More thoughts on the trade deadline and the rebuild

The Orioles will attempt to strike another deal or two before Tuesday's 4 p.m. deadline. However, the biggest trades have been completed as long as center fielder Adam Jones is resistant to waiving his 10-5 rights.

Manny Machado is playing for the Dodgers. Zach Britton is coming out of the Yankees' bullpen. Brad Brach will be pitching for the Braves after he reports.

Jones has earned the right to choose where he plays by being in the league for 10 years and with the Orioles for five, but it's creating an uncomfortable situation because the team doesn't want to lose him over the winter with only draft compensation and, from what I've gleaned, they could strike a deal with the Phillies upon his approval.

What happens to Jones moving forward if he remains with the Orioles? He continues to play center field, or he shifts to right and Cedric Mullins replaces him. And the possibility of Jones re-signing as a free agent grows dimmer.

There's one argument that a veteran like Jones, who turns 33 on Wednesday, doesn't fit in a rebuild. There's also the counterpoint that he'd provide necessary leadership in a clubhouse that's already lost Nick Markakis, J.J. Hardy, Matt Wieters and Nelson Cruz over the past few years, Jones still has plenty left in the tank and he's too important to the community to relinquish.

The Orioles can't pencil Austin Hays into right field on opening day after his ankle injury and struggles at the plate. They could choose former first-round pick DJ Stewart, but his average at Triple-A Norfolk is down to .239. They don't know how long it's going to take for Yusniel Díaz and Ryan McKenna to be ready to face major league pitching. They can't open up left field as long as Trey Mancini is blocked at first base.

An ugly parting would be heartbreaking. I lived through the Eddie Murray trade to the Dodgers. The circumstances are much different here, but hard feelings would create an incredibly sad ending.

Jones is expected to be in Tuesday night's lineup against the Yankees in the Bronx. The Orioles have won three straight games. They keep hearing about the rebuild and they understand and endorse it, but they're not taking it as an invitation to stop caring about winning.

"Yeah, of course it still matters," Mark Trumbo said before Sunday's 11-5 victory over the Rays at Camden Yards. "You've got people paying money to come watch us. I don't think anyone who's a fan of the Orioles that's paying money to come watch us wants to watch the team struggle.

"Fortunately, in the last couple nights we've really turned it on with some big performances. (Saturday) night was really special that both Joey (Rickard) and Trey had really good nights, and that's a good sign as we go into these final couple months."

Trumbo has one year remaining on his contract. He didn't sign up for a rebuild back in January 2017, but he's going to be wedged in the middle of one.

"I really try not to take my thinking too far beyond what my job is," he said. "Obviously, everyone who plays this game would love to be on the winning side, but we have a job to do and I have a job to do. And I'm excited about the prospect of being a part of a good, young team, whether it be next year. That's all I have, contractually, is next year. But I think if you look around the game, younger players are the ones that are doing the bulk of the big things. I know that's the way that we're kind of going.

"The roster continues to get more youthful, I think, with each day that passes. And I think there's a lot of excitement in some of these new players we just acquired in these last couple of deals. It would be ideal if they made a strong enough showing to be up with the team next year and make contributions."

Mancini isn't arbitration-eligible until 2020, and the impact of a rebuild doesn't hit him with the same force. He could ride the wave and be carried back into the postseason if it goes according to plan.

"That's just how this business works," he said. "You have kind of, 'windows' is usually the term used, of where you're supposed to be successful, and this franchise has had a lot of success since 2012. And yeah, it's very unfortunate that things didn't go as we expected or hoped this year, to say the least. But that's how it goes.

"You go through those periods and then you're in rebuild mode, but it's kind of nice knowing in a sense what direction that the team's going in. So, yeah, it kind of makes you take a step back."

Without accepting the defeats nonchalantly.

"You still want to go out and play and win every single day," Mancini said. "That's our job, that's what we're here to do, but it definitely takes some time to rebuild, especially in baseball. And it's definitely a couple of years' process and it can be tough, but it's also an exciting thing, too."

Any further trades might have to wait until the Aug. 31 deadline for players to be eligible for postseason rosters. Manager Buck Showalter looks around the room and naturally wonders who might be headed out the door.

"As a human being, it crosses your mind, but you don't dwell on it," he said.

"We haven't been this situation in a long time here. I've had experience at it before, but when you have such a long relationship with guys that you've been around so long ... You try not to dwell on it. It's, I don't want to say 'painful' in today's world, but it's kind of sobering.

"Not that you're drunk. You know what I mean."