Updated Monday, August 3, at 10:09 p.m.
Trades That Have Been Made
Catcher Adley Rutschman has been traded to the Boston Red Sox. Rutschman, the first overall draft pick in 2019 and a three-time All Star, is headed to Boston in exchange for a haul of prospects and Red Sox catcher Carlos Narvaez.
The Orioles receive Narvaez, highly-ranked right-handed pitching prospects Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon, top outfield prospect Enddy Azocar, and a player to be named later, or cash. Boston is also getting veteran catcher Jake Rogers and some cash in the deal, which marks the biggest and possibly the greatest legacy-defining trade of Orioles GM Mike Elias' tenure. Rutschman was Elias' first draft choice as the team underwent an organizational rebuild.
The team has reached the postseason twice since then, but hasn't won a playoff game and is staring down a second straight sub-.500 season as Rutschman is on the injured list for the third time this season.
Last week, Elias said he has to be "open-minded" about a deal with Rutschman, who is due to be a free agent after 2027, but acknowledged the catcher's importance to the team.
"We have to be pretty open-minded in these talks," Elias said, "but Adley is one of the best things we have going for us."
ESPN's Jeff Passan was first to report a deal is done, a few hours before MLB's 6 p.m. Eastern time trade deadline. Read more on the trade here.
The Orioles traded outfielder Taylor Ward to the Seattle Mariners.
Baltimore is getting a trio of right-handed pitching prospects in return: Alex Hoppe, Harrison Kreiling, and Brock Moore. Of the three, Hoppe, 27 is major-league ready, having appeared in 24 games out of the Mariners bullpen this season. Moore, 26, and Kreiling, 24, are developmental prospects. Read more on the trade here.
Ward, who played leftfield and batting leadoff for most of this season, hasn't matched the power that made him a 36-homer hitter in 2025 with the Los Angeles Angels, but he's still getting on base, which made him an appealing right-handed "professional at-bat" rental for a contender needing outfield depth. With other outfield options, the O's don't have much incentive to keep Ward around, after acquiring him in a trade that sent Grayson Rodriguez to the Angels in the offseason.
Multiple teams were reportedly interested in Ward, who addressed his future in Baltimore on Saturday after a 5-0 loss to Philadelphia.
"At this point, it is what it is. I’d love to say here. I love the guys, love the coaching staff, love the direction the team is headed," Ward told reporters in the Orioles' clubhouse on Saturday, "but I understand at the end of the day, it’s a business and they got to do what’s best for the team.”
Reliever Tyler Wells has been traded to the Tampa Bay Rays The Orioles are getting back right-handed pitching prospect Michael Forret in the deal. The Orioles originally traded Forret to Tampa Bay in the Shane Baz trade this offseason.
Forret was Tampa Bay's No. 8 overall prospect and this year is 7-2 with 3.29 ERA over 93 innings between Double-A and Triple-A.
Wells, a 6-foot-8 righty is set to be a free agent after 2027, He has been effective out of the bullpen for the Orioles this year, with a 2.67 ERA in 43 appearances and 54 innings. He's had four saves, filling a need after closer Tyler Helsley went down with an elbow injury. Wells underwent UCL surgery in June 2024 and didn't pitch in the majors again until last September. Read more on the trade here.
Lastly, on Monday, the Orioles cquired right-handed pitcher Codi Heuer from the Milwaukee Brewers and outfielder Rece Hinds from the Miami Marlins in separate deals for cash considerations. Heuer, 30, is a bullpen arm whose spent time with five MLB clubs. Hinds is a 25-year-old outfielder.
Late Friday, the Orioles sent starting pitcher Dean Kremer to Minnesota in exchange for 18-year-old outfield prospect Jhomnardo Reyes. Read more here..
The Orioles are acquiring outfielder Christian Franklin from the Nationals, the Baltimore Banner reported, in exchange for right-handed minor-league pitcher Joe Glassey. Franklin has been hitting .249 in Triple-A this year.
On Thursday, the Orioles announced a trade acquiring Detroit Tigers catcher Jake Rogers in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Zane Barnhart. Rogers, 31, is a six-year veteran with a career .197 average, and a .161 average this year, and was DFA'd by Detroit on Tuesday. On Friday, the Orioles then DFA'd Chadwick Tromp and put Rogers on the roster. Rogers then went to Boston in the Rutschman trade.
Before the Deadline: Setting the Stage
The Orioles are stuck in the spot that makes trade deadlines miserable to predict: two-and-a-half games back of the final American League wild-card spot, coming off a game Wednesday in Detroit that looked like a team fighting for its season, and still three games under .500 for the year. Good enough to keep believing. Not good enough to be sure you can contend for the World Series.
That tension is exactly what Baltimore showed Wednesday, rallying from 7-0 down against Tarik Skubal to beat the Tigers 10-9 in 12 innings.
It's the kind of win that makes selling feel premature — and president of baseball operations Mike Elias and owner David Rubenstein have publicly said the Orioles intend not to be wholesale sellers. But the calculating front office, also looking to the future, is going with a hybrid approach: buy in some spots, sell in others.
“We do care about making the playoffs in 2026. But we put ourselves a little bit behind the eight-ball," Elias told reporters on Friday ahead of the Orioles' three-game series with the visiting Philadelphia Phillies. "We’re not going to have a strong bias toward being in one of those buckets, buyer or seller. I think we put ourselves in a position where we can’t have a bias in either direction."
He said team is looking at a deals on a "case-by-case" basis. If they feel the deal is right for the long term, they'll do it. But if a deal manifests that brings in a player for the rest of this season or next year, they'll do that too. There are few specific spots the Orioles could use help. More on that below.
Complicating the picture: Baltimore has 11 players on the injured list, but two of the more important names on it — Rutschman and Samuel Basallo — are expected back soon, and veteran pitcher Chris Bassitt may not be far behind.
Elias said on Friday that Rutschman had an inflamed tendon in his left wrist, but could begin hitting as early as Saturday and play in rehab games next week. Basallo will be back "ASAP," Elias said, and could start hitting in the next few days. He got a shot in his right shoulder to calm down some "barking," Elias termed it.
If that group returns healthy and productive, it could functionally work like a trade addition without costing a single prospect.
Who the Orioles Could Trade - But Didn't
Trevor Rogers, LHP — His situation is complicated, and it's also not: he's a pending free agent who wants to stay, but no extension has materialized, and left-handed starters always draw a market. Rogers has become an ace and they are hard to find and/or develop. A severe case of the flu in the spring distorted his performance and numbers. He had a sub-2.0 ERA since early June. If Rogers really wants to be in Baltimore long term and the O's have designs on the playoffs this year, they should keep him (and they did).
Elias suggested Friday that they could work something out. "We do work on this stuff behind the scenes. Some of them have happen," Elias said. "He's been terrific, and we absolutely love him and he's a great fit here. I’ll leave it at that.”
The surprise names — ESPN's Jeff Passan reported that Baltimore has had trade conversations involving Rutschman, Jackson Holliday, and Colton Cowser — three players who were supposed to be the young core this team was built around. Passan's read: "This young core that the Orioles brought together, that they thought was gonna take them to the promised land, just has not performed to the level expected." They haven't won a playoff game.
Worth stressing: conversations aren't the same as intent to deal, and the price tags likely reflect that — so "teams have called" is a long way from "will be traded." But Elias pulled the trigger on a massive haul from Boston in exchange for Rutschman.
Cowser move was plausible as well, but even there it's complicated: he's one of the better defensive outfielders on the roster, and he's close with several core teammates, including Gunnar Henderson. That's not the kind of thing that shows up in a trade value calculator, but it's exactly the sort of factor that should make a front office hesitate on a deal that looks good on paper.
Bullpen depth — Andrew Kittredge and Rico Garcia were arms that could have left.
Relievers are always in demand in late July. MLB Network's Jon Morosi reported on Wednesday that Yennier Cano is "one of the most coveted setup relievers" in the league at this year's deadline, but on Friday evening, the O's announced the inked the righty to a two-year contract extension. Cano rebuilt his value with a 2.48 ERA after a rough 2025.
We before Monday, though, "If the O's do unload anyone from their bullpen, it would be a signal of more selling than buying and probably gut the mood in the O's clubhouse."
That was Wells.
This could be a defining deadline Elias' tenure as GM, as fans and likely ownership are getting antsy for more success after missing the postseason and firing a manager last season.
What the Orioles Needed to Buy
- A left-handed reliever — the clearest bullpen priority. Didn't get it.
- A right-handed reliever, Alex Hoppe, from the Mariners, acquired in the Ward trade could qualify, but he's still mostly unproven.
- A right-handed bat, lower on the list — the lineup is already crowded and platoon-filled. Didn't get it.
- Starting pitching depth Michael Forret is the closest thing, but he's still a Triple-A pitcher. It seems Elias is banking on the return of Chris Bassitt and/or a combination of Trey Gibson or Cade Povich to get the Orioles through the rest of this season.
The Bottom Line
The Orioles were sellers and Elias made a franchise-defining trade in sending Rutschman away. They'll probably be fine on the field, but trading away a fan favorite and someone Baltimore built the team around won't be something that is easily forgotten by the fanbase or those left in the clubhouse.