It didn’t take long for Orioles fans, players and front office members to figure out this team was not going to compete for a playoff spot this year. It did not take much longer for everyone to realize that the team likely won’t be a competitor in 2019 either.
Anyone holding out hope for next year had to take their medicine when the Orioles dealt away players like Jonathan Schoop and Kevin Gausman at the July 31 trade deadline. After parting ways with once-in-a-generation player, and free-agent-to-be, Manny Machado, Baltimore also punted on promising guys like Schoop and Gausman.