Orioles remain intact as trade deadline looms

The trade deadline is 4 p.m. Monday and the Orioles haven't made any moves. Alex Cobb and Tommy Milone are still in the rotation. Mychal Givens and Miguel Castro are still in the bullpen. Hanser Alberto is still in the lineup at second or third base.

Milone is starting Monday afternoon against the Blue Jays. Could be his last with the Orioles. Cobb made it through last night's game.

No one was pulled from the on-deck circle.

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What's happening in the standings really has no bearing on Orioles business. Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias was only going to consider its influence as far as potentially holding onto a player who otherwise might not have netted an impactful return.

He wasn't going to become a frenzied buyer or turn down prospects just to make a run at the playoffs.

I guess it's just a little easier to justify the approach with the Orioles having lost 10 of their last 12 games. An easier sell to the fan base, so to speak.

Wade LeBlanc didn't give the Orioles what they wanted, hitting a three-start rough patch and sustaining a season-ending elbow injury. But Milone has provided a nice veteran presence, as well as a 3.99 ERA, only 1.2 walks per nine innings and a career-high 9.5 strikeouts. The club didn't make a big investment in him and he's provided value, which is why the trade-chip label has been sewn onto his jersey.

Starts also feel like auditions at deadline time, but Milone is pitching in a 2:07 p.m. game on Monday. The impression already needs to be made.

Would the Orioles scratch him if there's real interest from a contender?

Milone turned in his second quality start on Aug. 19 versus the Jays, allowing three runs with no walks and seven strikeouts in six innings. He's never earned a win against them in four career starts, going 0-3 with a 5.04 ERA, 1.200 WHIP, two walks and 24 strikeouts in 25 innings.

Cobb has no idea whether he's going to be traded.

"There's just so much that goes into this year," he said during last night's Zoom conference call. "There would be so much going into a normal trade deadline year with everything surrounding me. I think this year there's no way to even try to create some sort of hypothesis of what's going to happen. I really haven't paid too much attention to any of it. I really haven't had too many questions from you guys about it and it really hasn't entered my mind too much."

Meanwhile, the Orioles are giving Jorge López his first start today since Sept. 29 with the Royals. He's made three relief appearances since the waiver claim and allowed seven runs in nine innings.

López has made three career appearances against the Blue Jays and surrendered six runs and eight hits over seven innings.

The Orioles did their homework on López after learning that he'd be available on waivers, and found that he had good stuff but wasn't a consistent strike-thrower. Pitching coach Doug Brocail and bullpen coach Darren Holmes watched video and developed a game plan for him, moving his hands down to his belt to allow him to minimize some movement while not disrupting the windup.

López hasn't lost his mid-90s fastball that's rated as a plus, with impressive movement, and a "tremendous" slider, as Holmes describes it.

Holmes believes that López can be "a top-three starter for us."

Tanner Roark was the opposing pitcher on Aug. 19 and held the Orioles to one earned run in five innings, though he surrendered nine hits.