Dillon Atkinson: What August moves are ahead for Orioles?

The July 31 non-waiver trade deadline is behind us, and instead of selling, the Orioles decided to be small buyers, acquiring right-hander Jeremy Hellickson and infielder Tim Beckham. The Birds tried making a seller's deal to trade away All-Star closer Zach Britton for a package of prospects, but no deal could be reached. It's up for debate whether or not the moves the club made were wise ones, but what's done is done and the O's plan to make a run for the playoffs. They're off to a hot start since acquiring Hellickson on Friday night, winning four consecutive games.

If the Birds continue to stay hot, they can still make more trades. Heck, they could still make trades even if they cool off and hop out of the playoff race. After the non-waiver deadline, clubs can trade players who have cleared trade waivers. Deals must be agreed upon during the month of August, however, if the club wants newly acquired players to be postseason eligible.

The Orioles have made some significant August trades under vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette. In 2016, they acquired outfielder Michael Bourn. In 2014, they acquired infielder Kelly Johnson and outfielder Alejandro De Aza. In 2012, they traded for left-handed starter Joe Saunders, who shocked the world by outpitching then-Rangers ace Yu Darvish in the wild card game in Texas.

This year, they could become buyers, sellers or both through the waiver trading process in August. They could go get a low-cost outfielder - like De Aza and Bourn - who could help them make a run. They could also try to get a low-risk starter or bullpen help. Or, if they fall off, they could try to still make deals for bullpen pieces Britton and Brad Brach. They could be placed on trade waivers, and if they clear, they're free to be traded to any club. If a team places a claim on either one of them, the Orioles must either make a deal with that club or pull them back off waiver wire.

Whether they buy or sell, there is one player on the Orioles current roster who I consider a must-trade candidate: catcher Welington Castillo.

This isn't a knock on Castillo at all. He's actually performed quite well in his first - and maybe only - year with the O's. He has slashed .280/.317/.436 with 10 homers in 249 plate appearances so far in 2017. But even with him performing well, Orioles second backstop Caleb Joseph has played even better. Joseph has a slash line of .297/.332/.457 with five home runs in 185 plate appearances. He is also a better all-around defender than Castillo, especially blocking pitches and pitch framing. Per Baseball Prospectus, Joseph is the best pitch-blocker in the game and ranks fifth among all catchers in framing. Castillo, however, has the edge over Joseph in catching base stealers, as he ranks fifth among catchers in throwing.

In a perfectly simple world, we'd all like to keep both Castillo and Joseph, because both will produce when their name is called. But what causes a problem is next season. Castillo has a $7 million player option for 2018. If he chooses to exercise it, it'll be him and Joseph behind the plate again next year, blocking soon-to-be ready top prospect Chance Sisco from the big leagues. Ideally, you'd want Sisco to be up in 2018 and learning under Joseph, since he is the better overall defender.

The Orioles can trade Castillo whether they sell or buy. They won't get much for him, as the Rockies were able to get Jonathan Lucroy from the Rangers for just a player to be named. But the idea is looking at next year for Sisco, so just trade him for what you can get. If the Orioles are still competing this year, they can run with Joseph as the starter and Francisco Peña, who is another all-around good defender behind the dish, as the backup.

I would strongly encourage the O's to deal Castillo this month. I love what he's done so far, but it's all about looking to the near future with Sisco. Aside from just trading away Castillo, the Orioles should be looking to make one or two deals this month, whether if it's low-cost buying to have a slightly better shot at making the postseason this year, or still trying to find the right deal as sellers for Britton, Brach, or even Darren O'Day or Seth Smith. Seeing that the O's have made plenty of August deals before, I highly doubt the acquisition of Beckham is the last trade we see the Orioles make this summer.

Dillon Atkinson blogs about the Orioles for Orioles Uncensored. Follow him on Twitter: @DAtkinsonOU. 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.