Baltimore Orioles Boss Shuts Down Pleas For Outfield Upgrades

In the midst of this cold stretch by many of the Baltimore Orioles' outfielders, there are some who think the front office should look at making a move, something the GM disagrees with.

Jul 27, 2022; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles general manager Mike Elias / Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 on Wednesday after a walk-off two-run homer from their star catcher Adley Rutschman to keep their incredible streak alive.

It looked like they might cruise to a victory after getting on the board early in the bottom of the first inning, but the offense couldn't put things together to give Kyle Bradish breathing room.

After the heroics from Rutschman, the Orioles now sit on their day off a half game out of first place in the AL East standings after owning that spot for a good chunk of time.

And while Baltimore continues to rank towards the top of the league in offensive metrics, the production from their outfielders have fallen off a cliff.

Roch Kubatko of MASN noted Colton Cowser had gone 7-55 prior to his fourth-inning single. Cedric Mullins was 5-59 before getting removed. Austin Hays was 5-45 before his pinch-hit double in the seventh after returning from the injured list. Anthony Santander had really been their only producer in the last eight games by going 9-30 with three homers, but he left the game early with a knee issue.

Because of this, there has been some thought that the Orioles' front office should be looking at potential upgrades around the trade deadline.

General manager Mike Elias doesn't agree with that notion right now.

"I think it's too soon for that ... We have such a plethora of position players that we've been a little more content to just handle that internally ... I think we've got plenty of position player talent in this organization right now and I think it's a good idea to watch the guys in the organization that we have play," he said according to Kubatko.

Their strong pipeline certainly suggests they have plenty of options before turning to external pieces.

If Baltimore truly feels like they need to switch things up in their outfield, then they likely finally give their star prospects an opportunity instead of trading away future assets to bring in someone from another team.

Of course, any move would be predicated on this outfield group not being able to figure things out.

Elias knows this group is struggling right now, but isn't ready to panic.

"I'm definitely not immune to getting caught up in the hot and cold and the drama on a night-to-night basis of guys getting base hits and not getting base hits ... But we try to apply other methods to what should we be expecting from this player. It doesn't mean that it's going to happen every night or every week, but we kind of have a sense of what these guys' skill levels generally are," he said.

And so far, they have been good enough for the Orioles to compete.

Even during their cold stretch, Baltimore is 13 games above .500 and 7-3 in their last 10.

That certainly doesn't suggest it's time for the front office to start looking at replacements, especially when the deadline isn't until July 30.