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With Opening Day only 40 days away, we are winding down on what has been a busy Orioles offseason. Punctuated by the big-money signing of slugger Pete Alonso, the 2026 offseason has seen the O’s bring in Alonso, Ryan Helsley, Chriss Bassit, Zach Eflin and Leody Taveras through free agency, while trading for Taylor Ward, Shane Baz, Andrew Kittredge and Blaze Alexander. Mike Elias & Co. haven’t always met Birdland’s hopes and expectations with these moves, but no one can say they haven’t been busy.
The front office pulling the trigger on the Ward and Baz trades may signal an increased willingness to be aggressive in the trade market. Previously, Elias had been accused of clutching too tightly to the prospects he drafted/acquired, instead preferring to make trades using low-level prospects for players with lower upside. Even the hallmark acquisition of his tenure in Baltimore, the trade for Corbin Burnes, cost relatively little in terms of prospects.
The recent trades certainly paint a picture of a bolder, more “win-now” Mike Elias. Acquiring Ward came at the expense of starter Grayson Rodriguez, formerly the top pitching prospect in all of baseball and the presumptive future ace of the Orioles, who missed all of 2025 with shoulder and elbow injuries. The trade for Baz saw the O’s send away four Top 30 prospects, including two of Elias’ top four picks from the most recent draft.
Should the Orioles dip back into the trade market to bridge the gap between “playoff hopeful” and “true contender,” determining who is off limits in trade talks in now harder than before. Gunnar Henderson, as the Orioles’ best player and Top 20 player in all of baseball, surely isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Samuel Basallo and his $67M contract would also undoubtedly be on the no-trade list. The same goes for the recently-signed Alonso.
But are there truly any other no-brainer, must-be-included candidates for an Orioles’ no-trade list? A year ago, it would have been unfathomable to consider trading Adley Rutschman. However, after his battles with injuries over the last 18 months, and the major financial commitment to Basallo, is that still the case? Infielders Jordan Westburg and Jackson Holliday have both shown flashes of All-Star potential. And yet, with Westburg’s own mounting injury concerns and Holliday’s general inconsistency, it’s also hard to label them truly untouchable.
In the outfield, Colton Cowser and Dylan Beavers are the players with the most long-term upside, but is their potential high enough to keep them far away from the trade block? And while I’d personally love to see Kyle Bradish and Trevor Rogers spend the rest of their careers in Baltimore, the front office may not be so steadfast in their admiration for the Orioles top two pitchers.
So we turn it over to Camden Chat’s best would-be GMs. Who are the Orioles you would never trade, no matter what the offer was?