The next good Orioles team, whenever it arrives, is not going to look much like the last good Orioles team. The front office could not bring itself to admit this reality last July, but with their worst-in-MLB record at this year’s trade deadline, there was no more hiding it for the O’s.
The Manny Machado and Zach Britton trades have started the transformation towards whatever the Orioles will be next. More deals could happen over the next four days before the non-waiver trade deadline. The result is a farm system that, when combined with the players added in the June draft, looks a whole lot different than it did even two months ago.