Baltimore Orioles Top Prospect Could End Up in Blockbuster Trade This Offseason

Could the Baltimore Orioles actually move on from their top prospect?

Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles are headed into the offseason with the bitter disappointment of another early postseason exit fresh on their mind as they look to rapidly improve and figure out how to get over the playoff hump.

Over the two game Wild Card sweep at the hands of the Kansas City Royals, Baltimore scored just one run combined. While they also only gave up a total of three largely on the back of a dominant game one performance from Corbin Burnes, the margins in the playoffs are razor thin and both sides of the ball need to be balanced in order to have success in October.

As the Orioles look to get better and figure out how to solve their playoff issues this offseason, free agency will be at the forefront of the minds of most with both Burnes and All-Star slugger Anthony Santander set to hit the open market.

But while every Baltimore fan wants the team to take big swings in free agency, don't forget about the trade market.

The team has some elite prospect talent that every team in baseball would be enticed by if a star player becomes available. While it wouldn't be supremely popular at least in the short term, the Orioles could make their top prospect and top-ten prospect in baseball available in infielder Coby Mayo if a blockbuster came to fruition. Tim Smart of Birds Watcher says to not be shocked if Mayo does end up getting moved.

"Moving Mayo in a deal to get a proven player might be the best move if Elias wants the Orioles to compete for a title in 2025," Smart wrote. "There's enough talent in the system behind Mayo, and the emergence of Jordan Westburg mitigates the need for the Orioles to use Mayo at third base. It might be wise to shop Mayo around in order to get a top-flight starting pitcher, maybe one of the Mariners guys if Jerry Dipoto is willing to deal."

Mayo is coming off a massive season in Triple-A and has been elite at all levels of the minor leagues. He made his major league debut this past season, but things did not go well in his first 17 games in the big leagues. Obviously, it's too small of a sample size to simply trade Mayo for struggling in less than a month long sample size, but this conversation probably wouldn't be had if he had come in and been able to hit MLB pitching right away.

Ultimately, it feels unlikely that Baltimore will actually shop around the potential future superstar, but if the right opportunity comes across Mike Elias' desk, it certainly wouldn't be shocking.