The Baltimore Orioles Made a Big Mistake in Bryan Baker Trade

The Baltimore Orioles made a trade last July that looks worse with every passing week. Baltimore sent reliever Bryan Baker to the Tampa Bay Rays for the 37th overall pick in the MLB Draft.

At the time, the Orioles were 12.5 games back in the American League East and moving into sell mode. The logic made sense in the moment. In hindsight, it is one of the worst moves the organization made last year.

Baker had been productive in Baltimore before the deal, posting a 3.52 ERA with two saves across 42 appearances. More importantly, he had multiple years of team control remaining.

Mike Elias said at the time that the club was not actively shopping him and viewed the deal as a one-time opportunity after Tampa Bay came with an aggressive offer, per Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun.

What they had turned into one of the best closers in baseball. Moved into the closer role in Tampa Bay, Baker had a career year in 2026, going 4-2 with a 1.44 ERA, a 0.914 WHIP and 63 strikeouts over 62 and a third innings.

He finished with 41 saves, tied with Cleveland's Cade Smith for the major-league lead, and earned his first All-Star selection.

He became the seventh pitcher in Rays history to reach 40 saves in a single season and the first since Alex Colome had 47 in 2017. He set a new franchise record for consecutive saves along the way, surpassing Fernando Rodney's previous mark of 22 straight from 2012.

The draft pick the Orioles received for him did not even stay in the organization. Baltimore used the 37th pick to select Oregon high school outfielder Slater de Brun, who then became part of the package sent back to Tampa Bay in the Shane Baz trade. So the return for Baker was effectively nothing.

Meanwhile, Baker recorded his first career postseason save in the Rays' 1-0 ALDS victory over the New York Yankees. Tampa Bay won 98 games and the AL East and Baker was a major reason why. Baltimore finished 79-82 and missed the playoffs for the second straight year.

A reliable closer with Baker's production would have been huge for Baltimore down the stretch, especially with Ryan Helsley missing most of the year due to injury.

Elias may have believed the draft capital was worth it at the time, but Baker turning into an elite closer in the same division is an awful result. This one is going to sting for a while.