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)

O's Trade Salazar to Padres for Cla Meredith: Good Move By MacPhail

Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun has reported that the Orioles have traded reserve corner infielder Oscar Salazar to the San Diego Padres for the righty submarine reliever Cla Meredith.

Salazar, 31, was hitting .419 (13/31) with two home runs off the bench for the Orioles. Meredith, 26, had a great start to the season but has struggled since, sporting a 4.17 ERA in 36.2 innings.

Overall, I am supportive of this deal. I understand that of the face of it, it seems as if Andy MacPhail traded a hot player off the bench for a struggling reliever. But there is more to it. The Orioles are trying to find pieces to the future. This isn't a salary issue; neither would cost much, and neither has to be a long term commitment. Had MacPhail gotten a trade offer with good prospects, then he would have taken it, but he must have felt this was the way to go.

For MacPhail, it probably was not easy trading a player like Oscar Salazar. Salazar is an all-around decent man who has shown good play off the bench and a solid clubhouse demeanour. But, this is a move that is solid. It was not needed, but it helps the team. Salazar was 31 and likely would not have continued his success long term. The fact that other teams were interested in his services was important, as he gives value to the team now. He is not a part of the Orioles future, and MacPhail had a chance to make a good deal. I feel for Salazar, and I hope him the best in San Diego, but the Orioles are trying to build for the future, and Salazar is not part of that.

In getting Cla Meredith, the O's gain a traditionally solid short reliever. He will remind a lot of Orioles fans of Chad Bradford, a righty submariner that will go one inning and rely on ground balls more than strikeouts. After being traded from the Red Sox in 2006, he has been a good reliever for the Padres, throwing a sub 4.20 ERA each of the last four seasons. He has been struggling the last couple of weeks after a big start.

He is contracted until the end of the year. So the O's can find out if the 26-year-old is worth keeping in the bullpen long term or they can just release him at the end of the year. Low risk, decent reward. Meredith will likely not be anything huge in the bullpen this season, but if Meredith does well, the Orioles can keep a solid submariner if the bullpen for a little while. Good deal from Andy MacPhail.

(Photo Credit: AP (Salazar), US Presswire (Meredith))

A Look at the "Other" Orioles

On our collective front pages in the Orioles rebuilding effort there’s Nolan Reimold and Brad Bergesen, Matt Wieters and maybe even David Hernandez, but there are some other players on the roster who aren’t “enjoying” the scrutiny that comes with a high profile. Well maybe it is time some obscure blog gave them a bit of attention too.

Don’t get mad about last night’s game; sometimes there is simply just a better team on the field. Jon Lester wasn’t going to be stopped yesterday and the O’s aren’t ready to take down the pitcher who is now 8-0 against Baltimore. But let’s not let the Orioles entirely off the hook. Jason Berken has looked little better than any of the journeymen this team has brought in to complete the rotation in recent years, and after 7 starts I am beginning to wonder whether hitters didn’t need a whole lot of time to figure him out. Through his first 2 starts, Berken was looking like he could fill a hole in the rotation as more than just a stopgap, allowing just 3 earned runs in 12 innings. Since that start however, Berken has had a whopping 8.51 ERA and only narrowly avoided creeping above that disastrous 9 mark with some fortuitous breaks.

So what will the Orioles do with Berken? For lack of a better option, keep him in there and hope things work out. Baltimore has so depleted its AAA stockpile of pitchers that the only options remaining are the all-but-untouchable Chris Tillman, Jake Arrieta, and Brian Matusz. The O’s pitching staff could have an ERA over 10 and Matusz would stay down, but Andy MacPhail hasn’t ruled out bringing up Tillman late in the season. However, I would think that this hinges largely on whether a healthy Koji Uehara can be put back in the starting rotation. If he is and David Hernandez starts to improve, Berken could be the one sent down. If Hernandez continues to scuffle however, Baltimore will likely try to protect their investment in Hernandez and send him down, and let the welcome surprise (but not long-term prospect) Berken take his lumps.

The Orioles lack a true third baseman in their minor league system, or at least not one who is having anything more than a solid year during an otherwise unremarkable career. When Oscar Salazar started to get his at-bats and began making solid contact (8-22 so far this season), I grew extremely hopeful that he could spell Melvin Mora more frequently to keep him fresh (and extend his career), or even replace him for a year or so until the Orioles came up with a solid young player. And then I saw him in person against the Nationals on Sunday, and had the experience of sitting right behind third base to get a close look at Salazar. Playing next to Robert Andino, one could see that Oscar does not have the range or instincts as a fielder to play every day at third base. His bat is still powerful and can be great in a pinch-hitting role, but this is one time I won’t question Trembley’s decision to keep him on the bench.

At 31 years old, Salazar’s glove isn’t going to get any better. He can be a good bat when Baltimore needs it for as long as they need it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was sent down to make room for Cesar Izturis in July- in the National League it is critical to have extra hitters on the bench, but an American League team needs to put more emphasis on having solid defensive players first. It won’t be an easy decision for management, but it would be the right one.

Luke Scott Bound for DL: What's the next move?

It hasn't been announced officially yet, but there is little doubt that Luke Scott will be headed to the 15-day disabled list very shortly after badly injuring his shoulder in Sunday's loss to the Yankees. The injury occured in a dive back to first base in which, as heard after the game, most likely hurt his rotator cuff. If that is the case, Scott will most likely be out for a long period of time, which begs the question as to what the Orioles next move is. The way I see it there are three possibilities, and I'm ranking them in order of likelihood (least likely to most likely).

3. Nolan Reimold gets called up to replace Scott -- At first glance this seems like the most logical move. After all, both play left field, Reimold has been on a tear and is still a legitimate prospect, and he's shown he has little left to gain from staying in AAA. However, I seriously doubt that this will (or should) take place for a few reasons. The most important reason is that it has been stated very plainly that Trembley does not want to bring Reimold up to be a bench player, but rather he wants Reimold to play almost every day whenever he comes to the big league club. With Felix Pie and Lou Montanez playing left field, the insertion of Reimold would re-introduce a Freel-like conundrum in which there is a logjam where noone can be happy. When Reimold is brought up will be a direct result of how Pie plays over the next few weeks. Pie showed signs of life during Sunday's game when he started for an injured Montanez, going 2-3 with a walk. Right now the team needs to evaluate Pie in left field-- Reimold's opening won't be in replacing Scott, it's in the possible replacement of Pie down the line.

2. Rich Hill takes Scott's roster spot -- Again, doubtful, but not out of the question. This move would entail the Orioles moving to 13 pitchers which, given the consistently short outings of the starters, is not unreasonable. Still, the lack of a bench earlier in the season severely limited Trembley's options late in games, and makes it much harder to get good matchups at the plate. The most sense for Rich Hill's callup is to replace Bob McCrory; McCrory still needs more work at Norfolk, and his demotion can move Hendrickson to the bullpen and allow Hill to take a rotation spot.

1. Oscar Salazar gets called up -- This is by far the most sensible option. Oscar Salazar has been just as hot (if not moreso) at the plate than Nolan Reimold, and unlike Reimold there is no issue with him being a bench player in the majors. Salazar is not considered a prospect due to his age, but does provide a significant bat off the bench (.378 avg, 6 hr in Norfolk) for a pinch hitting role. He is also capable of playing multiple infield positions to give players a day off or provide late-game flexibility. I know I'm making Oscar Salazar sound like Chuck Norris (and he isn't), but he certainly would be an ideal candidate for this situation.

We'll see later today if I'm right; Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun and Roch Kubatko of MASN have previously expressed the same opinion, but I'm more than inclined to agree with them. The real excitement though will be seeing how the Pie experiment is handled over the next couple weeks and how Rich Hill looks against the Royals on Saturday. Losing record? Who cares, it's still great theater.