Dan Duquette on the trade deadline this month

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette feels the countdown this month to the non-waiver trade deadline could and should be active throughout baseball with plenty of trade discussions that will include the O's pursuing one or more deals to fortify their team for the stretch run.

"Our team is in contention and there are a lot of teams in contention, so there is going to be a robust trade market," Duquette said. "But it is going to be a seller's market because there are so many teams in the hunt."

How many teams look to be sellers?

"Just a handful," Duquette said.

In losing 10 of 13 games to end the first half, the Orioles have fallen back to .500 at 44-44. They have eight pending free agents to include players like Matt Wieters, Chris Davis and Wei-Yin Chen. But Duquette indicated there is very little chance that the Orioles would sell off one or two players while at the same time looking to add in other areas.

"Our pending free agents, the most value they could have would be to this year's ballclub and their contribution to this year's team. So any pending free agents, we'd like to see them play their best for the Orioles and help us accomplish our goals. That has been our focus all year," he said.

"We have some pretty solid depth to the team and within our organization. Our club is in the hunt and we want to stay in the hunt and we're going to do what we can to supplement our major league club."

I asked Duquette what he felt other teams would seek back from the Orioles in potential trade discussions?

"I'm sure the clubs that will be trading established major league players will be looking for future major league players. There are a lot of teams in the hunt with the second wild card and parity in the league. Our division is very competitive and all the teams are focused on winning. It is a tough division.

"I don't agree with people that say the American League East is down this year. The American League East is tough every year. In our division, everyone is grinding it out to advance to the playoffs," he said.