Brach on Britton: "It's going to be sad to see him leave"

The Orioles will need to make another roster move after last night's trade of closer Zach Britton to the Yankees. They can replace the name on the lineup card, but the intangibles supplied by the longest-tenured player in the organization aren't as easily transferrable.

Darren O'Day was the bullpen leader, but he's out for the season following hamstring surgery. Britton has been mentoring the younger pitchers, but his pending free agent status and the club's rebuild assured that he'd be gone by the non-waiver deadline.

"Ever since I got up here, he's been an asset for me," said left-hander Tanner Scott. "I mean, he's helped me since the day I got here. And when I was in the minor leagues. Him as a reliever in the bullpen, I'll always look at him as a leader because that's who I looked at coming up.

"I think everyone looks up to him, in what Darren's role was, I guess you could say. From my point of view, he's always helped me."

Britton could talk mechanics or calm a nervous rookie whose confidence might be wavering.

"Mental, physical, I talked to him about everything," Scott said. "He's a great guy and he's helped me with my delivery. I'll have a good outing and still be working on things. Bad outing, he'll tell me what I was doing. He's helped me out a lot. Nice to have.

"I'm going to miss him."

Scott thought about the stuff that Britton brought to the mound, shook his head and smiled.

"It's a video game," he said.

It's going to be played in the Bronx after 12 years in the Orioles organization.

Word of the trade began to circulate through the clubhouse during last night's 27-minute rain delay. It filtered back into the bullpen. Everyone knew it was coming.

"We had heard something," said reliever Brad Brach, who notched his 11th save while Britton sat. "We heard it wasn't official yet. Zach came out there and I guess he was available, but whenever something like that happens and it seems like it's close, they have to err on the side of caution.

"It's going to be sad to see him leave, especially getting to pitch with him in the bullpen the last five years. We've become really close. He's a great teammate and a great friend of mine. It's going to be tough seeing him in pinstripes for sure."

Brach could be next as another pending free agent. Executive vice president Dan Duquette can focus on other veterans after moving Britton and Manny Machado.

"I don't know. It's totally out of my control," Brach said. "If it happens it happens. If not, just have to continue to hopefully get outs and stay ahead like tonight."

Brach allowed an unearned run after two infield hits and Tim Beckham's throwing error. He also walked a batter before getting Mookie Betts to ground into a 4-6-3 double play on a hard-hit ball aimed at second baseman Jonathan Schoop.

"I guess it's just the story of the year so far," he said. "Baseball makes no sense sometimes. Mookie hits a ball right at Schoopy and the other two balls, they didn't even get to 90 feet and they're both hits. And Mookie hits into a double play at the end of the game. It's crazy. You just never know what's going to happen and it just kind of seems the way the year has gone. I can't just seem to have the ball hit right at somebody when I need it to."

Brach has endured a rough stretch that included the two-run homer he surrendered Sunday in Toronto.

"I felt really good, really confident tonight, and first time in a while," he said. "It was good to go out there, especially against a team like this and get a save against them.

"I'm trying to keep my composure the best I can this year. We've talked about it before. It's been frustrating on all ends. I'm out there and I finally get a ground ball and I'm feeling good and it's two hits and a run comes in. And now Mookie is coming up with men on first and second and one out and I'm just thinking there's got to be something here to just get out of this funk here a little bit. And he smokes one right at Schoop. And who knows, maybe that will help me turn the corner here."

Any moves made will come without Britton and Machado. Center fielder Adam Jones could be dealt later this month or perhaps in August if he clears waivers. It feels like the end of an era in Baltimore.

"Yeah, definitely," Brach said. "I wasn't here for 2012 and 2013 when it first started, but just these last five years I've been here, it's been a winning tradition. Unfortunately, this year it didn't work the way we all had envisioned, but it definitely seems like the end of an era and seems like it's going to continue here for this next week.

"When all the cards fall we'll see where we are at Tuesday next week and just go from there."