Andrew Stetka: Roller coaster of Orioles season making some fans sick

If you've ever been to an amusement park and taken a ride on the biggest roller coasters, you know exactly what an Orioles fan feels like over the last few weeks. The ups and downs, the twists and turns, and the subtle feeling that you might need to vomit all go hand in hand. Whether you are a fan that is more focused on the prospects of the 2017 O's, or are more concerned with Baltimore's chances beyond this season, there has been enough double-talk and mystery to go around for both sides.

Just a week ago in this very space, I wrote about the Orioles needing to be careful about the way they approach the trade deadline and how they deal with trading away players. This, of course, came on the heels of a report from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, who had sources saying the Birds were getting set to ship away multiple players. Closer Zach Britton, relievers Brad Brach and Darren O'Day, and outfielder Seth Smith were among the names that were suddenly on the block. Now I fully recognize that all of this information came from a reporter, not from the team itself. But we are talking about a very well-sourced reporter with credibility through the roof. There was also scuttlebutt from others, including Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. This reporting fueled an entire week of conversation on sports talk radio and message boards alike. Then Saturday, it was all disputed by the man who is actually in charge of making the decisions.

Dan Duquette spent part of his day speaking with season-ticket holders and basically told fans he is a believer in this year's team and its ability to make a run. Duquette said he still likes a lot of the core players on the team and doesn't believe the "stuff" that says half of the club is on the trade market. That "stuff" he's talking about is conceivably a source from inside the warehouse that is telling the media otherwise. It all makes for a very confusing situation where information is leaking one week, and it's taking nearly a full week for the general manager to dispute it.

Duquette pointed to the starting pitching as the biggest disappointment with the team this season, an observation that not only the most amateur of baseball observers could've made, but also one that could have been made in any season under his tenure. It always comes back to the starting pitching with the O's. Not since the likes of Mike Mussina in the late 90s have the O's had a homegrown talent, or even one from outside the organization, that they could turn to with the utmost of confidence. Duquette appears to have a belief that the Orioles can do something in order to improve the starting pitching on this staff right now. The truth is, the Orioles are one starting pitcher away from being three or four starting pitchers away from being competitive. There's a much larger project ahead in order to revamp not just the pitching staff, but the roster as a whole.

The underlying issue through all of this is the team's complete disregard for spending money on international free agents. Why the team continues to neglect this method of acquiring talent, I'll never know. But even aside from that, they've spent the last handful of trade deadlines making deals that haven't helped the long-term prospects of the club. There are multiple pitchers that have been shipped away in recent years that would look pretty good in an Orioles uniform right now. All of this was done in the name of making a "run" at it, just like Duquette appears to be ready to do now.

With a week to go before the trade deadline, there are only a few opportunities for the product on the field to sway the man making the decisions off of it. After a four-game sweep of the Rangers last week, many were enthused by this potential "run" everyone is talking about. The O's were brought back down to Earth a bit by losing two of three to the American League-leading Astros this weekend. The next six games are sure to provide more ups and downs on this roller coaster leading up to next week's trade deadline. The question, aside from what moves the Orioles will or will not make remains, how does your stomach feel?

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.