Quick guide to the O's busy Trade Deadline

This story was excerpted from Jake Rill’s Orioles Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

BALTIMORE -- As a seven-year MLB veteran, Corbin Burnes has experienced the uncertain nature of Trade Deadline season plenty of times. But his first Deadline in Baltimore was a bit different than any of his previous six in Milwaukee.

How so, exactly? Because the Orioles made seven trades over a span of four days (two on Friday, five on Tuesday) and brought nine new players into the organization.

“This is probably, I think, the most faces I think I've ever come across as far as adding at a Deadline. So this will be kind of a first for me,” Burnes said. “If they're coming here, they're good players, and they’re going to be in the same mindset as we are. And that’s to win baseball games.”

General manager Mike Elias went down his checklist and crossed off every item along the way.

“We accomplished our goals,” Elias said during Tuesday’s MASN broadcast, “which was a right-handed reliever, a left-handed reliever, some right-handed outfield presence to help backfill Austin Hays and then two starting pitchers that are going to go right in our rotation.”

Let’s analyze the six Deadline moves made by the O’s that featured big league players, each of which can fit into one of three categories.

THE ROTATION MOVES

The additions: RHP Zach Eflin (Rays), LHP Trevor Rogers (Marlins)

The cost: INF/OF Mac Horvath, RHP Jackson Baumeister and OF Matthew Etzel to Tampa Bay; INF/OF Connor Norby and OF Kyle Stowers to Miami

The verdict: The Eflin deal is likely to go down as the best move made by the Orioles at the 2024 Trade Deadline. The 30-year-old is an efficient, strike-throwing right-hander who will log a lot of innings for Baltimore not only the rest of the way this season, but also throughout ‘25.

Eflin (who allowed three runs in six innings in his Orioles debut Monday vs. the Blue Jays) is a great addition, and because the O’s made the move on Friday -- before the cost for starting pitchers went up -- they didn’t have to part with any of their top nine prospects.

The cost for the Orioles to land Rogers was a bit higher, as they lost Norby and Stowers, two youngsters who put up big numbers at Triple-A Norfolk and flashed their potential at times in the Majors. But Rogers gives Baltimore a needed lefty starter, and he’s signed through the 2026 season. So if he can get back to his ‘21 All-Star form, he could be quite helpful.

THE BULLPEN MOVES

The additions: RHP Seranthony Domínguez (Phillies), LHP Gregory Soto (Phillies)

The cost: OF Austin Hays, RHP Seth Johnson and RHP Moisés Chace to Philadelphia

The verdict: The O’s have recreated the back end of the Phillies’ 2023 bullpen, as Domínguez and Soto are reuniting with closer Craig Kimbrel. Domínguez has already proven to be a strong addition, throwing three scoreless innings over three appearances since Friday -- the day he and outfielder Cristian Pache were traded for Hays.

Soto will need to cut down on walks -- the 29-year-old lefty is averaging 5.1 per nine innings after averaging a career-best 3.3 per nine last season -- but he throws hard, much like the 29-year-old Domínguez.

It hurt Baltimore to lose Hays, and Johnson could have a bright future once he reaches The Show. But the O’s bullpen is stronger for the next year-plus, with Soto under contract for 2025 and Domínguez having a club option.

THE OUTFIELD MOVES

The additions: DH/OF Eloy Jiménez (White Sox), OF Austin Slater (Reds), OF Cristian Pache (Phillies)

The cost: LHP Trey McGough to Chicago; A player to be named later or cash considerations to Cincinnati; OF Austin Hays to Philadelphia

The verdict: It’s hard to envision either Slater or Pache making much of a big league impact moving forward, especially because Jiménez is now in the fold. The trade with the White Sox was a low-risk one -- McGough is a former Triple-A Rule 5 pick who hasn’t logged a ton of Minor League innings -- and it could potentially reap quite a reward.

Jiménez has been hampered by injuries throughout his six-year MLB tenure, but he was terrific early in his career. He belted 31 home runs as a rookie in 2019, then won an American League Silver Slugger Award in ‘20.

If Jiménez can hit more like that version of himself -- and not the one with a career-low .642 OPS through 65 games this year -- the 27-year-old could become a big bat for Baltimore.