Uh oh: Some Orioles fans sound very willing to trade Jackson Holliday
By Austin Owens
With the No. 1 pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, the Baltimore Orioles selected shortstop Jackson Holliday, son of former big leaguer Matt Holliday. Jackson flew through the minor leagues and made his MLB debut in 2024. After only 10 games, he was sent back to Triple-A.
In 36 plate appearances at the big-league level, Holliday struck out 18 times and posted a dreadful .059 batting average. His underwhelming performance for the O's has some fans already willing to part ways with the 20-year-old.
Orioles fans willing to trade Jackson Holliday for starting pitching
The Baltimore Orioles are currently in first place in the American League East with the New York Yankees right on their heels and the Boston Red Sox lurking at 4.5 games back. If the O's want to run away with a super competitive division, they will need to make improvements to their pitching staff at the trade deadline.
The cost of acquiring an ace at the trade deadline could very well be Jackson Holliday. Like many other teams in Major League Baseball, the Orioles have their eyes on left-handed starter Tarik Skubal from the Detrioit Tigers.
Skubal is 10-3 this season with an American League leading 2.41 ERA. With the Tigers essentially out of the playoff picture and shortstop Javy Baez struggling heavily, Detroit very well could send Skubal to Baltimore in exchange for Holliday if the trade is presented to them. Regardless of his 10 game MLB stats, the upside and potential of Holliday is still present.
This proposed trade was introduced on X by Inside Access. The post includes a poll in which followers can vote on if they would be willing to deal Jackson Holliday in a package deal for Skubal and bullpen help. There is still a little over a day left on the voting poll but so far the majority of O's fans are okay with parting ways with Jackson Holliday (57-43 vote). You can follow the results below.
As the post states, trading Holliday may be a little easier for the Orioles to consider with their young star Gunnar Henderson playing how he is. Henderson is practically blocking Holliday from a MLB job and Holliday has not proven that he is versatile enough to play other positions.
With two weeks left until the trade deadline, it will be interesting to see how the rumors pick up around the Orioles and who they will be willing to ship off to try and make a World Series run in 2024.