The Orioles are moving from deep in the heart of Texas, where they avoided a three-game beating yesterday, to Minnesota for another series against a team that’s in the Wild Card race.

Yesterday’s 10-5 win over the Rangers felt much more important than a typical Aug. 9 matchup. The Orioles could have fallen four games back in the Wild Card chase. They’re only two, with American League mediocrity keeping them afloat.

I live for the mailbag. Let’s jump back in and take a quick dip.

If Colton Cowser and Coby Mayo don’t finish strong, will Mike Elias finally move on from them?
I can’t speak for Elias, but I know that Cowser and Mayo aren’t untouchables in trade talks. I also know that they have roles on this team. Cowser isn’t hitting like he’s capable, but he’s the best defensive outfielder on the club and he showed again yesterday that he can provide power off the bench if he isn’t in the lineup. Mayo mashes lefties and can back up at the infield corners if Jordan Westburg is able to give the team a full season at third base in 2027. They can be useful pieces, with the potential for more. They aren’t in the way.

We lost a few contributors at the trade deadline, and we’re coming into a stretch of the season where we’re playing fellow Wild Card chasers and some top teams. How do our postseason odds look now that the deadline day dust has settled some?
You know how I feel about posted odds, but I aim to please. FanGraphs lowered the Orioles to 11.1 percent after Friday night’s loss and 9.2 after Saturday. But guess what? The odds are expected to inch up after yesterday’s win.

Which of these road series is the biggest test?
All of them. The hole they dug won’t allow for many failures. The schedule allowed the Orioles to ease back into competition after the deadline trades, with the Angels bringing the worst record in baseball to Baltimore, but that was followed by trips to Texas, Minnesota and St. Petersburg. Then they’ve got the Yankees and Rays at home. It just feels like we’re finally going to know whether the playoffs are a realistic pursuit. The offense needs to bust out, which, of course, is going to be harder with Adley Rutschman and Taylor Ward traded and Samuel Basallo on the injured list. Rutschman, by the way, started his rehab assignment on Saturday. That uniform also won’t look right on him.

Is Gunnar Henderson having a lousy season because he is playing hurt?
If he is, he’s kept it a secret again. We didn’t know that Henderson had a shoulder impingement last season until he mentioned it Jan. 8 on the “Orioles Hot Stove Show” on WBAL Radio. Henderson said he felt it “pretty much for three-quarters of the year.” Maybe we’ll have to wait until winter to find out, but the assumption here is that he isn’t hurt. He’s just fighting himself at the plate. He’s hitting into some tough luck, for sure, and he’s pressing. The frustration is evident pretty much every game. “It’s been tough,” Henderson told reporters Saturday night. “It’s been pissing me off a lot. I feel really good in the box and seems like I just miss pitches, and it’s super frustrating, man.” Henderson added this when talking about two defensive mistakes that led to a pair of unearned runs: “Baseball sucks sometimes, man.” I want this printed on a T-shirt, immediately.

Does this O’s team have a fiery leader type like they had previously when a Buck was manager and Adam Jones was holding guys accountable in the clubhouse? Pete Alonso seems like a good leader in terms of work ethic, setting a proper example, taking blame when warranted, but I don’t get the impression that he’s a leader in the mold of Buck or A.J., and that this team might still be lacking that guy, especially since Craig Albernaz himself seems pretty chill.
I’ll warn again against judging the manager based on what airs on the pre- and post-game shows. Charlie Rich was right way back in the day. No one knows what goes on behind closed doors. Alonso might not be a yeller, but he’s definitely a leader, the guy who calls the team together on the field or in the clubhouse. It’s one of his finer qualities. He’s vocal and he also leads by example. Chris Bassitt also isn’t shy about speaking up and his voice definitely carries, though we only hear it when he’s teasing a teammate or just providing commentary on anything that he notices. But I get your point. There are a lot of quiet-type personalities in the clubhouse.

In your opinion what constitutes a successful season for this group?
Making the playoffs and winning at least one series. Battling back to push the season into October would be impressive given where they are, but we must return to the original goal set over the winter. It wasn’t just the playoffs. It was a deep run. Anything less would be a failure. After Rutschman was traded, it seemed like more people talked and wrote about how the Orioles didn’t win a playoff series in his tenure. Not how they earned back-to-back playoff berths and posted the best record in the American League in 2023.

Injuries and underperformance are mostly to blame, but do you think an experienced manager would have this team over .500?
Let’s go back to the way you began this question. An experienced manager can’t control injuries, and Albernaz isn’t holding back the hitters and causing them to underperform. He isn’t the reason why production is down, guys don’t come through with runners in scoring position, soft ground balls roll under gloves, etc. I don’t think Earl Weaver would have Gunnar Henderson hitting .320 with 30 bombs. And I’m not picking on Henderson. He isn’t the only disappointing player on the team. A more experienced manager couldn’t turn this defense into a Gold Glove convention. We can debate whether keeping guys at one position and relying less on versatility would be beneficial. It’s easy to go back and second-guess a manager’s moves over the course of a season, including pitching changes and pinch-hitting decisions, but the Orioles would have a much better chance at an above-.500 record with their projected lineup, rotation and bullpen, and with better performances from some “core” players. On top of that, the trade deadline just raised the degree of difficulty in winning games.

The O’s offense gets into a fight with a wet paper bag. Who wins?
This seems like a good place to stop. It also seemed like a better question before yesterday.