Sellers or buyers at trade deadline?

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Let's assume the Orioles are still in first place, or very close to it, and it's a week before the trade deadline.

Are the buyers, sellers, or should they stay put?

[osforlife]

Don't kill the farm system for one shot at the playoffs but I probably wouldn't stay put. So I would consider ourselves light buyers.

[ofahn]

I'd like to suggest a third possibility - exchangers. We could exchange two of our problems, Reynolds and Gregg, to the Cubs for Soriano and all but between 3 and 5M of the difference in salaries.

From what I understand Mark Reynolds is popular in the clubhouse but we don't have anywhere to hide his glove. Trading him would put Davis back at 1B, which is a SLIGHT defensive upgrade. Let's face it; Chris Davis is Luke Scott with a slightly better glove and is, IMO, NOT the long term solution at 1B.

Gregg might actually help the Cubs bullpen, which has been awful, as long as they don't count on him to close games because he can pitch multiple innings.

Soriano should be energized to come into a pennant race and may actually play like he cares. By having the Cubs cover his salary for the last two years of his contract we have nothing to lose if he starts dogging it again and has to be let go.

If we get this done by Friday we would open a roster spot for Lindstrom and have an open spot on the 40 Man Roster.

[TuckerBlair89]

ofahn, I like the idea, but I think the Cubs might send a mercenary group over to Baltimore if we offer them Gregg in a deal. They had to deal with him for 2 years as well!

[ofahn]

I think the Cubs might send a mercenary group over to Baltimore if we offer them Gregg in a deal

I laughed so hard at that I started coughing. Points for the best line of the day.

Watch out for black helicopters!!!

[ofahn]

On the serious side, the Cubs might be willing to bring him over with the idea of allowing him to pitch in the sixth and seventh innings so they can build value and trade him in late July. He just seems like a completely different pitcher went he's not in a game critical situation.

Who knows, they might be able to dump him on someone without having to pay the rest of his salary, which would save them about 2M; or they might pay all of his salary and get a decent prospect back. The Cubs have been very clear that they're willing to do that.

[LA Detective]

Buyers..3B and left field are the most probable spots...If Headley is above average Defensively I say he is our target...Lf could be creative...could be a guy like Denard Span that could bat at the top of the order or a power guy....We need to clear our roster of those who dont really help much....As for Pitching, I see us just mixing and matching with the 5 we have with Britton and Tilman mixed in, ...I dont think we have heard the last from Hunter and I have always believed Matusz would have a better 2nd half..The bullpen gets a lift when Linstrom returns...Gregg has to go, his lack of inninings could hurt keeping the back end of the pen fresh...Look out for Pedro Viola who has been on fire at AA his last 10 games to give even more depth to the pen...He was a good live, lefty arm when we got him....For now I would like us play Ford in LF and maybe Tejada at 3b if he has shown good D down there for the next bit to see if there is any value....How bout an offensense of Span, Roberts, Markakis, Jones, Weiters, Davis,Headley, DH(reynolds or Johnson), Hardy.. More small ball at the top and no automatic outs throughout...plus better D all around...

[birdwatcher55]

I'm starting to think we're not going to do very much at deadline. I don't think DD is going to empty out the farm system in his first season for the likes of Garza. I could see us trying to move Gregg or pick up a mop up type pitcher for the stretch to save on the bullpen. In the meantime I see us taking a closer look at Tillman and Gonzalez to see if either one could be our elusive fifth starter. We'll also monitor Britton but I don't expect he will have a full return to health until 2013. If we can get a cheap bat, that would work too. I think a lot really depends on how we fair up the All-Star break and what we are doing the first week thereafter. Right now I don't see any big moves

[Rising O's]

Not sure what they could sell so...buyers.

[Matt P]

It depends on how the team is playing closer to the deadline.

[Birdfan7]

They will go for a pitcher probably with the hopes the bats will come alive, I would wager on Garza or just throwing it out there... Zach Greinke

[Shorebirdfan]

To be sellers you have to have something someone wants. Outside of untouchable pieces (Wieters, Jones, Hardy) there isn't much too sell.

Hopefully 30 days from now we will still be in the picture and be buyers without mortgaging the future.

[ofahn]

They will go for a pitcher probably with the hopes the bats will come alive, I would wager on Garza or just throwing it out there... Zach Greinke

WHY?

Garza, despite all of his talent, is an aggressive head case, and Greinke is a passive one. In effect, you're talking about gutting our farm system for pitchers that may or may not be able to handle the pressure of a pennant race.

Besides, ONE pitcher isn't going to fix our problems. Last night's game was a perfect microcosm of everything that's wrong with this team. We HAVE TO HAVE Matusz and Arrieta become consistent to even worry about who will fill out the last spot in the rotation. Even if we fix that, we still have a lineup of free swingers that can't seem to hit with RISP. Early in the game Mark Reynolds was at the plate with a runner on 3B and one out. Instead of hitting the ball to the right side or lifting a fly ball to the OF to score a run; he struck out. Add to that the defense issues at 1B and 3B and this is a team that might win more than 81 games this year but is NOT YET ready for prime time.

One trade for a pitcher, regardless of who that pitcher is, will not fix this team.

[Birdfan7]

Simply put getting one more pitcher really would make a difference even if ryan demster or shawn marcum. Then you would have Chen Hammel and Arrieta plus a fourth pitcher that's an easy three wins.

And yes offence is a problem but with runners on 3rd and Reynolds up there's two things to expect 1. he hits a homer 2. he strikes out. look at his numbers that's what he does and if the pitcher makes a mistake and doesn't hit the outside third there is a solid chance that ball is going on a ride. 3b is really the only defensive problem, but putting Andino over there is just fine until something else comes about even Betimet is OK, pitching wins games.

[ofahn]

Simply put getting one more pitcher really would make a difference even if ryan demster or shawn marcum. Then you would have Chen Hammel and Arrieta plus a fourth pitcher that's an easy three wins.

And yes offence is a problem but with runners on 3rd and Reynolds up there's two things to expect 1. he hits a homer 2. he strikes out. look at his numbers that's what he does and if the pitcher makes a mistake and doesn't hit the outside third there is a solid chance that ball is going on a ride. 3b is really the only defensive problem, but putting Andino over there is just fine until something else comes about even Betimet is OK, pitching wins games.

First, I want to applaud your enthusiasm for the Orioles. We could use more fans like you on this forum.

Second, I wonder if you're not mistaking loyalty and optimism to the team for objective thinking. I've been a fan for over 45 years and bleed Orioles' orange but I still can see the significant flaws in this team. I'm realistic enough to think that ONE player, no matter how good they are, is NOT going to fix this team. I understand you think that the defense at 1B is acceptable but I don't think that most professional talent evaluators will agree. IMO Robert Andino is not an every day player at 3B or any other position. Steve Tolleson is a versatile player but he's not a LF. Last night he allowed a ball to go over his head that cost us the first run.

Heck, there are some pretty good judges of talent on this forum. Ask Jordan, Tucker Blair, A_K, Ampontan, Shorebirdfan, and some others I apologize for forgetting. Ask Don. He's a professional scout. I think most, if not all, of them will agree that this team has many holes that will need to be filled to be a legitimate playoff team. Trading away the few quality prospects we have to put lipstick on that sow is not my idea of a good plan.

What concerns me the most is that we don't have any any depth in AAA. Name one position that we could bring up a legitimate ML ready player if we had an injury. OF? Avery and Hoes have less than 100 AAA games under their belt and have yet to dominate there. 3B? If we did that guy would be playing there now. 1B? Ditto. SS? Nope. 2B? Nope. 1B? Nope. Catcher? Not even close. SP? If we did they would be in Baltimore now. Maybe you could make the argument that we could cover the loss of a reliever or two. To me, that's not the foundation you want to build your house on .