Baltimore Orioles Rare Prospect Trade With Pittsburgh Pirates Has Been a Win

The Baltimore Orioles pulled of an uncommon prospect-only trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates at the most recent MLB deadline and so fair it has worked out for them.

Vanderbilt's Patrick Reilly (88) pitches against Tennessee during their NCAA baseball game n Knoxville, Tenn. on Sunday, April 23, 2023. / Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates came together for a rare prospect swap at the MLB trade deadline. So far the deal has looked like a great one for the Orioles.

Baltimore sent over utility man Billy Cook to the Pirates in exchange for polarizing pitching prospect Patrick Reilly.

As the MLB.com staff searched for each team's breakout prospect, Reilly was the answer for the Orioles.

"Pittsburgh felt Reilly’s pure stuff was too good to pass up in the fifth round of the 2023 Draft, even though his ability to land it in the strike zone was very much in question," said the writers.

The Vanderbilt Commodores prospect was a boom-or-bust pitcher during his college years.

He struck out a lot of batters but walked almost six batters per nine innings which led to a 5.25 ERA over three seasons.

While with the Commodores, he was mostly a bullpen piece, but has transitioned into trying to become a starter this season.

The 22-year-old has seemingly turned a page in the transition, putting up his best year of baseball yet. He's posted a 3.47 ERA while keeping his K/9 up at 11.0 and dropping his BB/9 to 4.4.

If he can continue to improve his control, he looks like a potentially elite starter thanks to his fastball-slider mix.

He's currently the No. 14 overall prospect in the Baltimore farm system and their fourth-ranked pitcher.

The deal hasn't been awful for the Pirates, though, as Cook has made his way up to the MLB roster for the first time.

Over his 30 games at the Triple-A level for Pittsburgh, he posted a solid .276/.389/.486 slashing line. He's always been someone to flash some power, so it's promising that he's already hit his first big league home run.

Over his first eight games in the Majors, he's posted a .208/.208/.375 slashing line. He's struck out a good but while not yet drawing a walk, which tracks with his history in the minors.

He's already split time between all three outfield spots and had a couple of games at first base during his short stint.

While he has the potential to be a serviceable player at the MLB level, at 25 years old his window to move up in the Orioles system was simply closing.

Though it is early, the edge in this trade has seemingly tipped towards Baltimore with their new high-potential starter.