SAN DIEGO - With less than 48 hours to the Major League Baseball trade deadline, Orioles manager Brandon Hyde was asked today if he expects the club to make some trades by 4 p.m. ET Wednesday.
"Maybe. Possible. I have no idea honestly," Hyde said. "We might have five guys move. We might have nobody move. From what I have heard, it is very up in the air.
"Me and Mike (Elias) talk quite a bit. So we talk a few times a day and he lets me know what is going on, if there are any rumblings. If I have an opinion on a player. We talk about that."
The Orioles have no untouchables, and while there are certainly players that they would be less likely to part with, they are doing the due diligence now in the final hours to the deadline.
"Well, I think he's (Elias) not going to just give away players," said Hyde. "He's not going to move people to move people. There has got to be the right partner, the right fit and the right return. But I think, yeah, in our situation, it's open for anybody if the return is there. So we'll see if it is."
Hyde was asked if he has had some conversations with players about the deadline.
"Not too much," he said. "I think guys are so aware now. There is movement and things happening every hour right now, it feels like. You are aware that things might happen. I think some of the guys that have been talked about have seen it happen also. I don't think it's any kind of secret that where we are organizationally that we're going to try and get as many young players as possible, and they are working hard to make deals if they do even happen. It's not something we openly talk about. I just think guys are aware of the situation. And it has not affected our play, we've been playing really good. Played pretty well the last month."
Hyde talked about recalling right-hander David Hess (1-9, 7.15 ERA) to make tonight's start against San Diego. Hess may not be able to go too long, pitching on three days' rest after throwing 86 pitches Thursday for Triple-A Norfolk.
"We need a starter," Hyde said. "Need a guy to be able to give us some innings, and we felt like David was the guy to come up and do that for us. He's going to be cut short. Kind of in a tough spot, to be honest with you, and we're going to do the best we can. I'm obviously not going to extend him very long, and we'll check on him after every inning."
Hyde said that Tom Eshelman will start tomorrow afternoon's game here and not follow an opener as had been originally listed. He also said John Means continues to progress and should come off the injured list to start at home against the Yankees during that series, which takes place from Aug. 5-7.
That was quick: The first two pitches Hess threw tonight left the yard as Fernando Tatis Jr. and Franmil Reyes homered for a 2-0 lead. Tatis went 400 feet and Reyes 433 as the Padres went back-to-back for the sixth time in 2019. Hess got the next three outs, but it's 2-0 Padres. He's now allowed 23 homers in 69 innings.
O's on the board: The O's scored on Chris Paddack in the third on Anthony Santander's RBI single and it's 2-1 Padres.
Yikes, more SD homers: After Hess appeared to settle down, retiring nine in a row with six strikeouts, San Diego hit two more homers in the fourth. Manny Machado tripled to start the frame and Eric Hosmer's two-run homer made it 4-1. With two outs, a Luis UrÃas homer to right made it 5-1.
Welcome to the bigs: Dillon Tate recorded two strikeouts in his major league debut in the seventh. The bad news: They came only after he hit a batter, surrendered an infield hit and gave up a three-run homer to Eric Hosmer. The Padres now lead 8-1.
Final update: Renato Núñez grounded into a forceout with the bases loaded to end it. The Padres win 8-1.