Andrew Stetka: If Orioles sell, who could actually be moved?

With five weeks to go until baseball's non-waiver trade deadline, teams are starting to assess whether or not they will be buyers or sellers at the end of July. It's a conversation every front office has this time of year, and it's no different for the Orioles. What is different this year than from recent seasons is the position the Birds find themselves in. Despite being below the .500 mark, the O's find themselves only a handful of games out of a playoff spot. Teams have made crazier runs over a month-long stretch, but there's nothing based on Baltimore's recent play that would indicate they are capable of closing that gap.

So the question on the mind of the fan base and media lately has been whether the O's will be in the buyer category or on the seller side. Every indication the Orioles have given would lead you to believe they will try to be a buyer, but most people believe it's time to start thinking about selling. My question is, what exactly would that look like? The Orioles don't have a great farm system in order to entice teams to give them pieces and become buyers, but they also don't have a ton of great options to sell.

There are definitely a few names that come to mind that could be on the block, but none of them are ideal or could create a great return. As much as people have talked about trading Manny Machado or Zach Britton, there are reasons why now may not be the best time for that. Both players are free agents after the 2018 season, but you wouldn't be getting full value for either if they were dealt at the deadline. Machado is the perfect example of a player that you may never get full value for. He's the most talented player in the organization and the most sought after, so what exactly would be fair? Are three or four top prospects from a team enough to get a deal done? Is that asking too much for a player who has the talent but is struggling to some extent this season? An organization's third or fourth best prospect may not even pan out the way you want him to either. With Britton, the story is similar. You likely aren't going to get full value for a player who is currently on the disabled list and only scheduled to come back a few weeks before the deadline. There's no guarantee for his health going forward, and therefore his value will be massively suppressed.

I don't believe the Orioles will trade either of these players for one simple reason: the message it creates. It sends a message to the fan base that they are waving the white flag, not only on this season but perhaps on 2018, as well. When you look up and down the roster, it's hard to argue trading any player would send a different message.

Seth Smith is about the only player with value right now that could be traded as a rental. He's set to become a free agent next season and is having a somewhat productive season. It's not like Chris Tillman or Ubaldo Jiménez (who are also both set to become free agents at season's end) would bring anything back of value. Certain players on the roster are virtually untradeable, like Adam Jones or Chris Davis. Even Mark Trumbo would be hard to ship away without taking on some of the money in his contract. Jonathan Schoop is still a young, controllable player that the O's would likely build around. J.J. Hardy is an oft-injured and aging player who likely won't be around next season anyway. In terms of major league players with value, there are really only two pieces that can be talked about. Brad Brach has a manageable contract and value has a potential late-inning reliever or closer for a team. Darren O'Day is a bit older and more expensive, but would still be an asset to a team pushing to add to the bullpen.

In the end, the Orioles are the ones that want to add to their bullpen and strengthen it, rather than make subtractions. Even if they had a desire to be sellers and build up a weak farm system, they may not have the guns to pull it off in a similar way that the Yankees have done over the last few years. It puts the Birds in a very precarious position over the next month. It's one they haven't been in for at least half a decade. If you ask me, it's a lose-lose situation, no matter what.

Andrew Stetka blogs about the Orioles for Eutaw Street Report. Follow him on Twitter: @AStetka. His thoughts on the O's appear here as part of MASNsports.com's continuing commitment to welcome guest bloggers to our little corner of cyberspace. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.