Just as big of a trade deadline tradition as the speculation and rumor rumblings are the denials that they're affecting the teams in question at the clubhouse level. Orioles manager Buck Showalter said as much Wednesday, indicating that the turmoil it can all cause is "way blown out of proportion."
That, Showalter said, comes some from the notion that it will be difficult to improve on a team that's already atop the American League as the deadline approaches, and is finding prices a bit too high ahead of the Aug. 1 nonwaiver deadline.
"I don't think we're really in a lot of big discussions," Showalter said. "We're not in the rumor mill, are we? We shouldn't be."
When asked about the stated intention of executive vice president Dan Duquette — to add consistency to the Orioles starting rotation — Showalter addressed the issue of price.
"What are we giving up to get it?" Showalter said. "Dan and I, he's brought a couple of things to me, but nothing that seemed imminent. A couple of them, I say, 'Yeah, I like that guy. For what? No, of course we wouldn't do that.'
"You can get a pretty good starting pitcher for blank, and he's gone at the end of the year. Dan and the organization have shown that they'll go for it if it's right, if they think it's a big difference maker and it really fills a real weakness we think we might have."
That need in the rotation has been somewhat lessened with the insertion of rookie Dylan Bundy and swingman Vance Worley into starting roles, though Ubaldo Jimenez could make a play for getting his spot back with a strong outing Thursday at the Minnesota Twins.
The Orioles staff as a whole entered Wednesday with a 3.09 ERA since the All-Star break, with the rotation posting a 3.55 ERA in that stretch.