From today’s b, the paper

And now the trade deadline looms.

The Orioles, mired in last place at the All-Star break, can’t realistically go to the playoffs this year, so team President Andy MacPhail has some interesting decisions to make over the next few weeks before the trading July 31 deadline. And we’re assuming owner Peter Angelos stays out of the way, which is never an assumption we should make given the track record of past Julys since 1995, when he’s meddled to the point of chasing away talented front-office people as well as players.

Trading Aubrey Huff seems to be a no-brainer. During the offseason, when Huff went on satellite radio and called Baltimore a “horses—” town, no other MLB club wanted to take on his attitude and bad contract. However, he has certainly hit the baseball this year (.284 average, 15 home runs, 59 RBIs) and might be dealt over the next two weeks if there’s a team in the race with a demand for a left-handed bat. But Huff is only the beginning.

Jay Payton (.243, 6 homers, 31 RBIs) would be a nice role player for a playoff contender. Kevin Millar would bring quality depth for a team in the race as well, although the Orioles would miss his veteran leadership and ability to keep the clubhouse loose.

Trading catcher Ramon Hernandez would probably require some financial seasoning given his hefty contract, but with first-round draft pick Matt Wieters crushing the ball (.344 in limited action) at Double-A Bowie and waiting in the wings, it’s only a matter of time before Hernandez is gone.

The biggest team concern will always be the pitching, and it’s the one commodity no team is going to deal away without a quality return. If the Orioles are going to augment the staff, they’ll have to make some much harder decisions on players such as Daniel Cabrera, who might still return some talent given his “upside,” and of course, Brian Roberts, which would be a major shocker given how many times his name has surfaced and the fact that he’s still here and producing.

Clearly, the team’s glaring hole at shortstop cries out for a deal that would replenish this position, preferably at the big-league level.

My take: If there’s a way to bring in more prospects for semi-retirement-aged players, then why not? One of the Orioles’ biggest problems over the years has been their inability to make quality deals at the trading deadline, mainly because of Angelos’ insistence on meddling and stringing along other teams’ general managers. No doubt, MacPhail and every other MLB team is aware of the history.

While the O’s made progress in the offseason with the two deals with Houston and Seattle that netted Adam Jones, Luke Scott, George Sherrill and Matt Albers, the trading deadline is where many teams build their future, as contending teams are pitted against each other for talent in a tight window.

It’s a time when teams overpay. It’s a time when MacPhail can shine and make the Orioles better.

I only hope he’s given the opportunity to actually make the final calls. We’ll see …

Nestor Aparicio, owner of WNST-AM 1570, writes about sports and more. His column appears Mondays and Fridays. For more, go to wnst.net.

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