masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgThe non-waiver trade deadline passed Tuesday afternoon with Danny Valencia an innocent bystander. A spectator from his seat inside the visiting clubhouse at Yankee Stadium.
Valencia didn’t attract serious interest, but he could be moved by the Aug. 31 deadline for players to be included on a postseason roster. He’d have to pass through waivers. Have bat, will travel.
“I’ve been traded in the middle of seasons before, and what I’ve come to learn is you can’t worry about it,” he said. “If…

The non-waiver trade deadline passed Tuesday afternoon with Danny Valencia an innocent bystander. A spectator from his seat inside the visiting clubhouse at Yankee Stadium.

Valencia didn’t attract serious interest, but he could be moved by the Aug. 31 deadline for players to be included on a postseason roster. He’d have to pass through waivers. Have bat, will travel.

“I’ve been traded in the middle of seasons before, and what I’ve come to learn is you can’t worry about it,” he said. “If it would have happened, it would happen. It didn’t happen.”

Pretty much the same simplicity as see the ball, hit the ball.

Valencia-Swinging-Gray-Sidebar.jpg“I’m happy to be with these guys,” he said. “I like the guys around here. I’ve got some close friends still on this team, and we’ll continue to play baseball the best we can.”

Valencia sat in the corner of the clubhouse, with televisions suspended from the ceiling in the middle of the room airing MLB Network’s coverage of the deadline. His phone was close to him.

“You kind of check just to see what’s happening around the league, but I’m sure I’m not the top choice to be traded out of this clubhouse,” he said. “There’s a lot of guys who would get moved before I would probably get moved, and rightfully so. You can probably get nice hauls for, obviously, what we got.

“Honestly, I didn’t pay much attention to it.”

Valencia was preoccupied with watching his teammates receive the news.

“This season just didn’t go definitely the way we envisioned, but I didn’t expect it to be like this, let alone having a complete sell-off of our best players,” he said. “It’s tough because all of those guys are good baseball players, they’re good people. Hoping that the guys that come in here now after that continue to not only be good baseball players but be good teammates and just good people in general. But it’s a tough day for everybody.”

* Cody Carroll is one of the newcomers, part of the three-player package acquired from the Yankees for closer Zach Britton. The right-hander made his major league debut yesterday and tossed a scoreless seventh inning. Giancarlo Stanton doubled off him.

Carroll wasn’t anticipating that his contract would be selected this early, but the Orioles summoned him as Brad Brach’s replacement.

“I kind of thought maybe September, but never this fast,” he said.

“I was a little in shock, you know? Didn’t see it coming whatsoever. It kind of happened real fast and that was about it.”

Asked what he brings to the Orioles, Carroll resisted the urge to rattle off every item in his suitcase.

“Hopefully, just go out there and throw some zeros for the guys,” he said. “That’s why they bring you up, so I guess that’s what I’m here to do.”

The Orioles will use the rebuild to evaluate prospects such as Carroll and lengthen their leashes. Carroll, in turn, will try to take advantage of his opportunity and avoid hopping on the Triple-A shuttle.

“Absolutely,” he said. “You’re always kind of out there trying to show everybody what you’ve got, and I think this is a great opportunity for me to be here, especially when rebuilding. It gives me an opportunity to show what I can do.”

* Richard Bleier got to spend one day with his teammates after having his right shoulder examined by Dr. Anthony Romeo, who repaired his left lat muscle.

Bleier is out of his sling, and he probably thought he was in the wrong clubhouse with so many new faces.

Britton and Brach are gone. Darren O’Day was on the disabled list and now he’s going to the Braves.

“Yeah, it definitely is (weird),” he said. “Everybody knows that trades and stuff like this are part of the game and we knew that there was a chance for this to happen, but when it actually happens, it’s just really weird. It’s a little upsetting. Just kind of means the team is going in a different direction, I guess, than we envisioned in spring training, so it’s kind of upsetting, as well.”

Bleier might have been moved at the deadline if not for the surgery. He certainly would have been a topic of discussions.

“I have no idea, honestly,” he said. I think anyone in this room is a trade chip if a team feels there’s value. Hopefully, teams find value in me, but I enjoy pitching for the Orioles and I focus on that.”

* Adam Jones declined the chance to waive his 10-5 rights and go to the Phillies, in case you somehow missed it. He’s still in center field and still the clubhouse leader.

Does he have to take on more of the responsibilities after the trades? Not according to Jones.

“You’ve still got good veterans here,” he said. “You’ve got C.D. (Chris Davis), Cash (Andrew Cashner), (Alex) Cobb. A good group of guys that have been around and that have been through the ups and downs of Major League Baseball, so I just think these next two months we just have to go out there and play the game hard, play it right and get what we can get out of it.”

* Jones lined a ball into the Orioles’ dugout yesterday and it hit strength and conditioning coach Joe Hogarty in the face.

Hogarty dropped to the floor as players waved for head athletic trainer Brian Ebel. He rose to his feet and held a towel to his face while walking to the clubhouse.

The ball struck Hogarty on the nose and mouth.

“It doesn’t look like anything is broken,” said manager Buck Showalter, “but he’s got some lacerations.”

Showalter added that it probably was a little too soon to tease Hogarty about it.

* Pitcher Ruben Garcia, who’s currently on short-season Single-A Aberdeen’s roster, has received a 50-game suspension without pay after testing positive for an amphetamine, a stimulant in violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

Garcia, 22, was a 14th-round pick in 2016 out of Eastern Florida State. He made eight relief appearances this season and posted a 5.27 ERA and 1.68 WHIP in 13 2/3 innings. He’s 1-3 with a 5.05 ERA and 1.47 WHIP in 34 games over three seasons, the last two at Aberdeen.