Would the Orioles currently have a wild-card spot if they hadn’t traded Rutschman? | MAILBAG

Question: If the Orioles hadn’t traded Taylor Ward, Adley Rutschman and Tyler Wells, they would be sitting comfortably in the third wild-card spot. Instead, we have Christian Franklin, Carlos Narváez, and Alex Hoppe. What’s your opinion? From: Marc Goodman 

Answer: Marc, the Orioles are 9-10 since the trade deadline. I predicted the Orioles wouldn’t trade Rutschman, and shouldn’t, but they did, and I was surprised by the trade of Wells. I was not surprised that they traded Ward.

Entering Monday night’s games, Rutschman had played only 11 games with the Red Sox and was hitting .167 with a home run and four RBIs. Ward was batting .136 with two RBIs in 12 games with Seattle. Wells has a 2.89 ERA in seven games.

Rutschman is a far better catcher than Narváez, who’s hitless in his last 20 at-bats, and Ward’s a better player than Christian Franklin, but if Rutschman and Ward had similar performances for the Orioles in the three weeks since the trades, I think they’d be just about where they are, five games under .500.

I thought the loss of Wells would really hurt the bullpen, but Hoppe has allowed just four hits and two walks in 6 2/3 scoreless innings.

Remember that with Rutschman, Ward and Wells, the Orioles were 54-58, which Mike Elias didn’t consider good enough to make him retain the players.

As for the trades, only Hoppe, Narváez and Franklin are in the majors. Seven prospects were acquired, and as a result, I don’t think you’ll be able to gauge the trade fully until at least 2028, and possibly later.

Question: Who designates the official scorer for each home or away game?   (I am assuming the same requirements and experience are considered for each venue.)

-Is it typically the same individual for each game?

-What guidelines do they follow (a rule book?) for deciding if a play was an error, hit, wild pitch, passed ball?

-Are some teams/venues known for “home cooking” to boost the home team’s batting averages?

In your estimation, during games held at Camden Yards, have errors been for the most part correctly assessed? From: Joe Rees 

Answer: Joe, scorers are hired and assigned by Major League Baseball and not the home team.

Dennis Hetrick, Ben Trittipoe, Greg Royce, Dave Vatz and Jason Lee are the five scorers assigned to both Orioles and Nationals games. Dennis, Greg and Dave work more Oriole games than Ben and Jason.

Each game has another scorer, not necessarily from the same market, working remotely who can provide guidance if there is a difficult call.

Yes, the rule book is used by the scorers if they’re not sure of a decision, and they’re also given a manual with examples of tricky and controversial plays by MLB.

There’s an appeal process where a player or team can ask for a review of a call by an MLB committee, so there’s not home team bias.

Of course, I don’t agree with every call a scorer makes, and I occasionally ask them privately for an explanation, but they do an excellent job.

Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.