Orioles’ overpay in trade with Tigers gives Guardians big Bo Naylor advantage

We’re at a time in the baseball calendar where trades are starting to come fast and furious. Some trades (like the eventual Tarik Skubal trade) are going to be clear deadline definers that will be furiously debated for years to come. 

But there’s also plenty of smaller, unheralded trades that end up serving as harbingers or things to come, whether it be the deal before the deal or a precedent-setting deal that could tweak the value for future deals. 

We got a prime example of the latter on Thursday when the Orioles traded pitching prospect Zane Barnhart to the Tigers in exchange for catcher Jake Rogers, who had recently been designated for assignment by the Tigers. 

While the Orioles are in desperate need of any warm body behind the plate since Samuel Basallo and Adley Rutschman are both on the injured list, their deal for Rogers is a clear overpay since Rogers has hit just .176 across the past 80 games over the past two seasons. 

That deal should have the Guardians licking their lips since they have a clear trade deadline candidate in catcher Bo Naylor, who has been biding time in Triple-A since Cleveland traded for Patrick Bailey at the start of May. 

Normally Naylor would be a bit of a damaged asset, but this deadline’s wild catching market makes it seem the Guardians could end up getting a solid return for him at some point over the next 72 hours. 

Bo Naylor could help the Guardians net a prospect or two at the trade deadline 

Naylor hit just .143 in 28 games this year prior to getting demoted and has a career batting average of .199 in 1,131 MLB at-bats, but he’s still just 26 and once was regarded as a top-100 prospect by multiple publications. Naylor has posted a .224/.346/.436 slashline with seven home runs and 24 RBI in 44 games in Triple-A, so he's helped right the ship since being demoted.

Meanwhile, Rogers has a career slashline of .197/.270/.379 in 362 big league games, and was pushed off the Tigers’ roster by their activation of Javier Báez. 

And somehow he’s not going to be the worst option the Orioles have had to roll out behind the rish, as Sam Huff, Chadwick Tromp and Yohel Pozo have all seen time behind the plate for the Orioles this season. 

Pozo and Tromp had been serving as the Orioles’ catching options, but they designated Tromp for assignment on Friday to make room for Rogers on their roster. 

Naylor may not be a team’s backstop of the future, but the Orioles’ trade for Rogers shows the Guardians’ should be able to get some kind of prospect return for Naylor, not the cash considerations that always seem to be involved in deals involving players who are not longer a part of their team’s plans. 

The Orioles’ trade also confirms the Guardians made the right decision to hold onto Naylor for the past two months. 

While it’s clear that Naylor isn’t a part of the Guardians’ long-term plans, Cleveland still kept him on their 40-man roster instead of designated him for assignment or trading him to another catcher-needy team. Now he could quietly help the Guardians win part of the trade deadline.

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