O's get pitching prospect & top 30 international prospect in late-night deals

Urias to Houston and Kittredge goes to the Cubs

The Orioles made a trade late Wednesday night and they acquired another pitching prospect in a deal with the Houston Astros.

The O’s, per various reports, are sending infielder Ramon Urias to Houston and they get in return 20-year-old right-hander Twine Palmer who was pitching in Low-A ball with Fayetteville for Houston.

Then, just after midnight, the O’s per reports, dealt reliever Andrew Kittredge to the Chicago Cubs. In this deal the O’s got back 17-year-old Dominican shorstop Wilfri De La Cruz, the Cubs No. 17 prospect per MLBPipeline.com and No. 20 via Baseball America.

Selected in round 20 in 2024 out of Connors State (JC) in Oklahoma, Palmer is not ranked among Houston’s top 30 team prospects.

This season over 13 games, eight starts, he is 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA. In 42 1/3 innings he has allowed 26 hits and no home runs. He has walked 22, fanned 44, allowing a .172 batting average and has a 1.13 WHIP. He has averaged 4.68 walks per every nine innings with 9.35 strikeouts.

He has had a strong month of July. He is 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA this month, allowing three walks with 17 strikeouts over 16 innings.

Urias, age 31, has been an Oriole since before the 2020 season, playing in 506 career games with the team with a career .728 OPS.

A versatile and solid defender, he was the American League Gold Glove Award winner at third base in 2022. But is a reserve player now on the Orioles with Jackson Holliday at second, Gunnar Henderson at short and Jordan Westburg at third.

This season with the club he played in 77 games, batting .248/.300/.388/.688 with 12 doubles, eight homers, 34 RBIs and with an OPS+ of 93, or seven percent below AL average.

Urias, who was under team control through 2026, so he is not a two-month rental, is joining a Houston team that leads the AL West by 4.5 games.

These are the fourth and fifth trades the O’s have been involved in this deadline. They dealt reliever Bryan Baker to the Tampa Bay Rays on July 10 for the 37^th pick in the 2025 draft. They turned that into high school outfielder Slater de Brun, who agreed to a $4 million signing bonus.

July 25, the O’s sent reliever Gregory Soto to the New York Mets for minor league pitchers Wellington Aracena and Cameron Foster. Tuesday afternoon, they dealt reliever Seranthony Dominguez and cash considerations to Toronto for minor league right-hander Juaron Watts-Brown.

Watts-Brown on Wednesday was officially activated by Double-A Chesapeake.

Earlier tonight, Aracena, age 20 from the Dominican Republic, made his O’s organization debut pitching for Low-A Delmarva at Kannapolis. He had a very strong outing, throwing 4 2/3 scoreless, allowing just one hit with one walk and six strikeouts on 62 pitches. His fastball touched 97 mph and over his last 10 Low-A starts he has allowed five earned runs in 45 1/3 with 61 strikeouts for an ERA of 0.99 in that span.

Foster has pitched once for Triple-A Norfolk, throwing 1 1/3 scoreless Tuesday night in his Tides’ debut.

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Kittredge also on the move

When the O’s play the Chicago Cubs Friday, they might face Kittredge pitching for his new team.

In this deal the O’s got De La Cruz, who was signed by the Cubs for $2.3 million on Jan. 15, 2025. That was Cubs largest bonus in the 2025 class and the ninth-largest given any international prospect. He was ranked as the No. 13 international prospect in the class of 2025.

The largest bonus by the Orioles to an international player was also $2.3 million and that went to infielder Luis Almeyda on Jan. 15, 2022.

Listed at 6-for-2 and 170 pounds, De La Cruz is a switch-hitter who played in 27 games this season in the Dominican Summer League. He hit .262/.442/.417/.859 with nine doubles, two triples, no homers and nine RBIs. He walked more than he struck out, 26-to-24 and had an OPS of 1.032 in July. He turns 18 on Sept. 15.

The addition of De La Cruz was first noted by reporter Francys Romero.

Kittredge pitched in 30 games for the 2025 Orioles, going 2-2 with a 3.56 ERA. Over 30 1/3 he walked eight, fanned 31 and had a 1.121 WHIP.

The O’s signed him via free agency last January to a one-year deal for $10 million with a team option for 2026 at $9 million. So the Cubs did not acquire a rental and could retain Kittredge, if they choose to, through 2026.

The trade deadline arrives later today at 6 p.m. ET.