Should Orioles target arms or bats at trade deadline? | MAILBAG

Question: In your opinion, should Mike Elias focus more on retooling the major or minor league bats or arms at the trade deadline? And who are realistic targets? From: Mharryman

Answer: I think the Orioles need to acquire as many pitchers as possible because they may need to replace several starters and relievers for 2026. Since it’s unlikely that Zach Eflin, Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano, among the starters, and relievers Seranthony Domínguez and Gregory Soto and perhaps Andrew Kittredge are going to be back, those are vital arms that need to be replaced.

While Cedric Mullins and Ryan O’Hearn and perhaps Ramón Laureano won’t be back, I think it would be easier to replace them in free agency, maybe with short-term answers.

I expect the Orioles to be busy around the trade deadline, and they need to not only pick up arms to help in 2026, but also repopulate the farm system since many prospects were traded.

If they’re going to be contenders a year from now, they may want to acquire prospects to flip for players at the 2026 trade deadline, too.

I’m going to leave it to Elias to decide who the realistic targets are.

Question: Have Grayson Rodriguez, Kyle Bradish or Tyler Wells begun a throwing program? What is the chance of seeing them within the next month? From: Chuck Wade

Answer: Chuck, as I’ve written here, Bradish and Wells have been throwing for some time and Rodriguez has resumed throwing more recently. I think sometime next month, perhaps not early August, is a realistic target if there aren’t any setbacks.

Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.