We’re dropping Inside the Dugout a bit early today because it figures to be a hectic one: The trade deadline is at 6 p.m., and the Orioles are still discussing possible deals. Our Orioles reporters will be discussing all the news with subscribers during a live web chat at noon. Sign up here. I will have another column this evening assessing whatever moves the Orioles make today.

MLB’s trade deadline is this afternoon at 6 p.m., and the Orioles’ early returns from their in-season acquisitions have been good. Zach Eflin struck out a season-high seven Monday in a win over Toronto, while Seranthony Dominguez has a pair of scoreless outings to his name so far.

The Orioles did some early business Friday to acquire those two and outfielder Cristian Pache, but still have a chance today to add more. Mike Elias could go in plenty of different directions to make his final external additions to an Orioles team that, at 63-44, arrives at the deadline a half-game ahead of the Yankees in the AL East, but not playing their best baseball. Any of these five tacks would make sense to me.

1. Shop in the rental arms department

The trade deadline is intense for a lot of reasons, and the blockbusters can take it to another level. The bulk of the moves, however, involve players who are about to be free agents getting moved so their teams can get a little bit of value for them before their contracts expire.

These rentals can be hit-or-miss in terms of bringing value, and often represent lower risks and lower prices, considering the circumstances. Some can be difference-makers, though. Look no further than the Texas Rangers getting Jordan Montgomery and Aroldis Chapman last year, which helped fortify their pitching staff on the way to the World Series.

A handful of such rentals remain on the market in areas the Orioles need: the rotation (old friend Jack Flaherty), the bullpen (old friend Tanner Scott, Drew Smyly, Chad Green, Dylan Floro) and right-handed outfielders (old foes Randal Grichuk and Kevin Pillar). Considering these players will likely only be on the Orioles for two-plus months, the price could be reasonable and they could avoid giving up their top handful of prospects. That said, the demand could be high enough to make a reasonable price not enough.

2. Flex their new financial clout and add payroll

Trading for Eflin, who is owed $18 million next year, meant these aren’t the low-spending Orioles of old anymore. They made a trade they know can help, and even with plenty of salary coming off the books, did so knowing it could bring their 2025 payroll even higher. If the Orioles really want to limit their prospect costs and keep their high-value talent in the organization, they can use lesser prospects and take on high-priced players from other teams. Reigning Cy Young winner Blake Snell, who has a $30 million salary next year if he doesn’t opt out of his contract, fits this bill. So, to a lesser extent, do Tyler Anderson and Jameson Taillon, among others.

3. Move on from more veterans

Last week’s edition of this newsletter talked about trading veterans but decided it would be hard to stomach; well, that happened with Austin Hays and it was. But most reporting from major outlets, first ESPN, indicated it was Cedric Mullins and Ryan Mountcastle who the Orioles were talking to other teams about. Those feel like even harder sells, considering those two players have everyday roles on this team versus a platoon player in Hays, but they also will have real value to an acquiring team. For me, the priority should be adding, not subtracting, at this point.

4. Go all-in with the top of their farm system to add a top-level starter

Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet are among the most attractive pitchers who could potentially be available because they’ve been dominant this season, and the fact that they are each multiple seasons away from free agency makes them that much more appealing to acquiring teams. That means the price will be astronomical. The Orioles have the high-level prospects to acquire anyone, these pitchers included. Maybe they pull a complete about-face in terms of organizational philosophy and put all their chips into one basket to win this year’s trade deadline. Even if it could make all the difference in the world when it comes to a World Series, that doesn’t feel like this front office’s move. Until 6 p.m., though, we can’t officially rule it out.

5. Let their early work to add Eflin and Dominguez stand

If the thinking is that the in-season trade market is an irrational one and that meeting the inflated prices that come from the scarcity of talent available increases the likelihood that a team makes a bad deal, perhaps the Orioles’ early work — which accomplished a lot of what they sought ahead of the rest of the market — will be it.

That wouldn’t be the most exciting outcome, but the Orioles at this point have a firm idea of what’s available, what it would cost, and what they’re willing to part with to get it. They could stretch beyond that for the right opportunity, but the nearer the actual deadline gets, the higher prices will go. It’s possible they get so high that the Orioles fail to meet any of them.

Ballpark chatter

“Nobody played harder. Nobody played more hurt. … He is just a true pro.”

— Brandon Hyde on Austin Hays

This is not the place to come for perspectives on leadership and who has what role in the Orioles’ clubhouse; far too many players have told me such dynamics are overblown for me to not agree. Players operate on a relatively binary scale and respect two things above all else: talent and work ethic. Hays had both in abundance, and everyone in the Orioles’ clubhouse knew it. We had a good chat while he was rehabbing at Bowie about how tough his illness and subsequent struggles were, and full credit goes to him for getting himself back on track the way he did. This probably wasn’t the best ending for him in Baltimore; no one wants to be replaced. But he did right by the Orioles for working as hard as he did this year and in previous years, and they did right by him sending him somewhere he can have a bigger role.

Talent pipeline

Jackson Baumeister’s trade to the Rays might clear a spot in the already-talented Aberdeen rotation for one of the standouts in the Low-A rotation at Delmarva. There are a lot of candidates, but right-hander Nestor German is worth highlighting. He recently struck out five in 4 1/3 shutout innings, and the 2023 11th-round pick now has 57 strikeouts in 48 1/3 innings with a 1.49 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP. He may not be long for the Shorebirds.

Stats

There’s usually a reason behind sudden dips in performance in baseball; players rarely just deteriorate overnight. So allow me to present a few observations. Adley Rutschman homered for the 15th time to bring his OPS to .830 on June 27, a game in which he took a foul tip to the hand and required post-game X-rays. He sat out the next day after X-rays came back negative and entered Monday 9-for-74 with a .486 OPS since. He entered Monday with a .498 OPS in July, his lowest in a full major league month ever. The next lowest month was .660 in June of last year, and no other full months were below .770. This is a huge outlier, and doesn’t feel like a coincidence — that injured hand is probably a factor.

For further reading

💪 Tough guy: You may recall — since it wasn’t that long ago — that James McCann was hit in the face with a 95 mph fastball and stayed in the game with gauze in his nose. It was quite a scary scene. The James McCann game will live on forever. Here’s Danielle’s accounting.

🏟️ A Major League success story: There’s never a bad story about a baseball family, be it fathers coaching against sons or brothers playing against one another on the field. Outside of the obvious, it’s just rarer than it should be to get to write a nice story. The story of Albert and Robert Suarez from Andy here counts as that.

😃 Strong start: Andy also documented Burch Smith’s strong arrival in the Orioles’ bullpen. At this rate, they’re going to need arms like him to emerge and help this team down the stretch.