Do the trades mean the Orioles won’t contend for 4 or 5 more years? | MAILBAG

Question: Do you think that trading a number of proven veterans for obscure minor leaguers that are only at the Double A and (mostly) Class A levels suggests that the Orioles will not be a strong, winning team before 2029 and won’t be a pennant contender until 2030 at the earliest? I think the pitching staff may be horrendous. I don’t think proven, sought-after major league free agents will be anxious to join this struggling, thin talent club.

Is it logical to conclude that the urgency with which players with expiring contracts were just traded creates a legitimate concern that history will repeat itself when loss of contractual control is nearing for Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jordan Westburg and Dean Kremer? From: Stephen Cohen

Answer: Stephen, I think the aim of the recent trades was to restock the farm system and provide players to trade over this winter and beyond for areas of need.

I thought it was possible that Andrew Kittredge, Ramón Laureano and Ramón Urías would remain with the team in 2026, but if the Orioles really thought that they wouldn’t be a contender again for four or five more years, they would have traded some of the core players you mention.

I don’t think the fan base would tolerate another rebuild so soon after the previous one.

It is certainly possible that if the team doesn’t think it can sign some of those players they’d move them, but those aren’t concerns for the near term. Let’s see how this offseason plays out and how the team plays in the first half of 2026 before reassessing.

Question: While turning a ninth-round draft choice into Tarik Skubal is rare, why does the Baltimore press (you and Peter Schmuck included) continue to laud Mike Elias as a player development genius? It seems in nearly seven years in control, he has yet to develop a mid-round draft choice into a major league player equivalent to Dean Kremer or Cedric Mullins. Can you imagine if the Ravens only hit on rounds 1-2 draft choices and never found productive players in rounds 3-7? From: Alan Beer

Answer: Alan, I don’t recall either Peter or myself lauding Mike Elias as a player development genius. The NFL and MLB drafts are vastly different. In baseball, players are drafted from both high school and college, and from colleges that aren’t well known.

Coby Mayo, who I think is going to be an excellent player, was drafted in the fourth round in 2020. In 2019, from rounds 4-6, infielders Joey Ortiz and Darrel Hernaiz, who were traded to Milwaukee and the Athletics, and catcher Maverick Handley were drafted.

I think it’s still too early to evaluate drafts from 2021 on, but I’ve been critical of his failure to draft pitchers in high rounds as well as the underwhelming initial performance of the 2024 draft picks, though there is still ample time for them to develop.

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.