Well the MLB trade deadline has officially passed and despite the massive rumors going around Charm City, the Orioles have once again not made a move at the deadline. The biggest rumors swirling around regarded Phillies pitcher Joe Blanton and it often looked like he would be coming to Baltimore but it never panned out, apparently due to money issues. Personally I am at least happy that we didn’t trade for Blanton because I don’t think that he would have really added much to the team that we didn’t have already and we would have had to give up value from a farm system that lacks a lot of that right now.

However as a fan I would have liked to see the O’s make some sort of move to improve the team at the deadline. Even though we have struggled this last month, the team has battled to stay in the playoff race (which they have done) and it would have been nice for the front office a little bit of help going into the stretch run because they definitely need it. I’ve talked about their needs plenty (3rd base, LF, SP), these holes will most likely come back to maybe not cost us a playoff spot but certainly hurt our chances at getting it (might not get it anyways). This team badly needs a guy who can play 3rd base at the major league level and can get on base with some sort of consistency because our swing and miss lineup will only take us so far.

We still have a chance because obviously we have made it this far with this roster, I’m just not sure we can hold up for another 2 months. This isn’t exactly a death wish but it’s almost a sign from the front office that not even they believe this team can be a playoff team with a couple of solid additions. Really though once you get into the playoffs it’s almost a crap shoot because any team can beat any team in a 5 or 7 game series, it’s all about getting hot. Just with the inconsistency we have in our starting lineup average wise, it’s just tough to imagine this team lasting another 2 months and being a playoff team.

Am I unhappy with the O’s front office inability to get something done? I mean not really, like I said I would have liked to see some addition to the lineup just to give these guys some sort of reinforcement for the rest of the season but I also don’t want to give up anything to valuable for the future and I understand you can’t have it both ways. As a fan it is a little bit disappointing because this is our first chance at a playoff spot in years and it would have been nice to give ourselves an even better chance but I wouldn’t have wanted Dan Duquette to make a dumb trade just to get a Chase Headley type to help us out the next 2 months.

As I said in my previous post I am very interested in seeing the Orioles fans’ reactions to this lack of movement. I assume most will be angry because they want to see their team win more now but some are a little more cautious and probably understand that even with an addition or two, it was unlikely the O’s would be series playoff contenders but at this point we will never know. If we miss out on the playoffs by a game or two, Duquette will be ripped for not making a move and if we end up 10 games out than he will be lauded for his patience and preserving our future when we didn’t have a chance to make the playoffs anyways. Like I said though, this isn’t a death wish but it certainly doesn’t help the chances of our floundering O’s possibly making the playoffs this season.