Orioles are really, really bad at showing they don't want to trade Jackson Holliday

The last few weeks have been a hectic time for the Baltimore Orioles' top prospect Jackson Holliday, who is also the top prospect in the sport of baseball.

His spot in the Orioles organization is about as safe as safe gets, one would imagine. But when the rumors emerged that Baltimore was pursuing the Detroit Tigers ace, Tarik Skubal, some began to question if Holliday could be on the move in a blockbuster trade for Skubal.

Then the rumors died down and it seemed as though Holliday was safe again. The speculation was that Holliday would be called up to the big leagues to play second base down the stretch, replacing Jorge Mateo.

And it makes complete sense. Promote Holliday and if anything happens, the Orioles have prospects Coby Mayo and Connor Norby behind Holliday to take his place.

But after Mateo went down with an injury, the Baltimore Orioles made a transaction that surprised quite a bit of people.

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Orioles promote Connor Norby, not Jackson Holliday, to play second base

After placing Mateo on the injured list, the Orioles recalled second baseman Connor Norby from Triple-A, concurrently announcing that he was going to see regular time at second base. This is all fine and well, but what about Holliday? The top prospect in baseball was expected to be called up any week now and when the Orioles were handed the chance on a silver platter, they chose Norby instead.

Don't get me wrong, Norby is incredibly talented. The 24-year-old is slashing .297/.389/.519 at the Triple-A level this year. Long term, the Orioles infield is crowded. The future of this team's infield is quite clear. Holliday and Gunnar Henderson ought to play up the middle and Jordan Westburg and Mayo will man the corner infield spots. Norby will either be traded or slot in the outfield.

And with all the speculation that Holliday was being dangled as a trade piece for Tarik Skubal, this roster move really adds some fuel to the fire.

It likely was just the Orioles choosing Norby as a more MLB-ready player, given the fact that he's years older and has torn up Triple-A pitching for two seasons now, but the mixed signals are a little concerning for the team's top prospect.