The Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays are in agreement on a trade to send pitcher Shane Baz to Baltimore. In return the Rays are receiving a slew of prospects including outfielders Slater de Brun and Austin Overn, catcher Caden Bodine, and right handed pitcher Michael Forret. The Rays will also receive a competitive balance round A draft pick in the deal. Baz, 26, finished the 2025 season with a career high in innings pitched with 166 1/3 and strikeouts with 176 as he completed his first full season in the big leagues.
Paying Big
It is clear that the Orioles see something in Shane Baz. Sending four prospects and competitive balance pick to their division rivals in the Rays shows this. All of the prospects Tampa Bay received rank within the Orioles’ top 30, according to MLB.com. Slater de Brun headlines the return as the number six prospect in the farm system, while Bodine and Forret rank 10th and 11th, respectively.
Baz, Baseball America’s former number eight prospect in 2022, has had an up-and-down big league career thus far, but has consistently proved he has plus stuff, finishing each of his big league seasons with a Stuff+ of 100 or above according to Fangraphs. Baz will come into the 2026 season with three more years of team control, making him a likely mainstay in the Orioles staff until at least 2029. While Baz may not be the true ace Orioles fans are hoping for, especially at the price they got him at, he certainly bolsters the pitching staff. Slotting in at likely the third spot in the rotation, the Orioles are still likely looking to add another arm to round out the rotation heading into 2026.
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