Orioles trade rumors: Team is one of four in the mix for Gerardo Parra

Earlier on Monday, the Orioles were reported to have had discussions with the Padres regarding Justin Upton. He's not the only outfielder on the market, and they are checking around other places as well. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports wrote that the Orioles are also one of four teams who are in the picture to possibly acquire outfielder Gerardo Parra from the Brewers.

Parra, like Upton, is a pending free agent at the end of the season. The 28-year-old 5'11" lefty has been patrolling both left and right field mostly in his big league career. Unlike Upton, Parra is in the middle of what is by far his best season at the plate of his career. Heading into Monday's games, Parra was batting .317/.356/.505 on the season. Is that a fluke or is that a player responding to a change of scenery by taking a step forward in his first full season there?

Looking at Parra's BABIP of .360, which is 34 points above his career mark, that suggests it might be more likely to be a fluke. In addition, Parra does not rate well for defensive metrics, which is in line with numbers from last season as well. He's been worth -4 runs in the outfield in 659.2 innings played. That could be worse.

Other teams reportedly interested in Parra, according to Heyman, are the Angels, Mets, and a mystery team. It's not rumor season until there's a mystery team. The Angels acquired Shane Victorino on Monday but could probably still use another outfielder. The Mets have already surprised people with two deadline trades; maybe they'll surprise people again by picking up the rest of Parra's $6.24 million salary or maybe they'll finally cry poor.

No idea what it might cost the O's to pick up Parra. He doesn't have the track record of an Upton, so the price he would bring back is probably lower as well. But you never really know with this stuff. And as always we must remember the first law of baseball rumors: Probably nothing will happen. It might, though.