Another dive in the trade deadline, Povich promoted to Triple-A Norfolk

The trade deadline is less than a week away, with pencils down Tuesday at 6 p.m. That’s it besides minor league deals. Ride or die with your roster and farm system.

The Orioles will be in Toronto for another key division series, but the work done by the front office is going to steal most of the attention.

Interest in the team has intensified, with national media and other outlets trying to pry information or predictions on the course of action from executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias. But here’s the catch:

No one knows buyer Mike Elias.

Seller Mike Elias is familiar to Baltimore. But he’s moved to the other side.

Elias already made one move aimed at improving the major league club, trading for Japanese right-hander Shintaro Fujinami. That’s one bullpen piece. It might not be the last.

It shouldn’t be the last, as I’ve stated in print and over the airwaves. As if anyone is hanging on my every opinion.

Do the 2014 Andrew Miller thing, which cost the Orioles left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez. A deal they would make 1,000 times again.

Miller got the Orioles to the American League Championship Series. The Tigers wanted him, too, and their lousy bullpen was exposed in the Division Series.

Find out what the Padres want for Josh Hader, the pride of Old Mill High School in Millersville. Shorten the games, like in 2014.

But first, find out if the Padres are sellers.

Fujinami is a wild card as the Orioles pursue a division title. If he’s mostly the Tuesday night version, they got a real steal, a dominant multi-inning reliever.  

Fujinami is a pending free agent who wants to be a starter again, if a team is willing to give him a shot at it. He might just be passing through town. But the Orioles have a few months to evaluate him, hoping that the fastball/splitter combination brings value in 2023.  

A top starter, like Lucas Giolito before the White Sox traded him late last night to the Angels, is going to force Elias to dig deeper into his prospect stash. And for the club to figure out how six pitchers fit into the rotation.

An ace also might require Elias to turn over a prospect that he’d rather keep, like the Orioles did with Rodriguez. They wanted to hold onto him, but the Red Sox wouldn’t budge.

They were reluctant to give Hader to Houston, and a few people in the organization were strongly against it, but former executive Dan Duquette wanted Bud Norris and made the trade.

The only reason to bring in a position player from outside the organization is if Cedric Mullins and Aaron Hicks being on the injured list elicits a direct response. A left-handed bat, perhaps, to ease the pressure on Colton Cowser.

Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci reported last night that the Angels removed Shohei Ohtani from the trade market.

Was he really on it?

The real proof came with the Giolito acquisition. The Angels are buying.

Anyway, let’s finally put the Orioles rumors to bed. Fun to dream, but never seemed like a reality.

Whatever the Orioles do is expected to be at a much lower level than a blockbuster. But they'll seek upgrades. A playoff-bound team attempting to get stronger for a deeper run into October.

Minor league note: The Orioles are promoting left-hander Cade Povich from Double-A Bowie to Triple-A Norfolk, according to a source.

Povich, 23, registered a 4.87 ERA and 1.365 WHIP in 18 starts and struck out 118 batters in 81 1/3 innings.

Baseball America ranks Povich as the No 10 prospect in the system and MLP Pipeline ranks him 11^th. He's the second-highest pitcher behind left-hander D.L. Hall.

The Orioles acquired Povich, Yennier Cano and two other minor league pitchers from the Twins for closer Jorge López at last year’s deadline.

Cano is an All-Star setup man. López was traded yesterday to the Marlins for reliever Dylan Floro.

A big score for Elias.