Will Orioles be buyers or sellers at trade deadline? | MAILBAG

Question: I think the Orioles have to be 5 to 10 games over .500 to be buyers at the trade deadline. Is that likely? From: Timothy Fowler

Answer: Tim, as it stands now, the Orioles would have to play very well to be five or 10 games over .500 at the trade deadline. With so many American League teams having disappointing seasons, it could be a very confusing trade deadline. Teams might wait until the final few days to decide if they’re buyers or sellers.

Say the Orioles are playing .500 ball or close to it, and there are still several other teams with similar records, they could be aggressive and decide to go for it.

Even with the disappointing season, it’s far too early to think about the August 3^rd trade deadline.

Question: Do you think Mike Elias has any plans for hiring a new GM? Currently there are only 12 teams that have both a GM and a president of baseball operations. From: Dave Gruber

Answer: Dave, if Elias decides to add a GM, the guess here is he’d do it late this season or early in the offseason. It doesn’t seem likely that an organization would allow the Orioles to hire during the season. It seems possible that someone could be hired as the season winds down.

Last year, Elias attributed not hiring a general manager to being busy with a managerial search. I’m not sure he’ll hire one this offseason, either.

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.