Fortune Favors the Bold

In 1965 the Orioles were a team that needed some help to get over the hump and get to their first world series since the team moved to Baltimore 11 years prior. That off season they made what is widely considered one of the greatest trades in baseball history by acquiring Frank Robinson from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for pitchers Milt Pappas, Jack Baldschun and the outfielder Dick Simpson all of whom never really amounted to much for the Reds. Robinson on the other hand went on to help the O's win two world series and along the way captured a triple crown and MVP title. It was a bold trade that set Baltimore up to be one of the best teams in baseball for the following decades.

Here are a few bold moves that the Orioles could make between now and next years trade deadline to help the club going forward.

The most unlikely move that the Orioles could make is to go after the disgruntled marlin Giancarlo Stanton. After the fire-sale that took place in Miami earlier this off season many General Managers around baseball were salivating at the thought of acquiring one of the best young players in the game. Giancarlo made it clear after learning of the trade that shipped several former all stars and most of the teams highest paid players to Toronto that he was not happy with the organization through his twitter . With him being just only 23  and already having 2 seasons of over 30 home runs he would be a very hot commodity if Miami did decide to move him. The Orioles would probably have to give up a package probably including of Kevin Gausman, Jonathan Schoop, and Nicky Delmonico just to start and assuming Dylan Bundy is off limits. The Orioles could also throw in some of their starters such as Tillman/Hunter/Brittian/Matusz/Arrieta into the mix to make it more attractive. The main questions are if that Stanton will actually be available and if the Orioles have enough prospects to be actually able to acquire him. In summary the Orioles will have to give up a package at least consisting of to get the Marlins attention:

• an A level prospect- Gausman/Bundy
• 1 B Level prospect- Schoop
• 1-2 C Level prospects- Delmonico, Esposito, Hoes, B. Bundy
• 1-2 of our young pitchers- Tillman/Brittan etc...

Another Target could be Justin Morneau of the Twins the 31 year old first baseman has a contract that is set to expire at the end of the season and will probably traded by the twins by the trade deadline if they feel they are years away from contending again. The package that the Orioles would give up would definitely not be as much as for Stanton but the Twins would probably still want a lot for a player who has been one of there cornerstones of the franchise for most of the past decade. The Twins do need some rotation help and the Orioles could probably start a package around Chris Tillman and Schoop/Delmonico. Giving up Either Gausman or Bundy in this trade would probably be too much for a 31 year old 1b/dh that has missed almost 60 games a season the past 4 years and hasn't hit over 20 homer runs since 2009.

Billy Butler is a name that has been associated with trades frequently and the 26 year old would make a nice DH and thus making the middle of the order more formidable. If the Orioles were to acquire Butler he would fit in nicely in the order somewhere in between Markakis/Jones/Davis/Wieters and could potentially give the birds another hitter in addition to Jones/Davis/Hardy that could put up 30+ home runs next season.  It is less likely now that he would be traded after the Royals acquired Shields and Davis to solidify their rotation. Before that trade it would of made sense for the Orioles to offer a package that centered around Chris Tillman or one of the other young pitchers but now a trade is unlikely unless the Royals have a need open up in the rotation.