If the Orioles are going to make a significant pitching move before the Aug. 1 deadline for making trades without waivers, they had better get to it.
The Boston Red Sox, who have been inching closer to the top of the standings over the past two weeks, just made another acquisition, grabbing 27-year-old left-handed starter Drew Pomeranz from the San Diego Padres.
Yes, they got a 27-year-old starter who was 8-7 with a sterling 2.47 ERA with an otherwise struggling team. The price was high, but they could afford to give up top prospect Anderson Espinoza for the chance to make another run at the World Series this season.
The Orioles don't appear to be in a a similar position of player development strength, but Dan Duquette has made some midseason magic before. It seems highly unlikely that the O's are capable of acquiring a pitcher of that caliber who is under club control through 2018, so Duquette will either have to find a late rotation veteran or pray that young Dylan Bundy can step up in the next few weeks.
Either way, it's already a scary proposition. Red Sox GM Dave Dombrowski has been very active and the Blue Jays also are looming just a couple games back in the standings. Both teams seem ready to hit the ground running in the second half.
If you listen to both Duquette and manager Buck Showalter, they seem almost resigned to the likelihood that they won't be able to make a major pitching move, and they may be right. The only way they could get someone that isn't a back-end rotation gamble would be to deal someone very valuable, and they aren't going to move one of their core young players.
That would be a huge mistake, but they definitely need some help and the clock is ticking. This isn't a situation where they can wait around to see how the market shakes out.