Trade deadlines are supposed to address questions and deficiencies with the roster for a team in buyer mode. There are always questions, however. The work gets done and explanations are sought. Why do this and that? Is the club actually better than the previous model?

And about those rumors.

Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias met with the media for about 23 minutes today in the home dugout. He’s pleased with the results, which netted starter Zach Eflin from the Rays for minor league pitcher Jackson Baumeister, infielder Mac Horvath and outfielder Matthew Etzel, reliever Seranthony Domínguez and outfielder Cristian Pache from the Phillies for outfielder Austin Hays, starter Trevor Rogers from the Marlins for second baseman Connor Norby – who was optioned to Triple-A this morning – and outfielder Kyle Stowers, outfielder Eloy Jiménez and cash from the White Sox for Triple-A Norfolk left-hander Trey McGough, outfielder Austin Slater, infielder Livan Soto and cash considerations from the Reds for cash considerations, and left-handed reliever Gregory Soto from the Phillies for Double-A pitching prospect Seth Johnson and High-A Aberdeen pitcher Moisés Chance.

According to a source, there won’t be a player-to-be-named later in the deal with Cincinnati. Straight cash.

“Trade deadline’s always tough,” Elias said. “It’s always bittersweet trading players for other players. It’s not a one-way street. You’re losing talent but you’re getting different talent that’s a different fit and more of a short-term concentration for the needs of the team. We added two starting pitchers that are going right in our rotation, we added two really hard throwers with success in the major leagues for a long time – one from the left side, one from the right side. And we added a couple of right-handed bats which were especially necessary in the outfield with Austin Hays being gone. So I think that the roster is very fortified.

The increasingly unusual nature of baseball’s trade deadline, where teams can behave like buyers and sellers depending on which direction the wind blows, sets up the Orioles to do what used to be unthinkable. Shaking up a first-place roster like it’s a snow globe.

The club will undergo changes by Tuesday evening, but just how drastic is the mystery. Flurries or a blizzard?

Austin Hays is gone in a swap of players on the major league rosters. That didn’t used to be a common maneuver, two contenders engaging in this sort of activity. The Orioles reportedly are willing to move Cedric Mullins and Ryan Mountcastle in their ongoing pursuit of pitching and perhaps a right-handed bat.

Timing is everything, of course, and they played huge roles in yesterday’s 8-6 win. Mullins had a two-run double to give him six RBIs in his last four at-bats, and he made a spectacular catch to rob Manny Machado in the eighth. Mountcastle drove in four runs and scooped a Gunnar Henderson ball out of the dirt.

Maybe it became less likely that Mullins would be dealt after Hays went to the Phillies, but that’s just more speculation. And would parting with Mullins open the door for Kyle Stowers, a left-handed hitter like Colton Cowser and Heston Kjerstad? It didn’t seem possible for them to co-exist with the Orioles until recently.

We have seen the Orioles go 20-9 this year versus the American League East. We have seen them produce nine straight winning months, the longest current active streak in the majors. Since the start of 2023, Baltimore is 162-102 (.614), and that is the best win percentage in the majors in that span.

In the span of four series in June we saw the Orioles sweep four in a row at Tampa Bay and win consecutive series against Atlanta, Philadelphia and the New York Yankees.

But since they capped that four-series run by beating the Yankees 17-5, it has turned for the worse. And the Orioles can't seem to turn it back.

Since June 21 they look nothing like a playoff team. They have two five-game losing streaks in this stretch and in their most recent five games, they are 1-4.

That is a mark of 12-17 and a -41 run differential since that June day.

The Orioles traded for another starting pitcher and might not be done. The rotation was targeted as an area of need. Surgeries and struggles left them no choice.

Grayson Rodriguez wanted to provide the latest example that the top portion is in good hands, and he did it for a while. Corbin Burnes registered his 17^th quality start yesterday in Miami and Rodriguez carried a shutout into the sixth tonight, but Jurickson Profar hit a game-tying, two-run homer and manager Brandon Hyde went to his bullpen.

Another area that's under some construction.

Burnes and Rodriguez remain a formidable one-two punch, but the Orioles had to get off the canvas again like they did yesterday in extras. They managed it briefly and went down again, this time unable to scramble back to their feet.

The defense let down reliever Burch Smith in the sixth. The Orioles tied the game in the eighth, but Craig Kimbrel surrendered a two-run homer to Profar with two outs in the ninth in the Orioles’ 6-4 loss to the Padres before an announced sellout crowd of 43,692 at Camden Yards.

The trade deadline doesn’t arrive until Tuesday at 6 p.m., but the Orioles got aggressive today. They found the opportunities to strike and didn’t let them pass.

They latched onto a starter under team control beyond 2024 who didn’t cost one of their top prospects. They strengthened their bullpen and added a plus defender for the outfield.

The total cost was outfielder Austin Hays and minor leaguers Jackson Baumeister, Mac Horvath and Matthew Etzel.

Hays went to the Phillies for reliever Seranthony Domínguez and outfielder Cristian Pache. The Orioles later announced that they acquired Zach Eflin from the Rays.

Eflin will report this weekend. Domínguez and Pache arrived at Camden Yards this afternoon.

With all the speculation that the O’s might be trading some prospects at the trade deadline and amid recent reports via ESPN that the club might be willing to deal Ryan Mountcastle and Cedric Mullins, it was another long-time O's player leaving the club.

Austin Hays, a veteran of 557 games over parts of seven seasons with the Orioles, was dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies.

The return was right-handed reliever Seranthony Domínguez and outfielder Cristian Pache.

Domínguez, 29, provides help for the Baltimore bullpen, which allowed late-game runs the last two days at Miami.

Domínguez is 3-2 with a 4.75 ERA and 1.222 WHIP on the year over 36 innings. Over the last three seasons, since 2022, he has a 3.74 ERA and 1.256 WHIP.

The Orioles made a significant change to their outfield, surrendering one of their longest tenured players, and fortified the bullpen earlier today by consummating their first trade approaching Tuesday’s deadline.

Austin Hays was dealt to the Phillies for reliever Seranthony Domínguez and outfielder Cristian Pache. Minor league pitcher Levi Stoudt was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.

Hays was a third-round pick in the 2016 draft out of Jacksonville University who made his major league debut the following September and started in last year’s All-Star Game. He’s battled injuries throughout much of his career and played in 63 games this season, slashing .255/.316/.395 with 13 doubles, three home runs and 14 RBIs in 175 plate appearances.

The part-time role was a tough adjustment for Hays, who played in 557 games with the Orioles over parts of seven seasons, but Colton Cowser’s emergence as a regular and the shuffling with Heston Kjerstad and Kyle Stowers limited his opportunities.

The Phillies might platoon Hays with Brandon Marsh before he enters his final year of arbitration eligibility.