A look at some Rule 5-eligible Orioles

The Orioles acquired 15 players in the July trades. Of those 15 players, six have made their way onto the 40-man roster, with right-hander Luis Ortiz being the latest.

Just one of the 15 players needs to be added to the 40-man roster this November to avoid being eligible to be selected in December's Rule 5 draft: 24-year-old right-hander Dillon Tate.

Tate was the No. 4 overall pick in the 2015 draft by Texas out of UC-Santa Barbara. The Rangers traded him to the Yankees on Aug. 1, 2016 and the Yankees traded him for Zach Britton with two others pitchers on July 24.

Before the trade, Tate went 5-2 with a 3.38 ERA in 15 starts for Double-A Trenton. After it, he went 2-3 with a 5.75 ERA in seven starts at Double-A Bowie. The Orioles have a decision to make on Tate over the next two months.

No other player from the trades needs to be added to the 40-man in November. They cannot be taken this year in the Rule 5 draft, and that list includes outfielder Yusniel Díaz and pitcher Dean Kremer, who led all of the minors in strikeouts with 178 in 131 1/3 innings.

Here is a partial list of players that will be Rule 5-eligible this December:

Armando Araiza
Cristian Alvarado
Martin Cervenka
Tanner Chleborad
Pat Connaughton
Drew Dosch
Gray Fenter
Jay Flaa
Wilson Garcia
Brian Gonzalez
Luis Gonzalez
Branden Kline
Chris Lee
Lucas Long
Reid Love
Adrian Marin
John Means
Kirvin Moesquit
Ofelky Peralta
Jomar Reyes
Ademar Rifaela
Garabez Rosa
DJ Stewart
Nick Vespi
Mike Yastrzemski

Of this list, there are eight players who are pending minor league free agents unless they are re-signed by the Orioles or added to the major league roster. That list is Kline, Cervenka, Rosa, Marin, Garcia, Alvarado, Lee and Araiza. If re-signed to a minor league deal before the Rule 5 draft, they would still be eligible to be selected in that draft if not on the major league 40-man roster.

There are several key Orioles on the farm that do not need protection from the Rule 5 draft yet and that would include any players drafted in 2016 or later. A partial list of this group would include Ryan Mountcastle, Ryan McKenna, Keegan Akin, Cody Sedlock, Brenan Hanifee, Zac Lowther and Michael Baumann.

August winners: Single-A Frederick lefty Alex Wells was named the Orioles minor league Pitcher of the Month for August. Wells went 3-1 with a 1.97 ERA in five starts. He struck out 29 batters, while issuing only four walks, and held opponents to a .188 (22-for-117) batting average. It was Wells' second career Orioles Pitcher of the Month award, also taking home the honors in July 2017. Wells, who pitched in the Futures Game in July, was the Orioles' 2017 minor league Pitcher of the Year.

Short-season Single-A Aberdeen infielder Adam Hall was named the Orioles' minor league Player of the Month for August. Hall hit .390 (32-for-82) with four doubles, two triples, a home run, 20 runs scored, 12 RBIs, nine walks and 15 stolen bases in 23 August games. He recorded a career-high 19-game hitting streak from Aug. 4-28 and hit safely in 20 of 23 games overall. This was Hall's first career award for his on-field performance.

Baumann was named the last Carolina League Pitcher of the Week for Frederick. Starting for the Keys on Aug. 30 at Potomac, Baumann tossed seven scoreless innings on two hits in his last outing of the year. He walked one and struck out five while retiring the last 11 batters that he faced.

The win for the right-hander snapped a three-start losing streak and allowed Baumann to finish 8-5 with a 3.88 ERA in 17 starts with the Keys. In 24 starts between Single-A Delmarva and Frederick, he went 13-5 with a 3.17 ERA. He ranked second among all O's minor league pitchers in wins and fourth in ERA.

O's drop another road series: The Orioles lost 5-2 at Seattle last night to lose two of three in that series and fall to 41-99 on the year and 1-5 on this road trip. With their next loss, the Orioles will join the 1954 Orioles (54-100) and the 1988 Orioles (54-107) with 100 losses.

The O's have scored just 15 runs on this road trip, batting .240 (49-for-204), and they've scored two runs or less four times. The Orioles went 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position last night and have hit .119 (5-for-42) with RISP on this trip.

The Orioles were looking for their fourth road series win of the year last night but didn't get it. They last won a road series on June 22-24 at Atlanta and have gone 0-9-1 since. They are 17-55 on the road.

There have been some things to like lately on this team, like the play of Jonathan Villar, the increased team speed, and the recent better hitting by players like Trey Mancini and Chris Davis. But this team is moving closer and closer to clinching the No. 1 draft pick for 2019 and they are earning that selection.

Eddie, Eddie!

#OTD in 1996, the @Orioles Eddie Murray becomes the 15th member of the 500-home run club, simultaneously also joining Henry Aaron and Willie Mays as the only players with both 500 home runs and 3,000 hits. 📷 Doug McWilliams https://t.co/oslaDYio6G pic.twitter.com/bONx3deJ9k

-- Baseball Hall âš¾ (@baseballhall) September 6, 2018