Baltimore Sun Orioles reporter Jacob Calvin Meyer will answer fan questions every Friday during baseball season. Here are JCM’s thoughts on several questions from readers:

(Editor’s note: Questions have been edited for length and clarity. Email jameyer@baltsun.com with questions for next Friday’s mailbag.)

Who’s the best MLB-ready pitcher we could hope for in a trade return? — @PMc827 on X

Normally, these mailbags feature about four or five questions with longer answers. But let’s do a rapid fire mailbag with the trade deadline only two weeks away.

This answer depends on how general manager Mike Elias approaches the deadline. If the Orioles are purely sellers, it’s unlikely that an MLB-ready starting pitcher joins Baltimore as part of a trade. Pitchers like Mick Abel (Phillies), Ryan Bergert (Padres), Cam Schlittler (Yankees) and Taj Bradley (Rays) are MLB-ready arms (or established in Bradley’s case) who could make sense for the Orioles to target, though acquiring starters with several years of team control would be difficult. However, if the Orioles choose to strategically buy in addition to selling, pitchers like Mitch Keller (Pirates), Sandy Alcantara (Marlins) and Merrill Kelly (Diamondbacks) are among the best non-rental options. 

Which five Orioles players do you believe are most likely to get traded? — @NateWardle on X

This is difficult to answer, especially since the majority of trade deadline chatter is conjecture. Let’s put the players in tiers from most likely to least likely.

Tier 1: Seranthony Domínguez and Gregory Soto

Tier 2: Ryan O’Hearn and Charlie Morton

Tier 3: Zach Eflin, Cedric Mullins and Ramón Laureano

Tier 4: Tomoyuki Sugano and Andrew Kittredge

Tier 5: Ramón Urías and Félix Bautista

Will Charlie Morton get the biggest return in a trade among all of our pending free agents? — @RyOhBry on X

Morton’s recent success — a 2.61 ERA since May 10 compared with a 9.38 ERA prior — is one of the main reasons the Tony Mansolino Orioles are playing better than the Brandon Hyde Orioles were. But that still doesn’t vault him ahead of O’Hearn, Eflin (assuming he’s healthy) or even Mullins. Morton’s first six weeks of the season can’t be forgotten, and neither can his age. 

Morton will also be owed $5 million over the season’s final two months, adding a wrinkle for prospective buyers and the potential for owner David Rubenstein to eat that money in hopes of getting a better prospect in return. Either way, the return for a 41-year-old in the midst of an up-and-down season won’t be too significant. 

Elias seemed to imply he could potentially trade a new draft pick after the season. Do you think that’s likely? — @kodiack59 on X

Here’s what Elias said when asked about how acquiring the No. 37 overall pick in the 2025 draft for reliever Bryan Baker isn’t a move that helps the 2026 Orioles:

“I don’t view it quite that way. The draft picks are opportunities to bring really good players into the organization, and yeah, you may keep them and draft them and develop them and that may take two or three years. You may trade them that winter and that can impact the team. … We’ll bring a really good player into the organization that we wouldn’t have otherwise had, and there’s a number of ways to monetize, to extract value from a really good minor league player.”

I wouldn’t say Elias implied he would trade a 2025 draftee this offseason, but rather he listed that as an option. His overall point is that the player drafted with the No. 37 pick — high school outfielder Slater de Brun, aka “Lil Slayyy” — will improve the farm system, which can then improve the major league team in the short term. It’s uncommon to trade a draftee in the winter immediately after he’s selected, but another talented prospect could make Elias more comfortable to trade other players on Baltimore’s farm. The most recent example is the Orioles traded three 2023 draftees at the 2024 deadline to acquire Eflin. 

Should the Orioles trade Félix Bautista? — @2comprendre on X

Few things in baseball can be answered by a simple yes or no. This one is close, though, The answer should be no.

The trade deadline can be unpredictable. If a team offers Elias a king’s ransom for Bautista, who is under team control through 2027, then maybe there’s a scenario in which it would make sense. But that same argument could be made for any player.

At some point, a team needs to draw a line between players who are and aren’t on the trading block. If winning in 2026 is truly the goal, then Bautista should be on the right side of that line.

With the Orioles drafting catchers with their first two picks this year, as well as having the best catching prospect in the minor leagues, what does this say for the future of Adley Rutschman as an Oriole? — Bob in North Carolina

Nothing.

As Rutschman has spent the past year struggling at the plate, some fans have wondered if the organization is as concerned about the catcher as they are. Whether that’s the case or not has nothing to do with what players the Orioles selected in the 2025 draft.

Ike Irish and Caden Bodine, the Nos. 19 and 30 overall selections, are both catchers, but that’s hardly a signal that Rutschman won’t be in Baltimore after he hits free agency following the 2027 season. All those selections mean is that the Orioles viewed those players as better than the others available at the time. 

Additionally, there’s a world in which Rutschman, Basallo, Bodine and Irish are all on the Orioles in, say, 2029. In this hypothetical, Rutschman and Bodine would catch, Basallo would play first and Irish would be in right field. But Irish and Bodine have yet to even play professionally yet. It’s far too early for such hypotheticals, just as it’s unwise to think how the Orioles handled the 2025 MLB draft shows how they feel about Rutschman. 

Did the Orioles make a mistake trading Kyle Stowers? — Jordan L.

It’s hard to answer “no” here after Stowers got some sweet, sweet revenge Sunday with a three-homer game at Camden Yards and then Tuesday played in his first All-Star Game. If the Orioles thought this was in Stowers’ range of outcomes, then perhaps they wouldn’t have included him in the Trevor Rogers trade last summer.

However, it is possible for both teams to win a trade. Stowers has given the Marlins immediate returns, though it’s worth noting that success comes in a rebuilding season for the Marlins. Rogers appears to be closer to his 2021 self than the 2024 version the Orioles acquired, and he appears on track to be a key member of Baltimore’s rotation next season. 

For all the talk a few years ago about the Orioles having too many prospects, that was never really the case. One of the only instances in which it was true was for Stowers and Heston Kjerstad. It was difficult to envision both of them — left-handed-hitting power bats — on the Orioles’ roster alongside Colton Cowser, another lefty hitter. The Orioles essentially had to trade one of them, and their choice was to part ways with Stowers, who was seen as a less valuable prospect than Kjerstad. Stowers was never a top 100 prospect, while Kjerstad was at one point ranked as high as No. 23 by Baseball America.

It’s easy to say in hindsight that the Orioles should have traded Kjerstad instead of Stowers given the former’s struggles and the latter’s excellence. But there was quite a bit of revisionist history during Stowers’ three-homer game. If the Orioles had included Kjerstad in the Rogers trade instead of Stowers, it would’ve been an egregious overpay — Baltimore fans would’ve rioted outside of the warehouse.

It’s also important not to forget that baseball is a silly sport that surprises us at every turn. In 50 games with the Marlins last season, Stowers hit .186 with a .556 OPS. In 54 games with the Orioles this season, Kjerstad hit .192 with a .566 OPS. 

If Stowers can do that and then become an All-Star, then so can Kjerstad. 

Do the Orioles need a 2026 version of Frank Robinson, a veteran leader who has won, to keep them on track? — @mackthefan02 on X

If there’s a Frank Robinson out there, yes, the Orioles should trade for him. If only they had a Milt Pappas to trade away.

Have a news tip? Contact Jacob Calvin Meyer at jameyer@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/JCalvinMeyer.