Any More From MacPhail on Deadline Day?

Today is the non-waiver trade deadline day in baseball, so by 4:00 PM the deals must be done.

Already the Orioles have been players in the trading. George Sherrill was traded to the Dodgers yesterday for prospects Josh Bell and Steve Johnson, and Oscar Salazar was traded to the Padres for Cla Meredith. Andy MacPhail has said that the Orioles "will not be anyone's farm system," but is willing to trade players that are not part of the Orioles future to fill the farm system, which needs more future prospects.

But Sherrill and Salazar were not the only players talked about, so for MacPhail, will he trade any other player?

Possible players for trade:
Aubrey Huff
Huff has long been speculated for trade, and the Orioles left-handed first baseman has attracted attention by others teams. Huff, who will be 33 at the end of the year, has had a very bad July, putting him at .250 for the season. He has only 11 home runs to this point, where as he had 32 last season. It is hard to gauge what the Orioles will get for him, considering he is in the last year of his contract plus he's struggling, but his potential could earn a prospect or two. But my guess is he'll stay in Baltimore for the rest of the year.

Luke Scott
Scott is also a valuable target, a left-handed outfielder that is hitting .275 with 18 home runs. He was having a lot of success in the first half and has cooled off since then, plus the fact he has been a DH for most of the season with the left field situation may lower his value. Rumor is the Tigers have interest in him, but again, like Huff, I expect Scott to be here on August 1st.

Danys Baez
Baez has had an interesting season in terms of his trade value. Earlier in the year he was considered very valuable, then a big slump destroyed, then he rebounded and again drew interest, but then had some issues to pull it down again. The righty reliever is 4-4 with a 4.41 ERA. The 31-year-old's contract is up after the year, and a trade would likely get nothing more than one prospect, but it would be worth it. But some of the struggles may keep teams away.

Mark Hendrickson
After he was terrible as a starter, Hendrickson's performance in the bullpen with a sub-3 ERA in non-starts has drawn interest from the Rockies, according to the Denver Post. Hendrickson is a useful player to trade, a low-paid lefty reliever than can go for a long amount of innings that is not part of the Orioles future. Even if means just one prospect, the Orioles may pull the trigger on the 35-year-old, and my guess is the deal will be done.

So Andy MacPhail has a lot of work to do before the clock strikes four, but he has some people that could bring in prospects, and the trigger could be pulled on a few of them.

Prediction on the trade deadline:
--To be traded: Hendrickson to the Rockies
--Remaining as Orioles: Huff, Scott, Baez

(Photo credit: Baltimore Sun)

Can Anything Be Done About the Rotation?

What we all believed would be the problem with the Orioles in the beginning of the season has come front and center. The starting rotation has been very bad lately, and there is no solution in sight.

Here is what the Opening Day rotation was, and where they are now:
--Jeremy Guthrie: still a starter, 6-8 record, 5.02 ERA (6.86 on the road)
--Koji Uehara: has not been bad when healthy, but often could not go longer than 6 innings a game and is always hurt
--Alfredo Simon: needed elbow surgery after two bad starts, out for the year
--Mark Hendrickson: relegated to the bullpen after many bad outings, but has become a decent long reliever
--Adam Eaton: released after posting an 8.56 ERA in eight starts, now playing for Colorado Springs Sky Sox, Rockies Triple-A club

And the rotation now:
--Jeremy Guthrie: 6-8 record, 5.02 ERA
--Brad Bergesen: a solid starter this season, 5-2 record with a 3.53 ERA, 4-0 in last eight starts
--Rich Hill: mostly bad outings with a few exceptions, 3-2 record with a 7.43 ERA, only twice going over 5.2 innings
--Jason Berken: may not be ready, 1-5 record with 6.25 ERA
--David Hernandez: only five starts but ok right now, 2-2 record with 4.15 ERA

It is no doubt that the rotation has been real problematic. Without Bergesen and solid work from the bullpen, the whole pitching staff could be lost. Certainly it was thought the rotation would struggle, but the difficulties with Guthrie and Uehara made things much worse.

But can anything really be done about it right now? As we often tell ourselves, the Orioles are not in contention right now. Not matter what deals can be done, the Red Sox, Yankees, and Rays will likely be better. Signing a number of free agents likely will not help matters plus will cost millions of dollars. Trading also won't work, as you will not get anyone good and ready to go without giving up one of the big three, which is not an option, and Andy MacPhail will not do that.

The Orioles can keep tapping into Norfolk all they want, and that is what they will do. Already from the Tides came Bergesen, Berken, Hernandez, Radhames Liz, and Alberto Castillo from the pitching end plus Matt Wieters, Nolan Reimold, Lou Montanez, and Oscar Salazar in the lineup. The Tides pitching staff has been real helpful to the Orioles, and they still have some people left, but eventually the Birds will need to stop bringing people up, if only because they will run out of them. Left that could help now are David Pauley and Chris Waters, but after that, the rotation will need to function on their own.

This whole situation is difficult for the Orioles, but it is one they will need to get through. Mainly because nothing really can be done about it unless the current pitchers can do better. Let's hope they do.

(Photo credit: AP)

O's Sweep World Champs, Have Won Five Straight

Jeremy Guthrie is struggling. Brian Roberts isn't showing enough energy. The starting pitchers are not lasting. They are playing with a backup shortstop. This team has no power. Get a lead against them into the ninth, and Baltimore has no chance.

Despite all of these criticisms the Orioles seem to be getting by outside sources, the Birds are responding with victories, winning five straight including sweeping the World Champion Phillies as two come-from-behind wins in the ninth inning after having zero such games before Thursday.

Of these five wins, only one was by more than two runs. The bullpen was stellar for the most part, with pitchers from Mark Hendrickson to George Sherrill doing very well. The bats are coming alive with more home runs and key hits from leaders Brian Roberts and Aubrey Huff. Interleague play has been good to the Orioles, who have a 9-3 record against National League teams this year, the best in the AL East. Some strange things have been happening. Robert Andino has been playing very well in place of the injured Cesar Izturis both offensively and defensively. Gregg Zaun hit a home run in the comeback win against the Angels. Guthrie finally had a big start. And finally, people other than Luke Scott and Nolan Reimold hit home runs.

Even though the Orioles are still in last place in the division, this five-game win streak is important in other ways. Not just for the morale of the team, but also for possible trade deadline deals. Names that have been thrown around include Aubrey Huff, Danys Baez, Melvin Mora, among others. Andy MacPhail has stated that there will not be any salary dumping, so if any trades go down, it will be because they get prospects in a good deal. But the cornerstones of the franchise and the potential young guns will still be here.

For now, the Orioles should enjoy the winning. The Orioles have two series left in interleague play, at Florida and the second round of the Battle of the Beltway with the Nationals.

(Photo credit: AP)

Rotation Issues Already Forming in Baltimore

It has been a great start for the Birds, winning their first three series, considering the bullpen and rotation issues. However, the Orioles were hoping the "stopgap rotation" would hold a little longer than this, but the injury to Alfredo Simon has already forced the O's to dip into the Tides for some help. While Simon has not yet gone to the DL, recent moves make it seem that he'll be out a little while.

According to the Baltimore Sun and MASN, the Orioles have bringing up Matt Albers and Radhames Liz after Melvin Mora was sent to the DL and Simon will have his shoulder checked. It would not be surprising if Brad Bergeson was brought up as well from the Tides. Bergeson has done a great job in his first two contests in Norfolk, striking out nine and just allowing three earned in 11 innings, but these are his only two starts in triple-A play, and there is no telling if he'll be ready to come up to Baltimore.

We all expected the Orioles rotation to be an issue this season. Jeremy Guthrie and Koji Uehara were seen as the only reliable starters, so the rest of the rotation was up for grabs, which was won by Simon and Mark Hendrickson with Adam Eaton filling the last spot when needed. The Orioles, though feeling it would eventually happen, were hoping to avoid using Norfolk players to fill gaps already. The bullpen has been very scary to the O's, but they have at least been able to hold large leads. The starters have done a good job for now, especially Guthrie.

The overall key to all of this is to protect the potential stars of the rotation. Under no circumstances can the Orioles bring up Chris Tillman because they need to wait until he is ready, and since he is not on the 40-man roster this probably will not be an issue. Players like Bergeson, Liz, Chris Waters, and David Hernandez could be called up sometime this season as stopgaps. This is just the beginning of the season and the Orioles can't risk their big players just because of a nice start. First they need to ready their big pitchers and Matt Wieters. They'll compete as best they can, but don't get too excited about the start. The might of this rotation is about to be tested. But for now and for all the issues, the O's have won their first three series.

(Photo credit: AP)

Orioles Moving Closer to a Defined Rotation

After it was announced today that Danys Baez will not be in contention for the starting rotation, the Orioles have now focused the competition on five pitchers searching for the remaining three starting spots. Danys Baez was eliminated from contention for most likely two reasons: 1) He was relatively ineffective this spring in pitching to an underwhelming 5.54 ERA, and 2) Baez was unable to utilize his offspeed pitches due to either injury or lack of confidence (or both). It was admirable that Baez has made such a strong attempt to come back, but it simply makes more sense from the team's perspective to have him earn his spot out of the bullpen rather than putting him in a role that he doesn't belong in.

So now the final three rotation spots will be filled by some combination of: Hayden Penn, Adam Eaton, Mark Hendrickson, Alfredo Simon, and Brian Bass. In my opinion, none of these five qualify as a solid major league starter, but as of right now they are the best options the Orioles have without risking their young prospects. Of these five only Hendrickson seems to be a lock for the rotation in that the Orioles front office went out of their way to sign him and at the very least he is a veteran who knows how to pitch (even if he is better suited as a swingman). The next name I would guess would be Adam Eaton for the same reason as Hendrickson, in that while Eaton has pitched poorly in recent years, he is a veteran who has been around and is more likely to be a stable presence. Alfredo Simon, a relative unknown, is likely to claim the last spot if only for his somewhat impressive spring over some of the other pitchers in camp. Both Brian Bass and Hayden Penn have been given ample opportunity to succeed (particularly Penn, who has one more chance to make a statement as he takes over Baez's scheduled start on Thursday), but they simply haven't produced as others have. Furthermore, Brian Bass would have had to show a good deal this spring to change minds in the organization after he struggled mightily late last season. Hayden Penn was once a top prospect but is now out of minor league options, so it's most likely that the team will put him as the long reliever and hope that he comes around at the major league level.

So what does this all add up to? A very very frightening year for Orioles pitching. The pitching depth in this organization is excellent, but right now the Orioles are in a very "wait, wait, not yet" mode with their pitchers. Top prospects like Brian Matusz, Chris Tillman, Jake Arrieta, and others are simply too young to come up. Others like Troy Patton, Rich Hill and Matt Albers are still waiting to get over the hump coming off of injury. Thankfully arms like Patton, Hill, Albers, and Bergesen should be ready to come up at some point this year, but Orioles fans need to be understanding of this situation. The major league pitching will be bad this year, possibly historically bad at the start of the season. But patience is key, because the future is coming; it's just not here yet.