masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgARLINGTON, Texas – On a night when starter Chris Tillman gave up eight runs and his ERA increased to 7.65, the Orioles added veteran right-handed starter Jeremy Hellickson in a trade with Philadelphia.
Hellickson should provide some level of upgrade to the Orioles rotation, but the bar has not been set high by a rotation with a combined ERA of 5.98 after last night.
Some fans became very nervous at news of the trade last night. The Orioles did not add a top starter here, and they didn’t give…

ARLINGTON, Texas – On a night when starter Chris Tillman gave up eight runs and his ERA increased to 7.65, the Orioles added veteran right-handed starter Jeremy Hellickson in a trade with Philadelphia.

Hellickson should provide some level of upgrade to the Orioles rotation, but the bar has not been set high by a rotation with a combined ERA of 5.98 after last night.

Some fans became very nervous at news of the trade last night. The Orioles did not add a top starter here, and they didn’t give up a lot to get him, in my opinion. Hyun Soo Kim was batting .232 with a .305 OBP and could not get off the bench here. Lefty Garrett Cleavinger is a reliever with a 6.28 ERA at the Double-A level. And while fans get frustrated that the club trades international bonus slots, the Orioles at least didn’t give up something they planned to use.

Chance Sisco is still here, so are Tanner Scott, Hunter Harvey, Ryan Mountcastle, Austin Hays and all the other top prospects. They didn’t mortgage their future to get Hellickson. If you believe that they did, you are just reading this wrong.

Brad-Brach-throw-black-sidebar.jpgWe could still see a trade of a reliever, with Zach Britton and Brad Brach still being sought after by contenders. The Orioles are not “buyers” because they traded Kim and Cleavinger.

Hellickson is not likely to be here beyond this season, but I guess there is always the chance he likes it here and the Orioles offer him a deal to keep him beyond 2017. But they likely could have just signed him as a free agent in a few months anyway. He is 6-5 with a 4.73 ERA in 20 starts this year. He went 12-10 with a 3.71 ERA last year, and that got him a salary of $17.2 million for this season when he accepted the Phillies’ qualifying offer.

He is not likely to make the difference for an Orioles team that is now 6 1/2 games out in the wild card race. The Orioles are going the wrong way in this race. They won the opener of this road trip Monday to provide some hope and promise. And then, as with most times this year when something looked good, it didn’t last and it turned the wrong direction.

Maybe today we begin to find out some answers to questions like, “Who will Hellickson replace on the roster and in the rotation?” and “Who will take Kim’s spot?” The answers to those questions and what happens now through Monday at 4 p.m. probably is going to tell us a lot more than anything that happened with that trade last night.