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 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.

The Baltimore Orioles are 25-57 on the season as they are in last place in the A.L. East, 26 games behind the Yankees. The Orioles have no chance of turning this season around and they will likely have an epic firesale where they could move 11 players or more by the end of the month. The Orioles don’t have a lot of big trade chips but I think they could put of couple of players together in trades to maximize the return they get. Ty Wigginton, Miguel Tejada, Luke Scott (if healthy), Jeremy Guthrie and Will Ohman would be the biggest pieces they have to offer. Cesar Izturis, Corey Patterson, Julio Lugo, Kevin Millwood (if healthy), Mark Hendrickson and Koji Uehara each could also be long gone by the end of July. The Orioles certainly won’t be able to restock the minors with the guys they have to offer but if they get 3-4 keepers it will have been a successful trading season for the O’s.

The Baltimore Orioles are likely to have a firesale of epic proportions in the next couple of months if they don’t starting turning things around soon. The first shoe to drop will be the firing of Dave Trembley with him getting replaced likely by bench coach Jeff Datz which would be a very positive move in the right direction. Datz has the right temperment to oversee a rebuilding project. But if the O’s keep losing I see them trading Garrett Atkins (or releasing him), Ty Wigginton, Cesar Izturis, Corey Patterson, Julio Lugo, Miguel Tejada, Luke Scott, Kevin Millwood, Jeremy Guthrie, Mark Hendrickson, Alberto Castillo and Will Ohman. I think the Orioles could get a nice return for Tejada, Scott, Wigginton, Guthrie and Luke Scott. There are a lot of teams that would be interested in those five guys. The other seven guys on the list would probably bring back a C-level prospect unless a couple of them were packaged together or added in a trade with one of the Big Five. Owner Peter Angelos has to be very disappointed with how the team is playing right now as he spent some real money on players over the winter in a bold attempt to improve his team.

The Baltimore Orioles will likely look to deal 30-year old righty starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie over the winter. The Orioles have done well trading the last few years so they should be able to get a nice haul for Guthrie who despite having a rough 2009 season still has a good upside. He has pitched in 111 games (90 starts) in his major league career and he is 27-34 with a 4.27 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. A move to the National League or a pitcher’s park in the American League would help his numbers out big time. Now is the time to trade Guthrie especially with starting pitching being so scarce.

The Orioles have been trying to trade starting catcher Ramon Hernandez for about a year now and he is better than any free agent out there so he might be moved before spring training. The Orioles should go back to the Astros and offer Hernandez straight up for righty starter/reliever Chris Sampson. The Orioles are in such dire straights for pitching that Sampson would probably step right into the starting rotation for them. The Orioles would then need to either trade for another catcher or sign a free agent unless Matt Weiters is ready to go.