Winning matters to Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino and the players who remain in the clubhouse. Time cards aren’t punched. Flight reservations aren’t made in advance. They intend to compete every night.

The games still count.

It’s just a whole lot harder to claim them.

This is the life of a seller, a role which the Orioles haven’t portrayed in the past few years. They didn’t expect to do it in 2025, but they were torn apart again by injuries, underperformed, fired their manager and eventually began to make trades that wouldn’t impact the club this year or probably next.

Bryan Baker going to the Rays brought back the 37^th-overall pick in the draft, who became Oregon prep outfielder and aspiring musician Slater de Brun. “Lil Slayyy” will have his dayyy, but it won’t be anytime soon.

The Mets handed over two minor league pitchers yesterday for left-hander Gregory Soto. Cameron Foster is 26 and pitching in Double-A, so he has a shot to make his major league debut next summer. A shot. Nothing more. Fans shouldn’t have a beef with Wellington Aracena, 20, who was the Mets’ No. 19 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, and brings a four-seam fastball that sits 96-99 mph and topped out this year at 101.

Let the organization’s pitching department get its collective hands on him and see whether it can improve his command. He’s averaging 4.9 walks per nine innings, but also 11.8 strikeouts, which makes him a typical Orioles minor league project. And he hasn’t surrendered a home run in 64 1/3 innings.

The Rockies are rancid and seemed to be the ideal opponent with executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias working to complete more deals, but the Orioles fumbled an early 4-0 lead last night and lost 6-5. The first-place Blue Jays are the next visitors to Camden Yards, and the upcoming road trip takes the Orioles to Wrigley Field and Citizens Bank Park for the Cubs and Phillies, respectively.

The bullpen could lose at least one more reliever with Seranthony Domínguez and Andrew Kittredge drawing interest. The rotation could lose Charlie Morton, Zach Eflin and perhaps Tomoyuki Sugano, though his stock plummeted. Ryan O’Hearn, the lone All-Star, is the most attractive first baseman on the market. Outfielder Ramón Laureano also is the subject of trade rumors while tied for the team lead in home runs with 14.

Mansolino isn’t living in a cave or a fantasy world. He knows how hard the job becomes when some of his best players, veterans on expiring contracts, pack their bags. He had seven relievers last night and Grant Wolfram was the only lefty.

Cionel Pérez remains in Triple-A since the Orioles outrighted him May 31. He has a 6.46 ERA and 2.217 WHIP in 15 games. The last three appearances are scoreless, but he's allowed three hits and walked two batters in three innings.

“I think if you’re losing rotation pieces and bullpen pieces and every day players, then in terms of the direction turning, the wins and losses possibly could be affected, but by no means do I think the mentality of the organization changes,” Mansolino said.

“We’re still gonna try to go out there and win games with whoever’s in the building. What it’ll probably do is create more opportunities for guys who maybe haven’t gotten them in the past. I don’t think you’ve seen that here the last couple years. Because the Orioles have won so many games in ’23 and ’24, you’ve seen some prospects get blocked in a sense, right, because it’s hard to play over guys who are playing good and playing on winning teams. And maybe some of those guys have been shipped off in trades. And I think now you kind of enter a different scenario where some of those prospects possibility get an opportunity to come play in the big leagues, which is a very normal cycle for every team.

“It’s not unusual by any means.”

The oddity is how the Orioles can strengthen their roster internally while also weakening it with trades.

Cade Povich, Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells could jump into the rotation, though Wells also is a bullpen candidate. Reliever Keegan Akin is pitching tonight for Triple-A Norfolk before his reinstatement. Adley Rutschman will catch for the Tides again and perhaps return. Ryan Mountcastle is on his own rehab assignment with Norfolk. And Albert Suárez is working his way back.

We don’t have an update on Grayson Rodriguez, but it feels like that’s a big bonus if he pitches this year.

None of the comings and goings is making a difference in the standings. The Orioles are 13 games below .500 and nine back for the last Wild Card. Seven teams remain ahead of them.

Is there any point in checking anymore?

Probably not, but the disappointment coming from Mansolino last night illustrated just how much winning matters. Don't question it.

“That's a bitter one right there,” he said.

There's always tonight. 

* The Orioles hit four home runs the first time through the order last night, which hasn’t been done since Aug. 19, 2016 against the Astros.

They needed two innings last night. Adam Jones, Manny Machado, Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo homered off Collin McHugh in the first inning nine years ago.

The Orioles lost that game, too, by a 15-8 score at Camden Yards.

* From the Department of Useless Information:

Infielder Jeremiah Jackson, whose contract was selected yesterday, is only the second Oriole to wear No. 82 after infielder Kelvin Gutiérrez in 2021 and 2022.

But does it count if he doesn’t play?

Jackson appeared to be packing his belongings after the game. Mansolino said earlier that Jackson would “pop in for tonight, and then we’ll go from there.”

The Orioles won't stay with seven relievers for long.