Positive feedback on two Dominican Summer League players

You don't judge a trade for at least a few years unless the players involved disappear quickly. A one-for-one where ties are cut, maybe retirement is the next life phase. But in the case of the Andrew Cashner deal orchestrated by executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias, it's premature to assign a final grade to it.

What we know so far is that Cashner's roll with the Orioles slowed as it reached New England. He didn't make it out of the second inning yesterday, walking five batters in 1 2/3 and has an 8.01 ERA with the Red Sox. But there's more than a month remaining in the season.

The Red Sox are 7 1/2 games behind in the wild card race and their fans will mark down Cashner for that fact alone. Though it's harsh to place so much blame on one starter.

There's a certain level of expectations when you're a deadline acquisition.

So what about the Orioles' return in the trade?

Two 17-year-old players largely unknown to the fan base who were assigned to separate Rookie-level Dominican Summer League teams.

This is a really good reason why it's too early to grade it.

Elio Prado began yesterday slashing .293/.418/.373 in 21 games with the DSL 1 team. He was batting .301/.401/.415 in 34 games with the Red Sox DSL team.

An international scout who's familiar with Prado raved about his ability to square up the ball, and he also likes Noelberth Romero, who was slashing .274/.338/.315 yesterday in 19 games with the DSL 2 team.

"They're way off after the trade," the scout said, "but in two or three years when they start coming up you're going to be like, 'Oh wow, that was a good trade.'"

Has anyone heard from Dan Straily since Elias sent him to the Phillies for cash considerations?

Straily surrendered six earned runs and seven total in five innings for Lehigh Valley in his debut and tossed seven scoreless innings with only one hit allowed in his next outing. He's walked two batters and struck out 13 in his two starts.

The Orioles decided against giving him another shot in their rotation, though plugging holes in it is a fulltime job.

Perhaps forgotten is how Straily's $575,000 deal with the Orioles also included a $250,000 trade bonus. He got to collect in a way that wasn't anticipated.

The idea was for Straily to perform really well and present himself as an attractive trade chip to a contender. He'd benefit the Orioles on multiple fronts.

Straily was designated for assignment on June 20 and accepted an outright assignment three days later to Triple-A Norfolk.

The Orioles will make a few more roster moves today with the addition of a 26th player and needing to fill an open spot after optioning reliever Tayler Scott.

As I reported yesterday, I'm hearing that left-hander Ty Blach will be recalled from Norfolk. They claimed him off waivers from the Giants on Aug. 3.

Asher Wojciechowski came up huge yesterday by giving the Orioles six innings in a quality start. They don't know what they'll get today from Game 1 starter Gabriel Ynoa and whomever is the choice in Game 2.

The schedule just won't let up. A note from the Orioles yesterday explained that their remaining opponents had a .509 winning percentage for the toughest remaining strength of schedule in the American League and third in the majors behind the Rockies (.513) and Reds (.512).