads the package as the 22nd-ranked prospect for the Twins. He played in High-A ball and pitched 78 innings with 107 strikeouts and an ERA of 4.46.

Lopez, by the way, got a save in his first outing as a Twin.

The Orioles decided to load up on their pitching and sell two of their better players. With six new pitchers in the system, they’ll have to hope that at least a few of them hit. In terms of this season, we’ll see if they can still make a push towards the postseason