Domenic Vadala: Dealing with injuries and their aftermath

Every Major League Baseball season is different, and there are no ifs, ands, or buts about that. However, I would submit that if there's one thing that has kind of marred the first month of this year, it's been injuries. This is true regarding the Orioles, and it's true of other teams. If anything, the Orioles are probably luckier than most teams in that J.J. Hardy and Ryan Flaherty are currently doing rehab assignments, where some teams are starting to get bitten by the bug now.

As we've known since spring training, one big problem that the Orioles do have is with their roster. And make no mistake about the fact that it's a good problem to have. While all players have holes here and there (as an example, Jimmy Paredes has a few issues playing in the field), everyone seems to make contributions while they're in the game.

And that's true up and down the lineup. So the question at hand is, would the Birds be in a position to perhaps pull off a trade with another team to free up some roster space, or perhaps even re-stock their own system? As an example, Washington's Anthony Rendon just had a setback in his injury rehab. Might the the Nationals be interested in someone like Ryan Flaherty?

The St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers are down starting pitchers - Adam Wainwright and Justin Verlander. While Verlander is expected to return at some point, Wainwright is obviously done for the year. The Orioles have two starting pitchers whose contracts are up after this season, Wei-Yin Chen and Bud Norris. Might the O's consider shopping one or both of them?

Let me be clear: Both pitchers are very much a part of what the Orioles are trying to do right now. So trading either one would be an adjustment for the team. However, if one of them was going to go, I would say that it would be Norris simply because Chen's a southpaw. Left-handed starters of his caliber are tough to come by.

St. Louis' hope is that Wainwright will be back by next year. So trading for a pitcher whose contract would, in theory be up after the season might be exactly what they're looking to do. Mind you, that this is all theoretical; I obviously have no way of knowing whether or not the Cardinals are looking to make a deal or what the Orioles would want in return.

Keep in mind that the O's wouldn't be doing this just out of the goodness of their hearts. One less pitcher on the roster would mean that Kevin Gausman would probably have the opportunity to move into a starting role. I've long said that Gausman is serving no purpose in the bullpen, although he's better off at the big league level as a reliever than as a starter at Triple-A Norfolk.

Going back to the infield for a moment, let's say there is a team out there who might want some depth in the form of someone like Flaherty. I think he'd be a tough player to part with. He's not perfect, but he does play a role on this team, and an important one at that. However, that would allow Rey Navarro (a guy with options) to slide into the utility infield role.

I would also say that these would be trades in which the O's would only hope to get minor leaguers in return. However, that would be OK given the fact that the biggest benefit for them would be clearing some roster space. Keep in mind that the Orioles also have Wesley Wright, who is on the DL, and will be returning at some point. Ironically, the easiest roster move involving an injured player for the Birds should be Matt Wieters, as when he returns they'll presumably send Ryan Lavarnway down.

As we all know, team chemistry is something that's very important to the O's. So it's unclear if any of this would be in play because the core of the team has been together for a few seasons. Sending someone to the DL with a strained oblique is a short-term fix; this would be a much longer term solution. And again, I'm only using Flaherty and Gonzalez as examples. One hopes that the Orioles' issues regarding injuries are over, but the fact remains that injuries are a problem league-wide.

Domenic Vadala blogs about the Orioles at Birds Watcher, and his opinions appear here as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our pages. Follow him on Twitter: @DomenicVadala. 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.