July 2012 - Baltimore Orioles Wiretap

The Orioles and Phillies continue to discuss a potential trade for Joe Blanton. Baltimore received medical records on a pair of minor league players from Philadelphia on Tuesday morning.

The Orioles are trying to decide whether to make an offer for Phillies right-hander Joe Blanton, according to sources. Philadelphia is making Blanton available on the market. "He's there if they want him," a source said of Blanton's availability in relation to Baltimore.

Brian Roberts will have season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip. The announcement was made on Sunday, less than 24 hours after the Orioles second baseman began a rehabilitation assignment with Class A Aberdeen. "It just hasn't responded the way we were hoping it would," Roberts said. "Deep down in my gut, I think I knew before last night."

The Orioles are looking for a left-handed relief pitcher, according to multiple sources. Baltimore has one of the best bullpens in the game this season, but they only have one lefty reliever on their current 25-man roster. The Orioles have Zach Phillips in the minors, but if they want to go the trade route, some left-handed relievers that potentially could be available include Kansas City's Jose Mijares, Toronto's Darren Oliver and Seattle's Oliver Perez.

The Orioles have recalled veteran left-handed reliever Dana Eveland from Triple-A Norfolk to fortify their bullpen. Eveland arrived Thursday morning, less than 24 hours after Buck Showalter used five relievers in a loss to the Rays.

The market for Chase Headley is growing and there is now a strong possibility that the Padres will trade him, according to sources. The Orioles, Indians, Pirates and Athletics are among as many as 10 teams to have checked in on Headley.

Violet Ripken, the 74-year-old mother of former Orioles third baseman Cal Ripken Jr., has been found after being abducted at gunpoint. "As you now know, our mother was abducted at gunpoint from her home yesterday morning," a statement from the Ripken family said. "This has been a very trying time for our family, but we are grateful and relieved that mom is back with us, safe and healthy. We want to thank everyone for their tremendous support, especially all of the law enforcement agencies that worked so hard and quickly. This is on ongoing investigation, so we hope everyone understands that we cannot comment further at this time. Thank you." According to the Balitmore Sun, Violet Ripken was abducted at gunpoint on Tuesday morning between 7-8 a.m. ET. Aberdeen police said they were called by Baltimore County police around 8:30 p.m. ET Tuesday night involving a suspicious vehicle. Violet Ripken was found around 6:15 a.m. Wednesday in her vehicle near her home.

Jake Arrieta was Baltimore's Opening Day starter and holds significant promise, but his statistics are not all that impressive. He is 19-23 with a 5.27 ERA for the Orioles in his career, including 3-9 with a 6.13 ERA this season. Some within the Orioles organization believe that the team would be foolish to give up on him, according to Major League sources. The problem is that Baltimore wants to improve their playoff chances ahead of the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline without dealing any of their top prospects. That means Arrieta could be in play. "I think they would move him," one rival executive said. "They don't have much choice if they want true upgrades and won't trade their premium guys."

The Orioles continue to search for improvements ahead of the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. Baltimore appears to be looking for a corner infielder with the ability to get on base at a high clip. They also would like to add a starting pitcher. In the past few weeks, the Orioles have had talks about San Diego's Chase Headley, Philadelphia's Placido Polanco and Chicago's Bryan LaHair, among others, according to sources.

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette plans to do whatever he can to keep the team in the playoff hunt. On Friday night, Baltimore acquired middle infielder Omar Quintanilla from the Mets for cash considerations. Duquette continues to search for a starting pitcher. "We're still looking around," the executive said. "The issue on the trade market is a lot of teams are in contention and there are a lot of teams looking to bolster their team for the stretch run. And we have similar pitchers in our organization already. So, we'll see how that develops. I'm not really interested in making a trade just to make a trade, but I'll try to do what I can to add to the ballclub. "We're talking to clubs all the time. I've had a number of discussions this week with teams. You haven't seen a lot of trades yet, right? The new basic agreement has affected the market. The trading of players and receiving draft picks has changed. It's the first time for this agreement and first time teams are going through this process and it's taking them a while to figure out what are the appropriate values." Duquette was still in full buyer's mode even before the current three-game winning streak. "We're still in the hunt," he said. "We're glad to be in the hunt and we'll do everything we can to stay in the hunt."