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As we come closer to entering the final month of the MLB regular season, it’s never too early to brainstorm how the Baltimore Orioles will handle the free-agency period in regard to replacing a few players whose contracts will be up at the end of this season and adding players who could be huge assets to the club for the 2015 season.

The Orioles will need to make preparations in order to determine how they will replace the free-agent trio of left fielder Nelson Cruz, first baseman/designated hitter Delmon Young and lefty reliever Andrew Miller.

Seeing as how Cruz is the major league leader in homers at this time with 34, it is extremely unlikely that the Orioles will sign Cruz to a multiyear deal, which is exactly what he’s looking for after rolling the dice on his current one-year contract with the Birds.

As for Miller, lefty relievers will be in high demand, particularly a lefty of his caliber.

Miller holds a 2.13 ERA and a strikeout-per-nine ratio of 14.4 on the season so far. As an Oriole, he has only given up one earned run through eight and one-third innings pitched and has struck out 12 during that span.

Nope, the Orioles won’t have a chance to sign Miller either if they hope to retain their core players when the following year’s free-agent class is due for new contracts.

Signed to a minor league contract prior to the start of the season, Delmon Young brought a considerable amount of value to the Orioles. The former first-round pick is hitting .311 on the year and is slugging for a solid .461 with 17 extra-base hits.

Sure, the Orioles could bring him back as a bench player, but they seem content with Steve Pearce’s ability in that first baseman/designated hitter role, and they may opt to have outfield depth considering it will be weakened by the departure of Cruz.

With that being said, here are a few interesting free agents for the 2014-15 offseason who the Orioles could make a run at.

Adam Dunn, DH/1B

While it may not be the most alluring potential signing that the Orioles could do, Adam Dunn still has a lot of power left in his 34-year-old body. Although his batting average is just .220 on the year, he draws a ton of walks and has an OBP of .343, something the Orioles highly covet.

Not only can the Orioles interchange Dunn at designated hitter or first base, but he has experience playing the corner outfield spots if need be.

Joe Thatcher, RP

Lefty reliever Joe Thatcher might not be a household name, but he had a very solid season during his time in Arizona this year prior to being traded to the Los Angeles Angels in early July.

The 32-year-old held a 2.63 ERA with 25 strikeouts in 24 innings while with the Diamondbacks and walked just three batters, making for an incredible strikeout-to-walk ratio of 8.33.

With Orioles’ lefty specialist Brian Matusz struggling this year to the tune of a 3.92 ERA and 1.443 WHIP, the club’s key decision-makers will need to go after a rock-solid lefty so the bullpen won’t miss a beat heading into the 2015 campaign.

Yasmani Tomas, LF/RF

One of the top young power hitters out of Cuba, Yasmani Tomas is a 23-year-old corner outfielder who could sign with a major league club in late 2014 or early 2015.

The timing depends on several factors, per Ben Badler of Baseball America: “Tomas will still have to obtain residency in another country, get an unblocking license from the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and be declared a free agent by Major League Baseball to be eligible to enter into an agreement with a club.”

According to the website, the 6’1″, 230-pound right-handed hitter possesses 70 raw power on the 20-80 scale and is considered one of the elites in all of Cuba when it comes to power hitters. During the 2012-13 regular season for Cuba’s Serie Nacional, Tomas hit for a triple-slash line of .289/.364/.538 with 15 homers over 81 games.

Considering the wave of superstars that have come from Cuba over the past few years, the Orioles would be wise to at least throw their hat in the ring and possibly get this kid locked up for several years, much like Jose Abreu‘s team-friendly deal of $68 million over six years.

All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference unless otherwise noted.

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The Baltimore Orioles (71-52) are soaring high as of late and have been on a roll in August, acquiring a record of 11-5 so far this month.

As the calendar turns, MLB rosters will expand, allowing teams to add on some depth at crucial positions and enabling for some of their star players to take a few more days off than usual.

For the Orioles, the starting rotation has been one of the hottest in baseball over the past few months.

Despite starting in the basement of the starting pitching ERA statistic in the initial months of the season, Orioles starters have been on a roll that just won’t stop, which has seen them climb all the way up to eighth in the AL for that split.

The Orioles bullpen, however, could be the organization’s strongest asset now after the acquisition of shutdown lefty reliever Andrew Miller at the MLB trade deadline.

The bullpen, as of now, ranks eighth in MLB in ERA. Look no further than the one-two punch of Darren O’Day and Zach Britton as the main reasons why the Orioles bullpen has been so successful this season.

With that being said, the Orioles really have no need to address their starting rotation or bullpen with personnel changes.

Instead, the club needs to bring in some reinforcements to add a jolt of life to its offense that has sparked at times but has been borderline pedestrian all season for a club that boasts several great hitters throughout its lineup.

Here is a look into three hitting prospects that will be promoted in September.

Francisco Peguero, OF, Triple-A Norfolk

Francisco Peguero could offer some solid outfield depth if any of the regular starters needed a day or two to rest in the month of September.

Peguero has made starts in left field, center field and right field so far this season, so it seems to be that he’ll be comfortable at wherever the O’s need to slot him.

Up to this point in the season, Peguero is batting for a .275 average and is slugging .370, but he has collected just three homers and 31 RBI in 68 games played.

Peguero does possess a solid .302 batting average with runners in scoring position with two outs, an area in which Baltimore has been scuffling all season.

Dariel Alvarez, OF, Triple-A Norfolk

Since being called up in the middle of July to the Triple-A club, Dariel Alvarez has held his own at the plate, hitting for an average of .270 with a .377 slugging percentage, but he has yet to launch a ball over the outfield fence for the Tide.

Still, Alvarez has recorded 12 extra-base hits in those 30 games, including a triple, which shows that he’s got some speed to contribute to the parent club, which surely lacks any speedsters aside from David Lough.

Christian Walker, 1B, Triple-A Norfolk

The only true lock to be called up on this list when rosters expand in September, Christian Walker is having an amazing season and has been turning the heads of fans and people in the organization.

Since being called up alongside Alvarez in the middle of July, Walker has hit for a .284/.370/.450 triple-slash line and has hit four homers in 29 games played.

On the season, the 23-year-old right-handed hitter has tallied 24 long balls and has driven in a whopping 91 baserunners in just 124 games.

It’s easy to see why the Orioles would love to bring him on, given the fact that with third baseman Manny Machado injured for the time being, first baseman Chris Davis would need to slide over to third to fill that hole which would leave first base open.

Sure, you can play Steve Pearce there if need be, but his bat has cooled off considerably since his hot streak in June.

Even if Machado gets back and everyone returns to their normal positions, there’s the chance that Davis still struggles and the Orioles may need Walker to jump right in and provide a jolt to the club.

Stats via Baseball Reference and ESPN.com unless otherwise noted. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Baltimore Orioles have been one of the hottest teams in baseball since the All-Star Break, taking all but one series since then and establishing the best division lead in all of baseball.

Even though most of the credit must be given to the personnel who are actually playing the game, some of the credit needs to be given to the man in the dugout.

Manager Buck Showalter has kept everything in perspective for the club and has established a strong bond with his players due to mutual respect and appreciation.

The “I like our guys” phrase of Showalter‘s that has been popularized into a t-shirt giveaway at Camden Yards earlier this year isn’t just a cutesy saying.

Showalter stays loyal to his guys—albeit to a fault at some times—but for the most part things usually pay off as players are allowed to push through their slumps rather than be benched.

Still, Showalter isn’t afraid to mix things up at points in order for the club to improve as a whole, and these are just a few examples of his smartest moves of the 2014 season.

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We are now just days away from the July 31 MLB non-waiver trade deadline date and the Baltimore Orioles (58-46) have been on quite the hot streak since the second half of the season began.

Heading out west for a 10-game road trip that featured clashes between playoff-caliber teams in the Oakland Athletics, the Los Angeles Angels and the Seattle Mariners, the general perception of most fans of the club was that going .500 on the trip would be a success.

The Birds did one better by taking the final game of the road trip in Seattle in an extra-innings contest, thanks to Manny Machado‘s go-ahead sac fly to deep center field in the 10th that brought in Adam Jones.

Even though the Orioles hit for just a .202 batting average on the 10-game stretch, the pitching staff more than picked up the pieces for them.

The Orioles arms combined to pitch to a 3.17 ERA, surrendered only five homers and pitched to a strikeout-per-nine ratio of 7.9 on the trip.

Considering how poorly the season started off in regards to pitching, with holes at closer and the starting rotation, Orioles pitchers have clearly turned things around—particularly the starters, who have gone deeper into games as of late and have in turn helped out the bullpen immensely.

Clutch defensive plays haven’t gone unnoticed either, though.

Consider the fact that if Nick Markakis hadn’t gunned out Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager in the bottom of the second inning in Sunday’s series finale, the game would’ve never gone into extras and the Mariners would’ve won, 3-2, splitting the series.

The Orioles can’t rely on their high-powered offense forever, as was evidenced in this past road trip, and when it falters, the pitching and defense will need to step up in a big way.

In regards to the front office, things have yet to start heating up.

So far the only trades that have been made were that of trading first baseman Brett Wallace to the Toronto Blue Jays for cash and trading away cash to the Kansas City Royals for third baseman Jimmy Paredes.

Executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette may not be looking for a blockbuster trade.

A trade for a player say of David Price‘s or Jon Lester‘s caliber would certainly cripple the farm system as the Orioles would have to move an A-level prospect or a few B-level prospects to land either of them—and that’s just not something Duquette is willing to accept, considering it would weaken the team for future seasons.

Having a core of pitching prospects that includes Dylan Bundy, Hunter Harvey and Eduardo Rodriguez bodes well for what this rotation could look like in a few years.

We’re talking about a homegrown, elite rotation comparable to the likes of the St. Louis Cardinals and the Tampa Bay Rays. Oh, and let’s not forget Kevin Gausman, who has already reached the majors and is already considered the best pitcher on the staff.

Rest assured, Duquette does want to improve this team, be it with a bullpen arm or a utility infielder that can be had for cheap.

One thing is for certain, though: the Orioles are buyers and are in the driver’s seat to take the division.

The time to win is now.

Trade Deadline Performance Grade: A

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Baltimore Orioles (49-40) are finally in the driver’s seat, having reached first place in the AL East this past weekend.

After playing a doubleheader on Saturday and a 12-inning contest against the rival Boston Red Sox, the Orioles could look to the farm for some bullpen help to finish out the stretch before the All-Star break.

In fact, they already addressed the issue on Monday, optioning Kevin Gausman once again and calling up reliever Julio DePaula from Double-A Bowie.

Should DePaula struggle, the O’s might swap him out for another minor league arm until the bullpen arms are fully recovered from this past weekend’s marathon.

Here are the top 10 prospects and options the Orioles could call upon as reinforcements to the bullpen. In general, these prospects could get a call if a freak injury were to occur.

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The Baltimore Orioles (23-22) have finally come to a skid in the road on their path to securing a division title and a postseason berth.

As was to be expected, the Orioles’ weaknesses of an underperforming offense and an unreliable starting rotation are finally catching up to them, as they are 3-7 over their last 10 games played, which included a three-game sweep at the hands of the visiting Detroit Tigers early last week.

The offense will eventually come around to playing up to their potential as every piece of their optimal lineup is currently healthy, with the lone exception being Matt Wieters, who is currently still on the DL with a right elbow strain and won’t be activated even when he becomes eligible on May 26. Manny Machado could possibly be back on the DL as well, as he left last night’s contest with right groin stiffness.

However, the Orioles still have holes to patch up in the pitching department and they could call upon one of their top prospects in Kevin Gausman again or bring up any of the other pitching prospects to improve upon a bullpen that ranks 14th in the majors.

It’s been a mix of performances for the Orioles’ top 10 prospects in Week 7, which includes a recent draftee’s bat heating up and a few highly rated right-handers leaving the mound early with high run totals.

Prospect rankings according to BaseballAmerica.com.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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We’re now more than a month into the major league season and despite their struggles, the Baltimore Orioles currently hold a 15-14 record and are tied with the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East.

The O’s are in the bottom half of the AL in both starting pitching ERA and runs scored. Something needs to change soon for the ballclub to remain in contention, and that might consist of calling up one of their prized prospects from the minors.

Here’s a closer look at each of the organization’s top 10 prospects and whether their stock increased, decreased, or stayed the same based on their performance over the past week.

I will use my previous list of prospects compiled earlier in the season for this particular segment.

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The Baltimore Orioles are currently sitting at second place in the AL East with a 12-12 record, and they have been flirting with a .500 record for the past week.

Despite kicking off the season with a 2-5 record in their first seven games, the Orioles have rebounded nicely, winning 10 of their next 17 games, thanks to notable contributions from some of their offseason acquisitions.

This past offseason, the Orioles proved that patience is indeed a virtue, signing two of the most high-profile free agents in starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez (four years, $48 million) and outfielder/designated hitter Nelson Cruz (one year, $8 million) in late February to relatively cheap deals, considering what they bring to the table.

Let’s take a closer look into the group of offseason acquisitions and evaluate them based off of their performance to date.

All statistics courtesy of MLB.com and Baseball-Reference.

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