The Orioles have dealt 35-year old righty swinging 1B Derrek Lee to the Pirates for 23-year old lefty swinging 1B Aaron Baker. Baker has played in 102 games in A-ball so far this year and he is 109 for 382 (.285 avg, .826 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 15 homers, 72 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Baker has now played in 289 games in his first three years in the minors and he is 281 for 1,068 (.263 avg, .797 OPS) with 155 runs scored, 36 homers, 183 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. The Orioles will likely bring Baker along slowly.

Derrek Lee played in 85 games for the Orioles this year and he was 82 for 334 (.246 avg, .706 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 12 homers, 41 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. This deal was made to make room at 1B for Chris Davis. For that reason, I like this deal for both the Orioles and the Pirates.

The Baltimore Orioles have acquired 25-year old lefty swinging 1B/3B Chris Davis and 25-year old righty starting pitcher Tommy Hunter from the Rangers for 36-year old righty reliever Koji Uehara and $2 million bucks. Davis will likely step in at either 1B or in LF for the Orioles. Davis has played in 28 games for the Rangers this year and he was 19 for 76 (.250 avg, .704 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 3 homers and 6 RBIs. He has now played in 266 games in his first four years in the majors and he is 219 for 882 (.248 avg) with 115 runs scored, 42 homers, 124 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Davis has also whiffed 302 times so far in his career but that’s the price you have to pay for his big time power. Davis has the power to hit 30+ homers in a season and the Orioles hope he gets to that level with them. Tommy Hunter pitched in 8 games (0 starts) for the Rangers this year and he was 1-1 with a 2.93 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. Hunter has now pitched in 53 games (44 starts) in his first four years in the majors and he is 23-13 with a 4.36 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. He will likely join the Orioles’ starting rotation from the time he arrives in Baltimore.

Koji Uehara pitched in 43 games (0 starts) for the Orioles this year and he was 1-1 with a 1.72 ERA and a 0.70 WHIP. He pitched in 98 games (12 starts) in his three years with the Orioles and he was 4-7 with 13 saves, a 3.03 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. Uehara has been a really solid reliever for the Orioles but they couldn’t say no to this deal.

This was an outstanding deal for the Orioles as Chris Davis and Tommy Hunter will be huge parts of the future for them.

28-year old righty swinging shortstop J.J. Hardy has really been impressive this year for the Orioles. He has played in 72 games for the O’s so far this year and he is 79 for 284 (.278 avg, .830 OPS) with 40 runs scored, 16 homers and 42 RBIs. Hardy has been so impressive that he got a nice 3-year contract extension a couple of weeks ago. Playing half his games at Camden Yards could net Hardy 25-30 homers a year if he can just stay healthy. The Orioles were very smart to bring him back as he’s a good defensive shortstop with a lot of pop in his bat.

The Orioles should be aggressive in the trade market next week. The O’s gave it a good shot last winter in signing a lot of veterans but it just hasn’t worked out so far this year. With that in mind, Vladimir Guerrero, Derrek Lee and Kevin Gregg are likely at the top of the list of players the Orioles are willing to deal. Felix Pie and Koji Uehara could also be moved before next Sunday as well. Uehara’s name has popped up in a lot of trade rumors recently. The Orioles would probably kick in most of the cash for lefty reliever Mike Gonzalez if they could find a team that wants him as he has been a huge disappointment so far in Baltimore. The biggest chip the O’s have is righty starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie. Guthrie has had back luck support wise from both the offense and the bullpen this year but he has done his part. The Tigers, Yankees, Red Sox and Cardinals would probably be the teams most interested in Guthrie. Out of the players mentioned above, none of them with the exception of Guthrie are in the O’s long term plans so it makes sense to deal them for players to help them in the future.

The Orioles have lost 33-year old lefty swinging outfielder Luke Scott for the rest of this year as he needs surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Scott played in 64 games for the Orioles this year and he was 46 for 209 (.220 avg, .703 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 9 homers, 22 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The O’s have recalled 24-year old switch-hitting 3B Josh Bell to replace Scott on the active roster. Bell played in 1 game earlier this year for the Orioles and he was 1 for 1 with 1 run scored. Bell also has played in 88 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 88 for 347 (.254 avg, .745 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 16 homers, 47 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Bell made his debut in the majors last year for the O’s and it didn’t go too well. Bell played in 53 games for the Orioles last year and he was 34 for 159 (.214 avg, .525 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 3 homers and 12 RBIs. Bell swung at everything last year as he only walked 2 times while whiffing 53 times last year. Unless he starts showing improved discipline at the plate, I don’t think he’s going to be much better this time around for the Orioles.

28-year old righty reliever Jim Johnson has been outstanding all season long for the Orioles. Johnson has pitched in 43 games (0 starts) for the Orioles so far this year and he is 5-3 with 1 save, a 2.64 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. He has been very aggressive in the strike zone as he has only walked 11 batters in 58 innings pitched so far this year for the O’s. Johnson is going to be asked about by a lot of teams at the trade deadline but the Orioles aren’t likely going to deal him unless they are overwhelmed. That is because the Orioles are thinking about converting him to a starting pitcher for the 2012 season.

The Baltimore Orioles have placed 36-year old righty swinging DH/RF Vladimir Guerrero on the 15-day disabled list due to a small fracture in his right hand. Guerrero has played in 83 games for the Orioles so far this year and he is 87 for 312 (.279 avg, .700 OPS) with 28 runs scored, 7 homers and 31 RBIs. The Orioles will miss Guerrero’s bat while he’s out of action. He hasn’t hit up to his ability so far this year but he could get on a hot streak at any time.

The Orioles have designated 25-year old righty reliever Chorye Spoone for assignment. Spoone came into this season as the Orioles’ #24 prospect according to Baseball America. Spoone pitched in 19 games (all starts) in AA+AAA-ball this year and he was 6-6 with a 4.73 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP. He has now pitched in 129 games (115 starts) in his first 7 years in the minors and he is 35-41 with a 4.16 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. I’m surprised to see the Orioles give up on him.

UPDATE: (7/21/2011) - Spoone was accepted an outright assignment to AAA to stay with the Orioles.

The Orioles have acquired 24-year old lefty reliever/starter Zach Phillips from the Rangers for 32-year old righty swinging infielder Nick Green and cash considerations. Phillips pitched in 33 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Rangers this year and he was 1-3 with 3 saves, a 4.43 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP. Phillips has pitched in 213 games (98 starts) in his first seven years in the minors and he was 31-39 with 12 saves, a 4.10 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. Nick Green played in 87 games in AAA-ball for the O’s this year and he was 64 for 308 (.208 avg, .633 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 10 homers, 44 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. This was a good deal for the Orioles as Green wasn’t going to help them this year or down the road, and Phillips has a live arm from the left side.

The Baltimore Orioles are currently in last place in the American League East with a 36-52 record which has them 18 games behind the Red Sox in the division. They are also 17 games back for the A.L. Wildcard. They are going to be sellers once again at the trade deadline as this season has been especially brutal because the Orioles spent a lot of money on free agents who have not panned out in 2011. Here is a look at the players who made the biggest impact for the Orioles in the first half of the 2011 season:

Team MVP: I’m going to go with 25-year old righty swinging CF Adam Jones. Jones has played in 87 games for the Orioles so far this year and he is 96 for 337 (.285 avg, .785 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 13 homers, 49 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Jones has been hitting with a lot of power this year and he’s playing a very solid CF defensively for the Orioles.

Biggest Surprise: Despite pitching very well out of the bullpen in 2010, 36-year old righty reliever Koji Uehara had his skeptics. Some of those skeptics must have been in the O’s front office as they brought in Kevin Gregg to replace Uehara as the closer in 2011. Uehara has outpitched Gregg and all of the other pitchers on the Orioles. Uehara has pitched in 37 games (0 starts) for the Orioles so far this year and he is 1-1 with a 2.03 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP. He has only given up 22 hits in his first 40 innings this year and he has walked only 8 batters while whiffing 52! Uehara is going to be a hot commodity on the trade market this month.

Biggest Disappointment: This is a tie between 25-year old righty starting pitcher Brad Bergesen and 24-year old lefty starting pitcher Brian Matusz. Both of these guys were very solid when Buck Showalter took over as the manager last season, so he was counting on them at the back end of the starting rotation. Both pitchers have failed miserably in 2011 as they have both spent time in the minors this year. Bergesen has pitched in 17 games (9 starts) for the Orioles so far this year and he is 1-6 with a 5.65 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. He is hanging onto a job in Baltimore by a very thin thread. Brian Matusz is currently in AAA right now. Matusz has pitched in 6 games (all starts) for the Orioles so far this year and he is 1-4 with a 8.77 ERA and a 1.99 WHIP. He has given up a stunning 40 hits (9 homers) in his first 25 2/3 innings with the Orioles this year.