Elias talks trade potential in radio interview

Leading up to the trade deadline last August, the Orioles were busy. They traded relievers Richard Bleier, Mychal Givens and Miguel Castro, and they dealt starter Tommy Milone to the Atlanta Braves. Those deals brought players like pitcher Kevin Smith, and infielders Tyler Nevin, Terrin Vavra and AJ Graffanino to this organization.

The trade deadline is July 30 this year.

How busy will the Orioles be?

Are they going to deal some veterans, maybe some very popular players? Any untouchables? When he was on the 105.7 The Fan morning show on Friday, O's executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias was asked about trade possibilities.

"I don't think that anyone in baseball really is truly off limits," Elias said on "The Big Bad Morning Show." "When we talk to one another, the front offices, the general managers, everyone kind of bounces ideas. That's everyone doing their job, being creative and talking through things. But the likelihood of some people getting traded over others, there are huge differences. A big part of it is how much time contractually the player has left with the team, where that player is at in the cycle.

"But in our context, we are trying to build a big, healthy, talented, vibrant organization. It takes a while, and a lot of that is pulling in talent from other teams in trades and we've done it the last couple of years. You know, trading major leaguers for minor leaguers and we'll be looking to do that again. The way that our year is going, we're going to be in the market looking at trades this summer.

"You know, the guys that are on this team and can be on this team for several more years, it's less likely that we are going to trade them. That's just the way it is because we want those guys when we feel this team is going to be good. So it does make it more difficult to line up in a trade when you've got a player under control for that long. And really, we don't have many players right now that are on expiring contracts. We traded so many of them the last couple of years that we just don't have as many candidates as we did the last couple of years. So I think it's very likely we are more quiet in that regard this year."

As for the pitchers here now: Some pitchers have gone from the Orioles down to the minors this year to work on things. That list goes back to spring training, when it happened to lefty Keegan Akin. Just a few days ago, the Orioles sent Dean Kremer to Triple-A.

Assistant pitching coach Darren Holmes spoke with reporters via Zoom before yesterday's game was rained out. He talked about the benefits that a stint on the farm can produce.

"You know, sometimes getting sent down is actually a blessing in disguise," Holmes said. "It gives a player a blow from the magnitude of the stress that goes on here every single day of competing. You want to do well for your team. And you get down and you get a little bit of a breather. Still pitching, still doing your normal stuff and routine every day. But it's just not at this environment. It can be really good for them.

"It was really good for me. A couple of times when I got sent down in my career, and one was really late in my career, where I didn't even have any options, but I agreed to do it because I knew that I needed to get out of this environment. Get my mind back where I need to be. Focus on my delivery and what I need to be to be successful at the big league level. Yeah, no one wants to get sent down. You always want to be in the big leagues. But at the same time, once they get there, I usually tell every one of them, you don't know it right now, but this is probably going to be the best thing to happen to you."

For more of the Holmes interview, click here. Holmes spent some time talking about working with struggling reliever César Valdez to alter his pitch mix.

Let's play two: After Friday's rainout, the Orioles and Chicago White Sox will play a straight doubleheader beginning today at 2:10 p.m. Eastern time. There will be a pair of scheduled seven-inning games with the second game beginning approximately 30-45 minutes after the first.

The O's starter in Game 1 will be right-hander Matt Harvey (3-5, 6.31 ERA). He is 1-1 with an ERA of 0.47 in four career games against the White Sox. In the second game, the O's will start lefty John Means (4-0, 1.79 ERA). In seven road starts, Means is 3-0 with an ERA of 0.94.

Per the Orioles game notes from Friday night, Means is the first O's starter to not have a loss after 10 starts in a season since Dave McNally in 1969.

The O's are provided two chances today to snap a 10-game losing streak. The last time the O's lost 11 straight was from Sept. 17-30, 2009, when they lost 13 in a row. They have been outscored 77-40 (minus-37 run differential) in this stretch, while posting a 8.13 ERA.

Outfielder Anthony Santander is batting .400 (12-for-30) in seven games since returning from the injured list. In those games, he has six doubles, a homer and three RBIs.

Shortstop Freddy Galvis is hitting .282/.336/.556 (33-for-117) with seven home runs, nine doubles, one triple, 18 runs scored, 16 RBIs, and eight walks in his last 34 games.

Cedric Mullins has 13 multi-hit games, which is second on the team to Trey Mancini's 14. His 57 hard-hit balls (exit velocity 95 mph+) are the second-most on the team (Mancini, 68). Mullins is batting .356 (26-for-73) when leading off an inning.