Manny Machado is gone, headed off to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

However, the All-Star shortstop may not be the only Orioles player dealt leading up to the July 31 deadline for making trades without securing waivers on a player.

Left-handed reliever Zach Britton, right-handed reliever Brad Brach and center fielder Adam Jones are also on expiring contracts and will likely be dealt. We asked five talent evaluators from various major league teams to rank those three players in order of desirability and the results were Britton, Brach and Jones.

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Britton has piqued teams’ interests by making seven consecutive scoreless appearances, covering seven innings, since June 30 while also getting a win and three saves. He struggled upon being activated from the disabled list June 12 after missing the first 2 ½ months of the season from surgery on a ruptured Achilles tendon as he had a 7.04 ERA in his first eight games.

“He’s starting to look like the old Zach Britton again with that really good bite on his sinker,” a scout said. “He might not be the 47-save guy of two years ago but he’s a left-hander with a track record of getting big outs late in games. I’m not so sure I’d trust him to be my primary closer in a pennant race, but I wouldn’t have a problem with him pitching the eighth inning for me. None at all.”

Brach has been a reliable set-up man for the Orioles since arriving in Baltimore prior to 2014 and has also filled in as a closer when Britton was sidelined the last two seasons. Though Brach’s 4.46 ERA in 39 games this season is easily his worst in his five seasons with the Orioles, an evaluator thinks he could also help a contender.

“He’s proven himself in high-leverage situations for a long time and there’s something to be said for pitching in a pennant race, pitching in the postseason, which he has” the evaluator said. “I know he’s having a bit of a down year, but he’s been too good for too long and I’m going to a contender would rejuvenate him.”

However, the return for both Britton and Brach in a trade might not be as much as Orioles’ fans might hope.

“They are relievers you are getting for just two months — or hopefully three if you make it to the World Series — and teams don’t give up their very best prospects for guys like that,” an executive from another team said. “They’ll get something and, if they play their cards right, might find a lottery ticket, the type of prospect who is better than projected.”

Jones is no longer the same player who went to four consecutive All-Star Games from 2012-15. He is hitting .275/.299/.423 with 10 home runs and 92 games while compiling a dismal minus-26 defensive runs saved.

“For me, he’s a part-time player on a contender,” an evaluator said. “Maybe platoon him against left-handers, use him as a fourth outfielder. He’d make a nice complementary piece for a team trying to win but he’s not going to come in and singlehandedly carry you to the World Series. Beyond a bit of salary relief, I don’t think the Orioles will get a whole lot for him.”

Jones’ salary is $17.3 million this season in the final year of his six-year, $85.5-million contract.

If the Orioles decide to trade players under club control beyond this season, the evaluators believe their best chips would be right-handed starters Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman, right-handed reliever Mychal Givens and second baseman Jonathan Schoop, who is eligible for free agency in 2020.

Schoop is hitting just .229/.263/.389 with 10 homers in 76 games this season, a year after representing the Orioles in the All-Star Game.

“I like Schoop the best of the bunch,” one evaluator said. “However, he is also having a bad year and that puts the Orioles in a tough spot. You’re selling low if you trade him now. I think you’ve got to hope he has a better second half because you trade him.”

Bundy and Gausman are the Orioles’ top two starters and Givens has the look of a future closer. Gausman cannot become a free agent until 2021 and Bundy and Givens a year later.

“If the Orioles truly want to blow it all up, these are the guys who will get them something in return,” an evaluator said. “Teams are always willing to overpay for pitching at this time of the year, especially controllable pitching that will be around for a few more years.”

The Orioles might view the trio as key members of their next contending team, though. If so, a lot of evaluators think that would be a mistake.

“They don’t have much in the farm system and they’ve got that bad (Chris) Davis contract on the books for four more years, so they’re going to be bad for a while,” an evaluator said. They need to start all over again. I think the Orioles owe it to themselves to explore any and all trade possibilities and not close themselves off to anything.”

John Perrotto
John Perrotto

John Perrotto has been a professional sports writer since 1982 and has covered a multitude of sports, including MLB, NFL and college football and basketball. He has been a member of the Baseball Writers’ Association since 1988, a Hall of Fame voter since 1997 and has covered 21 World Series and two Super Bowls. He is a graduate of Geneva College, the birthplace of college basketball, and lives in Beaver Falls, Pa., the hometown of Joe Willie Namath. He also writes The Perrotto Report (theperrottoreport.com), newsletters that concentrate on Major League Baseball and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

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