The Orioles Are Not Waiting For The Trade Deadline And Are Adding Some Legit Arms To Their Team By Trading For Seranthony Dominguez And Zach Efflin.
Trade deadline is Tuesday but Mike Elias and the Orioles wait for no one. Before it gets all hectic and crazy they decided to jump and immediately improved the best team in the AL. The O's need pitching help and everyone knows it, so all they did today was go out and improved their rotation as well as the bullpen with solid veterans who have pitched deep into October and know what it takes to get to a World Series. It's not the only moves the O's need to make to make sure they capture a 2nd straight division title and make a deep run into October but it's a hell of a start. The first move they made was talked about here by Smitty as Austin Hays heads up 95 to Philadelphia in exchange for Seranthony Dominguez and Cristian Pache.
A deal that helps both teams, the rare double win. It's also a rare trade between the 2 best teams in baseball. You usually don't see division leaders making trades with each other but these 2 were able to make it happen. The Phillies get a right handed outfielder to platoon with Brandon Marsh and the O's get a very good bullpen arm and a 4th outfielder. Hays was a veteran for this young team and kind of was the odd man out in a crowded outfield. It's a move that kind of came out of nowhere but it does make sense. They needed the bullpen help ad this was a guy they were perfectly okay with giving up. He wasn't going to have much of a role in Baltimore outside of starting against lefties and even though he has been better since the beginning on June, his offense left a lot to be desired. Couple that with how his defense has sort of fallen off a cliff, it's a good time to get something for him. The arm is still there but the routes to balls have been bad this year, just a weird season for the All-Star starter from last year. It's a fresh start for him and a welcoming sight to bring in Seranthony.
GREAT slider, a good fastball and a good sinker. The ERA is inflated but that's due to a handful of bad outings. You look at his stretch from 5/3 to 7/11 and his ERA was 1.21, I'll take that. The O's can get a lot out of Dominguez, they've done it with almost every arm they trade for. They fix them, no reason to believe they can't make a small adjustment with Seranthony and get him back to that vintage Dominguez. He's a high leverage pitcher who has experience closing, can't teach that type of veteran leadership. 1.04 ERA in May and June, sign me up for that. Pache is a 4th OF who brings speed and defense to the club, he flat out can't hit but maybe we see him start against some lefties but it gives them a right handed centerfielder that they desperately needed. This should open up at-bats for Heston Kjerstad and Colton Cowser. Pinch runner, defensive replacement is more than okay with me, this trade seems like an absolute steal for the O's. MLB Network was saying that it's shocking that the Phillies didn't get more from the O's, that's just Elias being Elias. Love this move, big fan of adding that arm to the bullpen. Sliding Seranthony into that 7th inning spot should be big for this team…..or just have him close because Craig Kimbrel is Craig Kimbreling. Big, live arm, what's not to like? But Mike Elias wasn't done there. You wanted rotation help as well? You got it!
The Orioles took advantage of the Rays having a mini fire sale and went out and got a guy who finished 6th in the AL Cy Young last year, Zach Eflin. 3 prospects head out of Baltimore to Tampa as the birds get their #3 starter. Eflin signed a decent contract with Tampa before last year and suddenly gets dumped, the O's will gladly pick up those pieces. He's obviously not on the Tarik Skubal or Garret Crochet level, but he's a VERY good 2nd tier guy. He doesn't walk anyone, like no one. 2.8% walk rate is insane. His Ks are down this year and his ERA is up a bit, but he's a legit #3 behind Corbin Burnes and Grayson Rodriguez.
We've seen how walks can kill a playoff run, Eflin will not do that and you need a guy like that. Somone who has been there, pitched in big games and who you know will throw strikes. The other big thing about him is he's under contract next year, that's huge for this club. Controllable arm who throws BBs for strikes. Bolsters the rotation and really helps fill out that front half. They also didn't give up anyone of real value. No one above their #12 ranked prospect. Mac Horvath was an athletic infielder who I believe was a 2nd round pick, again it's a very crowded infield with top prospects everywhere. No room for him. Matthew Etzel was a former 10th round pick in AA who can hit, I liked what I saw from him in person but I'm not worried about losing AA guys right now. He would have been a few years away from possibly making any impact, with this team and this farm system you don't have to lose sleep over low end prospects because of how good their system is. Last guy in this deal is Jackson Baumeister, a High-A pitcher who has a good arm. But again, I'm not worried about losing high A and AA guys, I want to win a World Series and both these trades help that.
I'm thrilled with these moves as long as there is more to come. I have faith that more trades will be made, ideally a RHH OF and another starter, possibly another reliever since Kimbrel has struggled recently. But I need more moves. The Orioles have been awful for about a month now, the Yankees have been even worse for twice as long. I mean it's a god damn MIRACLE that the Orioles have a 2 game lead with how they've played the last 50 games. Right around a .500 team. It's remarkable this team is leading the division and still on pace for like 97 wins. Add some more pieces and let's go make a run at this thing. Need the offense to wake up and the back end of that pen to find it's balls. There is a legit path for the Birds.