The Baltimore Orioles potentially have the worst pitching staff in the entire league. It's been clear for a few weeks that Baltimore needs to find a player on the trade block to help boost their pitching staff, but they haven't done anything of note yet. Baltimore added Kyle Gibson, but that turned out to be a disaster and the team eventually cut ties with the veteran righty.
But the perfect solution to the Orioles' biggest problem is quietly dominating the National League as a member of the Cincinnati Reds.
While the Orioles need a pitcher, more importantly, they need a pitcher with team control. One trade for, let's say Erick Fedde, isn't going to put the Orioles in the postseason this year. They need to make a move that will help them this season and beyond.
And the perfect solution is Reds starter Andrew Abbott.
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop between now and the MLB offseason.
A Reds-Orioles trade would satisfy both team's needs
Abbott would fit perfectly into what the Orioles are building. The southpaw is just 25 years old and still in the pre-arbitration phase of his contract. That means he's going to be under very affordable team control for a few more years before he's eligible for free agency.
Abbott is also dominating this season. Though he missed the beginning of the season with an injury, he's returned and made seven dominant starts. The southpaw has given up one or fewer earned runs in six of his seven starts while striking out 43 hitters over 35 innings.
For the Reds, this wouldn't make much sense on the surface, especially after Rhett Lowder just suffered an oblique injury. A deal like this would deplete their big league pitching staff quite a bit for the season.
But the Reds have some top prospects who will be ready to take over in the big leagues at the start of 2026, with Lowder being one of them. Besides Lowder, Chase Burns will almost certainly be ready by next season. Chase Petty hasn't looked great in the big leagues, but he looks to be a huge piece of the future in Cincinnati. Even guys like Brandon Williamson and Julian Aguiar, both returning from Tommy John surgery, should be ready in 2026.
And if this isn't enough to sell the Cincinnati faithful on a potential Abbott deal, maybe netting Coby Mayo as the headliner would be enough to sway Reds fans.
Mayo hasn't had success in Baltimore and he's the kind of return it would take to land a star like Abbott. The Reds desperately need to add more power to their lineup and Mayo would be the perfect, young addition to fit with Elly De La Cruz.