Tuesday Bird Droppings: Six days to the trade deadline

Hello, friends.

Another day has dawned with the Orioles in fourth place in the American League East. More importantly, at least to those who still believe in the Orioles wild card chances, they are 3.5 games back of the second wild card spot - now held by the Royals, curse them - with five teams to pass to play their way into the playoffs.

Do you still hold out hope for that outcome? It's not really your opinion or mine that matters, but rather GM Dan Duquette's opinion and whatever may be influencing it. Over the weekend, Duquette sounded like a guy who was still on the fence, despite what has been reported.

As an observer of Duquette for several seasons, I find that there are occasions where he says words because he's in situations where he's supposed to say words and the relationship of those words to an observable, objective reality is sometimes nonexistent. So we can't really read anything from those meandering, ambiguous remarks.

Duquette's team is "just" 3.5 games out of the wild card, yes, but it's also three games below .500 and there's not much or any hope on the horizon for the starting rotation. He has to know that, right? I mean, come on. Just look at them. Kevin Gausman pitched well last night and that's nice, but seriously, look at these guys.

There are now just six days to go until the trade deadline. Teams are making their moves. A couple more trades were closed yesterday. When will the Orioles jump in? Or will they? I am anxious about it all.

Around the blogO'sphere

Orioles continuing to target off days to give Bundy rest, looking at 180-inning threshold (Baltimore Sun)

Who thinks that Bundy will actually make it to 180 innings with the way that things have gone for him lately? I hope this isn't just wishful thinking on the Orioles part.

How has Dan Duquette fared in trading veterans for prospects - sell deals - in his MLB career? (Baltimore Baseball)

Friend of the blog Paul Folkemer writes about how Duquette has done in his career as a selling GM. He's spun some good ones, it turns out, though that was all a while ago.

A Sign of Hope for Kevin Gausman | Community – FanGraphs Baseball
I hope this random Fangraphs community member is right. There was some cause for hope in last night's game, at least!

Jonathan Schoop named American League Player of the Week (CBS Baltimore)

He gets a watch for his trouble. Really!

Gausman and three relievers team for 5-0 win (with quotes) - School of Roch
Roch's recap of the game includes some happy quotes from the team. Who doesn't want to read what the Orioles say after wins?

O's minor league playoff contenders and other farm notes - Steve Melewski
There are years where no Orioles affiliates are any good, mostly because the Orioles minors aren't very good. The jury's still out on the system itself, but one thing's for sure: Some of the lower teams have been playing well.

Birthdays and anniversaries

There are a few former Orioles with birthdays today. They are: Jose Bautista (not the one you're thinking of - the 1988-91 pitcher), Doug Drabek of the 1998 rotation, and the late 1972-73 pitcher Mickey Scott as well as 1959 reserve Whitey Lockman.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: war-sparking assassin Gavrilo Princip (1894), football Hall of Famer Walter Payton (1954), and Friends actor Matt LeBlanc (1967). Not a big day for birthdays, I have to say.

On this day in history...

In 1261, a force of Nicaeans led by Alexios Strategopoulos recaptured Constantinople, leading to the re-establishment of the Byzantine Empire, which would last for about another couple of centuries.

In 1603, James VI of Scotland was also crowned King of England, where he was known as James I. You might have heard of his version of the Bible. This created a personal union of the Scottish and English thrones, though political union occurred only a century later.

In 1788, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed his Symphony No. 40 in G minor.

In 1866, the US Congress passed a law that authorized the rank of General of the Army, which in 20th century America was a five-star rank last awarded to Omar Bradley. In this post-Civil War period, the rank was bestowed upon future president Ulysses S. Grant.

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And that's the way it is in Birdland on July 25 - or at least, until something happens later, which it certainly will, since the O's are playing the Rays in the Trop. Will anything ELSE happen, though? That's the question. Stay tuned, and have a safe Tuesday. Go Orioles!