Trevor Rogers was sitting on his couch late last night when news of the Dean Kremer trade appeared on his phone. He didn’t know that Kremer was becoming an ex-teammate while music blared in the Orioles’ clubhouse following a 6-4 win over the Phillies.

“I really couldn’t believe it,” Rogers said this afternoon. “He’s been a staple here for a lot of years and it was tough to see him go, but he went to the Twins, they’re making a push. And we’re making a push here, too.

“The business of baseball. We all wish that he wasn’t the guy to get shipped out of here and stay with us, but I think he’s gonna do great over there. They got a solid guy, solid pitcher. Yeah, he’s gonna be missed here, for sure.”

The Orioles received 18-year-old outfielder Jhomnardo Reyes, who immediately was ranked as the No. 20 prospect in the system by MLB Pipeline.

Manager Craig Albernaz didn’t get a chance to speak with Kremer until earlier today while the right-hander was packing. He said Kremer was in “good spirits.”

“It’s part of the game, and I think the initial reactions were a little bit shocked,” Albernaz said.

“Dean’s been a leader here, a staple here for seven years he’s been here. He’s made a great impact on our clubhouse with all those players, and also the coaching staff, including myself, in the short time been around him. He’s such a great teammate, competitor, and he’s a baseball guy. He’s very engaged, loves to talk ball. Very aware of what’s going on. To lose someone like that, it’s tough, but it’s also part of the game, and he’s going to do well in Minnesota.”

The Orioles will play a three-game series at Target Field on Aug. 10-12.

“We wish Dean nothing but the best,” Albernaz said. “If we do face him, hopefully it will be a fun competition, but it’s part of the game and we’re sad to see him go.”

The trade deadline is 6 p.m. Monday and Rogers is waiting to find out whether he’s on the move again. The Marlins dealt him to the Orioles on July 30, 2024 for outfielder Kyle Stowers and infielder Connor Norby, and he’s drawing lots of interest from teams searching for starting pitching.

“It never gets easy,” Rogers said. “It makes it easier when guys are coming in instead of guys coming out. It’s a lot of uncertainty, so definitely when Monday comes and goes, everyone can kind of relax a little bit and get back to doing our jobs.”

Rogers has stated his desire to remain with the Orioles, who could hold onto him and make a qualifying offer after the season. They could trade him in their buyer/seller role and perhaps attempt to re-sign him in free agency. Or they could just cut ties.

“I just control the controllables,” Rogers said. “My wife’s on Twitter a lot, so I have to tell her, ‘Give your eyes a break, let’s relax a little bit. Kind of stay where our feet are.’

“I just stay where my feet are, control the controllables and see what happens.”

The bullpen is holding nine relievers with Yaramil Hiraldo recalled earlier today as Kremer’s roster replacement. Hiraldo broke camp with the team and appeared in three games before going on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation.

“The biggest thing with Hiraldo is he’s healthy,” Albernaz said. “You guys have seen the stuff. It’s real. And the look I had with him during spring training, it was impressive, and he got hurt pretty early in the year. So by all accounts he’s feeling great. Velo’s there and off-speed pitches are really competitive in the strike zone. So yeah, we’re excited to have Hiraldo back.”

The Orioles don’t need a fifth starter until next Saturday. Albernaz wouldn’t reveal whether the Orioles are going to plug in Kremer’s replacement Tuesday, saying the spot is TBD.

Left-hander Cade Povich is one of the leading candidates to join the rotation, but Chris Bassitt has only one or two rehab starts remaining with Triple-A Norfolk.

Coby Mayo is batting leadoff tonight for the first time in the majors and sixth as a professional, including three games in the Florida Complex League and two in Double-A. Mayo didn’t know until he checked the lineup card this afternoon, locking his eyes in the middle of it and scanning upward until finding his name.

Mayo assumed that he’d start against Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez. Being atop the order was the surprise.

“He’s been really good against left-handed pitching,” Albernaz said. “I think we’re still trying to figure out how to help the lineup against left-handed pitching. And with Coby, trying to get him as many at-bats as he can off Cris Sánchez.

“Cris Sánchez is a really good pitcher. It’s an understatement. So our ability to kind of mix and match a little bit and see where this goes.”

Albernaz is sticking with switch-hitting Leody Taveras in center field, with Cowser on the bench rather than getting the left-on-left assignment. Taveras batted .200 with a .527 OPS in 24 games in June and .133 with a .530 OPS in 20 games in July. He’s slashing .185 with a .500 OPS against lefties this season.

“The biggest thing is just managing the at-bat,” Albernaz said. “Cowser right now, he’s pretty close to a 50 percent strikeout rate against left-handed pitching, so with Leody, he has the ability to manage the at-bat, bunt move the ball around. So there’s a lot of things there that we like.”

Cowser’s edge is his defense in the middle.

“You kind of have to, which end of the sword you want to die with,” Albernaz said. “For right now, Leody plays not as good a center field as Cowser. Cowser plays a really good center field, but Leody holds his own out there, and with his ability as a switch-hitter and also being versatile in the outfield allows us to kind of mix-and-match late in the game.”

Note: This is probably my last article today unless news breaks. The trade watch never rests.