MLB Trade Rumors: Baltimore Orioles on the Verge of Deadline Fire Sale

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Shocking as it may seem (or not), the Baltimore Orioles will likely be one of the biggest sellers at the upcoming July 31st non-waiver trade deadline, though their available assets aren't exactly game changers, per se.

According to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun, O's president Andy McPhail and owner Peter Angelos have already tossed around some trade possibilities and are content to trim the aging fat from around their core of talented youngsters. 

At 39-56 and 19.5 games out of first place in the top-heavy American League East, the O's have struggled since that promising start that had folks around baseball wondering if manager Buck Showalter really was a miracle worker.

Unfortunately, Showalter's magic seems to have run short, at least for this particular season, leaving the Beltway Birds with some quality veterans that contenders may take interest in and who could bring back a decent prospect or two in return.

As far as bats are concerned, the O's have two salty swingers who postseason pursuers may find prudent to their problems: first baseman Derrek Lee (.234, 10 home runs, 34 RBI) and designated hitter/lumberjack extraordinaire Vladimir Guerrero (.279, seven home runs, 31 RBI).

Vlad's case is a rather peculiar one, given that he can't really play in the field anymore and that he is still on the disabled list recovering from a right hand injury. However, with the way in which he is known to wield his bat like Thor does his hammer, Vlad should find a taker for talents somewhere in the American League.

Lee and Guerrero might well stay put until August, though, as they both figure to clear waivers with some ease.

The O's most attractive chips, however, are both pitchers—starter Jeremy Guthrie and middle reliever Koji Uehara—as both could bring back a decent bounty at the deadline. McPhail isn't exactly working the phones to dump either of his two tradable pitchers on a contending team, though he apparently is willing to entertain offers that would send Major League-ready or near-Major League-ready prospects back to Camden Yards.

All told, it's only a matter of time (about nine days, actually) until the circling vultures swoop down to swipe some of the O's veteran pieces.

—Josh Martin

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