Orioles trade Bryan Baker to Rays in 'step' toward selling at deadline

BALTIMORE — It was an offer the Orioles thought was too good to pass up.

Baltimore traded right-handed reliever Bryan Baker to the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday for a Competitive Balance Round A pick, No. 37 overall, in the upcoming MLB draft. The deal gives the club seven of the top 93 selections and four of the top 37 in the draft, which begins Sunday with Rounds 1-3 and continues Monday with Rounds 4-20.

“Tampa had their eye on him and made what we felt was a very direct and aggressive offer, and we viewed it as an opportunity,” executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said Thursday at Camden Yards. “We’re sad to see Bryan go. This guy was a warrior here and had some big, big moments. A lot of passion. I wish him very well going forward, but it’s a move that we felt like was in the best interest of the organization overall.”

The Orioles also acquired the $2,631,400 slot value for the pick, giving them the largest bonus pool in the draft at $19,144,500 and more flexibility to sign players who might have college commitments or leverage to return to school. It’s a record for the largest bonus pool in the history of the MLB draft.

Baker, 30, emerged as a key late-inning setup man for the Orioles’ bullpen this season, posting a 3.52 ERA with two saves and 10 holds in 42 appearances. Acquired by waiver claim from the Toronto Blue Jays in 2021, he put up a 3.70 ERA in 174 games across four seasons. He’s under team control through the 2028 season but doesn’t have any minor league options remaining.

“I don’t know yet. Shock, for sure, but yeah just more logistics, worried about that now,” Baker said of his immediate reaction to the deal. “But yeah, just got to get to Boston and do my job there. But yeah, I’m sure more thoughts will come to me as the day goes on.”

Players were seen hugging Baker goodbye as the clubhouse opened to the media Thursday morning. The Fort Walton Beach, Florida, native and former University of North Florida pitcher entered spring training this season without a clear path to a roster spot but, with the help of some injuries in camp, earned his way onto the opening day roster. By the time he was dealt, Baker had solidified himself as the primary setup man in front of closer Félix Bautista.

“It’s tough,” right-hander Andrew Kittredge said. “You want to see guys succeed here but it is what it is. It’s a business and it’s going to be a good spot for him. Tampa is a great spot. Having played there myself, the staff is really good. I think he’s going to enjoy his time there.”

It’s the first signal of the underperforming Orioles’ plans for the upcoming July 31 trade deadline. Baltimore entered Thursday’s doubleheader against the New York Mets at 40-50, 12 1/2 games behind first place in the American League East and seven games out of a wild-card spot.

“I think it’s a step in that direction,” Elias said of selling at the deadline. “There’s no way around that. The timing of the draft and when you have draft picks involved in the trades kind of frontloads these decisions, and it’s earlier than my comfort level, but we thought it was a really good return and a good trade for everyone, so we did it.”

Elias said that he still hopes the Orioles will play well enough in their next 19 games before the deadline to avoid moving further players. It wasn’t on their “agenda” to trade Baker or any players with multiple years of control, calling the trade a “one-off opportunity.”

“I’d like to win as many of those games as possible,” Elias said of what he hopes the next few weeks look like for Baltimore. “I hope we do the right thing in the draft room with our process, do the best we can, line the board up well and hope it falls the way that we want and I hope we have good luck on top of that on draft night.

“To whatever degree that we make trades, I hope that we evaluate the talent well and do moves that are positive for the organization over the long term. This is something that was not our plan to be trading players off the major league team right now in July, but we’re responding to the situation. But we’ll see what the next few weeks bring.”

The Orioles’ clubhouse has tried to block out trade deadline talk for weeks, and the club has played better with a 25-22 record since Mansolino took over. Both Elias and Mansolino pointed to last year’s Detroit Tigers as an example of a team that rallied down the stretch despite trading players away in July.

Baltimore has several players in line to enter free agency this winter, including All-Star designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn, right-hander Zach Eflin, center fielder Cedric Mullins and right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano. Kittredge and outfielder Ramón Laureano both have team options for 2026 as well.

Should the club decide to sell, they would be the top candidates to find a new home.

“I don’t think any of us have a crystal ball of exactly how this trade is going to affect us this year,” Mansolino said. “They just picked up a draft pick. We don’t know where that goes, what that draft pick is going to be and how that gets used in the future. So, I’d be careful jumping to assumptions right now on what this is going to look like. I think we got to kind of let it all play out and see where it goes, and see how the boys play and see how they react.”

Baker lands with a Tampa Bay (50-43) organization that’s among the hottest in MLB over the past six weeks. They sit four games back of the first-place Toronto Blue Jays in the AL and occupy the second wild-card spot. Baker’s addition bolsters a bullpen that had been struggling of late with a 4.78 reliever ERA since the start of June.

The Rays had already traded for another competitive balance pick, No. 42, from the Athletics when they traded right-hander Jeffrey Springs in December, so the compensation still left Tampa Bay with two picks before the second round.

It’s the second straight year the Orioles and Rays have made a deal ahead of the deadline after Baltimore acquired Eflin from their division rivals last season. This time, however, the roles were reversed.

“This is a team that’s moving in the right direction and we still have a lot of time left before the deadline, but this was a trade with the draft coming up in a couple days that we had to make a decision on,” Elias said. “Didn’t want to pass up on the opportunity. We’re hopeful we can use the pick wisely, bring a lot of value back, and Bryan’s going to a good place.”