You can probably look at Seranthony Domínguez, Andrew Kittredge, and Gregory Soto as possibles to be dealt.
As of today, the trade deadline is one week away. The Orioles are dedicated to reminding us on a daily basis why their only viable choice is to deal their players who will be free agents after the season and try to add possible contributors to next year. It’s not fun that it is this way. That doesn’t make it any less real.
Over the course of this week, I’ve been looking at Orioles who are likely to be traded through the lens of which teams seem to have a need at that position. So far, that’s been Ryan O’Hearn, Cedric Mullins, and Charlie Morton. Today, I’m going to take a look at several relievers at once: Seranthony Domínguez. Andrew Kittredge, and Gregory Soto.
It is a cliche in modern baseball that you can never have enough pitching. The number of injuries that are practically guaranteed to happen means that every team needs to have some depth to step in to various roles, even late-inning roles, and you’re better off if you’ve got some guys with experience and some chance at quality pitching who can fill in. In July, teams who’ve had needs develop as the season went along could be looking to make those additions.
The main problem for the Orioles in taking advantage of this is that the pitchers who will be in demand are ones who are good, and their pitchers are not all that good. The Domínguez/Kittredge/Soto trio are all guys who are just kind of there kicking around in the mid-3s ERA range. That’s not the kind of elite performance that makes up the typically dominant three-reliever combo that can help a team through a postseason and towards a World Series title.
There’s always the possibility of finding some general manager who’s so smart that he talks himself into doing something stupid because he thinks he can turn these relatively unremarkable pitchers into something better. Another problem arises with this: Mike Elias is such a general manager, perfectly evidenced by his acquiring both Domínguez and Soto last July. He can’t trade with himself. So there’s one fewer possible mark out there.
There are a number of contenders out there with bullpen problems severe enough that one of the Orioles guys might seem like an improvement.
Phillies
2025 bullpen ERA: 4.27 (23rd in MLB)
The Phillies are a good team so far this year in spite of a chaotic bullpen situation. They’ve had to demote their intended closer, Jordan Romano, because he’s got a 6.88 ERA. That’s bad! Another guy who’s throwing a lot of innings, Joe Ross, is also bad at a 5.28 ERA, and on top of this is currently on the injured list with back spasms. This has led to them shuffling in a number of young players without much experience, all of whom are doing okay so far but some of whom the Phillies perhaps should not count on continuing at that level.
I give it absolutely zero chance that the Phillies would be interested in either Domínguez or Soto, which is awfully unfortunate for the Orioles. The Phillies were in first place a year ago and traded those guys away! Elias was the sucker who took them off of Philadelphia’s hands. Maybe they’d like to fit in Kittredge rather than sticking with like, Alan Rangel and Max Lazar.
Dodgers
2025 bullpen ERA: 4.41 (24th in MLB)
Los Angeles has also had its Plan A for the closer slot go up in smoke a bit this season, with year one of the contract for former Oriole Tanner Scott not going so hot. Scott just went on the injured list with elbow inflammation, but before that he was sporting a 4.14 ERA for the season, with an unfortunate new trend of being homer-prone. Scott’s slashed the walk rate to the lowest of his career, just a 2.2 BB/9, but it’s not working for him.
If the Orioles had a definitely-good reliever whose contract was running out this year, they could really fill the need for LA. Otherwise, it’s not all that clear how much that, say, Domínguez is an upgrade over Kirby Yates, or Gregory Soto over Anthony Banda. But if they want to make a small addition that won’t cost much, the O’s are a team that might have what they want.
Tigers
2025 bullpen ERA: 4.06 (21st in MLB)
Unlike the two previous teams, the Tigers are doing fine with their closer, Will Vest, who’s got a 2.23 ERA and 0.992 WHIP for the season. They have bounced through some strugglers in the softer parts of the bullpen, who are now gone: John Brebbia (7.71 ERA) and Beau Brieske (6.55).
One guy who’s not gone is Carlos Hernández, already waived by the Phillies, and who has an ERA in double digits through 11 appearances with Detroit. Another struggler in this bullpen, Tommy Kahnle, has put up a 4.73 ERA across 42 games.
The Tigers are far enough ahead in the division that they probably don’t feel the need to make small improvements to just hold on, and nobody the Orioles have on offer is going to change their 7-8-9 inning situation for any postseason series. I’m feeling more depressed about the O’s being able to trade these guys than I was before I started writing this.
Yankees
2025 bullpen ERA: 4.05 (20th in MLB)
It’s right back to teams with closer problems. The Yankees made a big move to get previously-elite Brewers closer Devin Williams, and their reward for this is Williams sitting on a 4.70 ERA. Situations like this call for the world’s smallest violin. But, as mentioned, the O’s can’t solve that problem for New York.
What they can do is, maybe, offer upgrades over the likes of Scott Effross (5.59 ERA), Jonathan Loáisiga (4.91 ERA), and Allan Winans (8.51 ERA in two games) – small upgrades which the Yankees, who still have a shot at the AL East title and shouldn’t go counting their wild card chickens before the eggs hatch either, should be exploring.
Rays
2025 bullpen ERA: 3.77 (10th in MLB)
Despite having the 10th-best bullpen ERA in the league, you can’t really scream “really need bullpen help” louder than acquiring Baker, which the Rays already did. They’ve still got problem spots like Edwin Uceta (5.04 ERA in 43 games), although Uceta has a 7-2 record because baseball is weird about bad pitchers. Kevin Kelly got rocked last night, raising his ERA up to 5.40. Just take Domínguez, Tampa. You know you want to. You might even be as smart as Elias thinks he is and be able to do something good with him.
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The Baltimore Banner’s Andy Kostka took a look at the buyers in an article published yesterday and suggested the best fit for Kittredge is the Phillies, with Soto of interest to the Tigers particularly because of his strikeout ability. Kostka connected Domínguez to the Blue Jays. I shudder to think of who will be summoned from the minors to join the bullpen if any of these guys are traded, let alone if all of them are.