Trade deadline arrives today with O's still trying to make a deal

We've plummeted below the 24-hour mark until reaching baseball's trade deadline. It's the final countdown.

We're leaving together, but still it's farewell.

Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias is fielding and making calls, the activity brisk but producing nothing so far that's impacting the roster and the rebuild.

There aren't many trade chips on the table, but contenders certainly are expressing interest in a handful of them, most notably in the bullpen. Quite similar to 2020 with Richard Bleier, Mychal Givens and Miguel Castro.

Givens has been dealt again, going from the Rockies to the Reds. He's approaching free agency. Bleier and Castro get there after 2022.

The situations are different for this year's trade possibilities, with Paul Fry, Tanner Scott, Cole Sulser and Dillon Tate still waiting to attain arbitration eligibility. A nice selling point for the Orioles, but also a reason to hold onto them unless the offer really is right.

There isn't a sense of urgency to make moves today. Current talks can be tabled until the winter or next season. New suitors can emerge. Players with the highest odds of being dealt aren't inching toward the free agent door with a risk of the Orioles getting nothing in return.

Shortstop Freddy Galvis signed a one-year deal with the possibility of being flipped this month, but he remains on the injured list and any team acquiring him won't have to give up much. But something is better than nothing, and the Orioles have the position covered with Ramón Urías.

Honestly, words I didn't imagine typing a few months ago.

Too bad Matt Harvey couldn't make one more start before the deadline. A third consecutive impressive outing might have increased his appeal for a few clubs. But he doesn't return to the mound until tonight.

Maikel Franco, also a one-and-done, has disappointed at the plate and is playing on a sore ankle that's turning a below-average runner into a jogger.

I would have bet earlier in the year that outfielder Anthony Santander's days in Baltimore were numbered, knowing that multiple teams expressed interest over the winter and kept scouting him as the season began. Knowing that the position actually had some depth to it. Assuming that room would need to be cleared anyway for prospect Yusniel Diaz.

So much for that idea.

Santander sprained his ankle and never made a full recovery, struggled at the plate and missed more time while on the COVID-19 list. The Orioles would be selling low.

The only motivation to trade him would be based on finances, with his $2.1 million salary likely to increase again in arbitration.

"I really haven't spent a lot of time with it," Santander said yesterday via translator Ramón Alarcón. "It's really a decision for them, that they have to make. I really want to stay here, so we'll see."

John Means and Cedric Mullins are staying. A rebuild doesn't mean trading the best players and hoping the prospects obtained become good players. There are building blocks and guys who, in cold terms, are designated as pieces.

Means is the No. 1 starter. Mullins is the center fielder and leadoff hitter who isn't feared within the organization as a possible one-year wonder. An overwhelming offer would be required today for Elias to even consider trading them.

There's always a counter argument, like how Mullins' value may never be higher and the team isn't likely to contend in 2022 and it may not want to pay him when he eventually reaches free agency, and it needs starting pitching and it should get as much for him now as the market will bear.

Here's my thought: Build the rotation with prospects lined up behind Means. Build the lineup with prospects filed behind Mullins. Stop punching holes and scrambling to fill them. It resembles spinning wheels that don't move a franchise forward.

The 2020 deadline trades can be impactful. Elias pried left-hander Kevin Smith from the Mets for Castro. He got infielders Tyler Nevin and Terrin Vavra from the Rockies for Givens. No one in Baltimore is screaming for a do-over.

No one should expect a similar haul in 2021, but maybe the Orioles aim a little higher in the talent pipeline than 2019's trade of starter Andrew Cashner to the Red Sox for Dominican Summer League players Elio Prado and Noelberth Romero.