Duquette says Orioles will continue to "build"

NEW YORK - Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said the Orioles will remain buyers as the non-waiver trade deadline approaches, no matter what happens during the current road trip.

The Orioles are 2-2 since the All-Star break, including last night's loss to the Yankees that pushed them five games out of first place.

Duquette stated his position after being asked whether the club might consider trading pending free agent Chris Davis.

"We're still contenders for the playoffs and we are going to approach our season as though we're going to advance to the playoffs, so we're going to continue to build and add to our team where we can," Duquette said.

Duquette said his philosophy won't change after the Orioles conclude their road trip with three games against the Rays this weekend in St. Petersburg, Fla.

"No, I don't think so," he said. "I don't think so because there's a lot of baseball to be played and there's a lot of teams in the hunt. When you're a few games off the pace and you have a team that gels or you have a couple of additions that you make to your ballclub, and now you're winning the close games, you can turn your season around, so we're still in there. We're still competing."

Duquette acted surprised when told of a report that the Orioles are now willing to listen to trade offers for Kevin Gausman, who starts tonight against the Yankees.

"Really? Interesting," he said, grinnnig. "There's a lot of teams that are looking for pitching and the first place they look is for young pitching that's emerging at the major league level. Obviously, because they can have that player on their team for a long time and it would give them a solid foundation to any winning program, so that's why a lot of young starting pitchers are traded, but we're glad we've got Kevin. He's pitching for us tonight."

The Orioles project Gausman as part of their 2016 rotation, which could have a few openings after the expected departures of Wei-Yin Chen and Bud Norris.

"That's possible, but I think the organization has to continue to develop pitchers, and a lot of your very best young pitchers have developmental work to do when they get to the big leagues," Duquette said. "It's important for us to continue to develop pitchers everywhere."

The Orioles made room for Gausman today on the 25-man roster by placing Steve Pearce on the disabled list with a strained left oblique.

"The timing was good because we needed a space for tonight's pitcher," Duquette said. "Steve has had an issue with this in the past, and when he's had an issue and taken time off he's come back and done real well."

As for the approaching non-waiver trade deadline, the Orioles need more offensive production from their outfield, according to Duquette.

"There's no question about that, so if we can improve trade in that area, that's something we need to take a look at," he said.

Asked for his top priority, Duquette replied, "Improve the team."

"I think we need more pitching," he added, "and we need more production from the outfield."

Duquette is looking at available starters and relievers.

"We just need better and stronger pitching depth," he said.

The trade market appears thin at the moment as teams try to determine whether they're buyers are sellers.

"There's a lot of teams that are in contention and there's a lot of markets where they're not sure if they want to be subtracting from their team, so that means there are a lot of teams trying to add and there are only a couple of markets that have declared they are going to be sellers," Duquette said.

"It's a supply and demand equation, right? There's a lot of teams chasing a few players."

The division race could be shaped by what moves are made by which teams.

"It depends on what the teams are able to do," Duquette said. "I think in the AL East, the playoff spots are going to be won in the next six weeks between now and September 1. The teams that are able to strengthen themselves and play well in that period of time will advance to the playoffs. So, we'll see."