Orioles reliever Andrew Kittredge spent Monday lounging by the pool with his family. He tried to stay detached from his phone but naturally had to glance at it a few times.

The trade deadline was approaching and Kittredge knew that his name was jammed into the rumor mill. The Orioles dealt him to the Cubs last summer and could part with him again.

“I was checking in on it periodically just because it’s definitely interesting,” he said yesterday, still at the same locker in the home clubhouse. “I wasn’t necessarily worried or all that locked in. I thought, if it happens, it happens, and if not, I’m happy to be here.”

The clock struck 6 p.m., a few more trades tickled in, and Kittredge remained in the organization. His pending free agency and the demand for relievers on the market made him a strong candidate to leave. Instead, he sat yesterday and chatted with teammate Zach Eflin before a reporter approached him.

“My agent had called just like right around the deadline and he asked if I had heard anything and I hadn’t, and he hadn’t either,” Kittredge said. “So we were just kind of, ‘Well, I guess we’re here.’

“I didn’t really have any insight one way or the other how it was going to turn, so I just basically tried to not put too much thought into it.”

The clubhouse changed anyway. Catcher Adley Rutschman was traded to the Red Sox for three prospects, catcher Carlos Narváez and a player to be named later or cash considerations. Outfielder Taylor Ward was sent to the Mariners for reliever Alex Hoppe and two minor league pitchers.

Tyler Wells was the reliever who left despite being under team control beyond this season. He was dealt to the Rays for minor league starter Michael Forret, a former Orioles draft pick and prospect.

“Those are tough decisions you’ve got to make, and especially when we’re in the position we’re in, where it’s kind of damned if you do and damned if you don’t,” said Kittredge, who retired the side in order last night on six pitches to earn his fifth save. “It was tough to see some of those guys go because they’ve been a big part of what we’re doing this year. So yeah, it is tough, but the guys here left, I think we still have a really good group and the talent, too, to keep pushing forward and try to make a playoff run.

“I think it was interesting the way we went, where it wasn’t really a full sell or anything like that. I think we still have the talent left in here to go for it.”

Wells made his Rays debut yesterday and struck out four in 1 1/3 scoreless and hitless innings. Kittredge texted him after the trade.

“I know he’s probably real busy,” Kittredge said. “I don’t think he responded yet but I know he’ll get back to me. I just wished him well. And having played in Tampa myself, I think he’s really gonna enjoy it there. The staff there was really good. It’s very similar to here as far as, you know, tight knit group. It’s a good place to play, so I think he’ll enjoy it there.”

*Rutschman is on the 10-day injured list with left elbow inflammation and the Red Sox don’t know when he’ll be reinstated. Meanwhile, Samuel Basallo remains on the 10-day IL with right shoulder inflammation and is progressing baseball activities. He could begin a rehab assignment in two weeks.

“I’m doing everything I can right now, everything that’s being asked of me to get back out there as quick as possible,” he said yesterday via interpreter Brandon Quinones. “I’m feeling good, I’m progressing as needed. I’m right on track, so hopefully I can be back soon.”

Basallo will be the No. 1 catcher when healthy, though president of baseball operations Mike Elias said in Monday’s video call that the rookie will continue to move from behind the plate to the designated hitter role and some first base.

“The plan was always to kind of rotate him through and have him catch more like half or fewer than half the games,” Elias said.

Basallo no longer will be sharing the position with Rutschman. Carlos Narváez has been in the lineup the past two nights, but Yohel Pozo could catch today’s early afternoon game.

“Yeah, we lost a big piece of the team, for sure,” Basallo said. “All we can do now is keep going forward, and I wish him all the best in his career  going forward.”

Asked whether the trade surprised him, Basallo said, “Yeah, of course.”

“I thought maybe some other names could be moved, but not him,” Basallo said. “It was a bit surprising, but all we can do now is continue going forward and doing the best we can with the guys that are here now and the guys that are gonna come up later or join us later. And that’s all we can control right now.”

*New outfielder Christian Franklin, acquired from the Nationals Monday, provides the latest example that it’s a small baseball world.

The Cubs drafted Franklin in the fourth round in 2021 out of the University of Arkansas. One year earlier, the Orioles selected Razorbacks outfielder Heston Kjerstad second overall.

They played together during the 2019 and ’20 seasons, the latter cut short by the pandemic.

“Great player, hard worker, and just a guy that set an example for the rest of the team, and I still look up to him this day,” Franklin said. “It’s going to be cool being teammates with him again. I was excited. He was one of the first guys that I talked to after the trade.”

Franklin missed the 2022 minor league season after tearing the patella tendon in his left knee, but his physical history can’t compare to Kjerstad, who was diagnosed with myocarditis shortly after the draft, strained his hamstring in Sarasota after being cleared for baseball activities, suffered a concussion in July 2024 when Yankees reliever Clay Holmes drilled him on the helmet, experienced symptoms again and had to be shut down, and didn’t play after July 25 last season for undisclosed reasons. “He’s a resilient guy, and just seeing the way he worked and went about his business at Arkansas, I knew that it wasn’t anything that would keep him down,” Franklin said. “Definitely tough to see, him having to sit out for so long, but I know that anytime, no matter how long he sits, that bat’s never gonna be asleep. That dude can hit. Wake up out of bed and hit. So I knew he was gonna be all right regardless.”