The Orioles have traded 32-year old lefty reliever Will Ohman to the Marlins for 25-year old righty starter Rick VandenHurk. Ohman pitched in 51 games (0 starts) for the Orioles this year and he was 0-0 with a 3.30 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. VandenHurk pitched in 2 games (0 starts) for the Marlins earlier this year and he was 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA and a 3.00 WHIP. He also started 19 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 8-4 with a 4.68 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. VandenHurk has pitched in parts of four years with the Marlins and he is 8-9 with a 5.96 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. I have a feeling that the Orioles are going to consider making VandenHurk a reliever because of his stuff. He has whiffed 152 batters in only 155 2/3 innings in his major league career. This was a outstanding trade for the Orioles.

The Orioles have recalled 23-year old righty swinging 3B Josh Bell to likely take over as the starting 3B with Miguel Tejada out of the picture. Bell has played in 81 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 88 of 316 (.278 avg, .810 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 13 homers and 50 RBIs. Bell played in 6 games earlier this season for the Orioles and he was 5 of 19 (.263 avg, .526 OPS) with 1 run scored. Hopefully he’ll cut down on his whiffs this time around as he already has 8 of them in the show.

The Orioles have traded 36-year old righty swinging 3B Miguel Tejada to the Padres for 24-year old righty starting pitcher Wynn Pelzer. Tejada played in 97 games for the Orioles this year and he was 108 of 401 (.269 avg, .670 OPS) with 40 runs scored, 7 homers and 39 RBIs. He likely finishes his career with the O’s having played in 716 games (5 years) in which he was 876 of 2,870 (.305 avg, .836 OPS) with 407 runs scored, 109 homers, 468 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. Wynn Pelzer was the Padres’ #7 prospect coming into this season according to Baseball America. Pelzer pitched in 22 games (18 starts) in AA-ball this season and he is 6-9 with a 4.20 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP. He has walked a stunning 56 batters in only 94 1/3 innings this year. Pelzer has pitched in 79 games (68 starts) in his three years in the minors and he is 26-23 with a 3.83 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. I have a feeling that the Orioles will consider making Pelzer a reliever if he can fix his control problems because he has a great arm. This was a good trade for the Orioles as Tejada seems to be on the downside of his career right now.

The Baltimore Orioles have hired 54-year old Buck Showalter to manage the team starting next Tuesday against the Angels. Showalter will be taking over for Juan Samuel who has led the team to a 16-31 record since taking over as manager of the O’s. Showalter will have his work cut out for him as he’s taking over a team that is 31-70 right now which has them in last place in the A.L. East, 33.5 games behind the Yankees. Showalter is a winner and the hope is that he will change the team’s attitude the rest of the way. He last managed in 2006 with the Texas Rangers. He has a career record of 882-833 (51.4%) in his 11 years as a major league manager and he was won 2 division titles. He was the A.L. Manager of the Year in both 1994 with the Yankees and 2004 with the Rangers. Showalter has his work cut out for him in Baltimore but I really like this hire for the Orioles.

The Orioles have designated 26-year old lefty swinging infielder Scott Moore for assignment. Moore played in 41 games for the O’s this season and he was 18 of 86 (.209 avg, .611 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 3 homers, 10 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The Orioles needed Moore’s roster spot to activate Brian Roberts from the D.L. Roberts played in 4 games for the Orioles earlier this season and he was 2 of 14 (.143 avg, .464 OPS) with 1 run scored and 2 stolen bases. On his rehab assignment, Roberts played in 8 games in Rookie+AA-ball and he was 14 of 29 (.483 avg, 1.102 OPS) with 4 runs scored and 3 RBIs. The Orioles have to be ecstatic to get a player like Roberts back as they have really missed him this year.

No one could have imagined 29-year old righty reliever Alfredo Simon being the Orioles’ closer at this point in the season, but he is. Simon has pitched in 27 games (0 starts) for the Orioles this year and he is 2-1 with 13 saves, a 3.14 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. He has walked 15 batters in only 28 2/3 innings this season so he needs to tighten up his control a bit. Simon took advantage of injuries to Mike Gonzalez and Jim Johnson to earn the job as the Orioles’ closer and I think he will keep the job as he has outstanding stuff. But he needs to throw more strikes.

The Orioles have released 29-year old switch hitting outfielder Joey Gathright. Gathright played in 61 games for the O’s in AAA-ball last year and he was 40 of 216 (.185 avg, .477 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 0 homers, 7 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. This is not much of a loss for the Orioles as Gathright was being overmatched in AAA. Speed is his best asset but you can’t steal first base.

The Orioles are such a mess right now that they need quality and quantity at the trade deadline and they have some pieces that other teams want. I would ship righty starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie to the White Sox for outfielders Jordan Danks, John Shelby and righty starting pitcher Jeff Marquez. Then I would flip infielder Ty Wigginton to the Twins for righty reliever Anthony Slama and catcher Jose Morales. The Braves could use another hitter and with that in mind I would send Luke Scott to them for righty reliever Jesse Chavez, outfielder Gregor Blanco and shortstop Diory Hernandez. I would flip lefty reliever Will Ohman to the Phillies for 23-year old reliever Matt Way. Finally I would flip Mark Hendrickson to the Giants for righty starter/reliever Joe Martinez. These trades would be solid ones if the Orioles could pull them off. Danks, Shelby, Slama and Way are solid prospects. Marquez, Martinez and Chavez would give them some solid arms that could help them right now. Morales is a solid hitting catcher, Blanco a solid CF and Hernandez has good versatility in the field.

26-year old righty swinging 1B/OF Nolan Reimold played in 29 games for the Orioles earlier this year and he was 17 of 83 (.205 avg, .639 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 2 homers and 10 RBIs. He was then sent to AAA and he hasn’t being playing any better in the minors. Reimold has played in 52 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 39 of 190 (.205 avg, .611 OPS) with 21 runs scored, 6 homers and 19 RBIs. Despite a possible fire sale I don’t see the Orioles calling Reimold back to Baltimore until he starts to show something in the minors.

The Orioles have placed 24-year old switch hitting catcher Matt Wieters on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring. Wieters has played in 77 games for the O’s this year and he is 66 of 269 (.245 avg, .672 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 6 homers and 29 RBIs. Craig Tatum and Jake Fox will take over for Wieters while he is out of action. Tatum has played in 24 games for the Orioles so far this season and he is 15 of 61 (.246 avg, .622 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 5 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He will likely handle most of the catching because he’s a lot better defender than Fox is behind the plate. Fox has played in 12 games for the O’s this season and he is 7 of 28 (.250 avg, .847 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 3 homers and 4 RBIs.