Trades are a lot of fun to predict and analyze, especially from the fan’s perspective. Your team gives up a familiar commodity for a black box of potential. The poor performance of the Orioles a season ago forced then-GM Dan Duquette to make several swaps that have the potential to build the foundation of the next competitive team in Baltimore. Current GM Mike Elias doesn’t have nearly as many intriguing big leaguers with which to make similar deals this time around.
The big names that the O’s traded away last season were Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop, Zach Britton, Kevin Gausman and Darren O’Day.