No one could have imagined 29-year old righty reliever Alfredo Simon being the Orioles’ closer at this point in the season, but he is. Simon has pitched in 27 games (0 starts) for the Orioles this year and he is 2-1 with 13 saves, a 3.14 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. He has walked 15 batters in only 28 2/3 innings this season so he needs to tighten up his control a bit. Simon took advantage of injuries to Mike Gonzalez and Jim Johnson to earn the job as the Orioles’ closer and I think he will keep the job as he has outstanding stuff. But he needs to throw more strikes.

The Orioles have released 29-year old switch hitting outfielder Joey Gathright. Gathright played in 61 games for the O’s in AAA-ball last year and he was 40 of 216 (.185 avg, .477 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 0 homers, 7 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. This is not much of a loss for the Orioles as Gathright was being overmatched in AAA. Speed is his best asset but you can’t steal first base.

The Orioles are such a mess right now that they need quality and quantity at the trade deadline and they have some pieces that other teams want. I would ship righty starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie to the White Sox for outfielders Jordan Danks, John Shelby and righty starting pitcher Jeff Marquez. Then I would flip infielder Ty Wigginton to the Twins for righty reliever Anthony Slama and catcher Jose Morales. The Braves could use another hitter and with that in mind I would send Luke Scott to them for righty reliever Jesse Chavez, outfielder Gregor Blanco and shortstop Diory Hernandez. I would flip lefty reliever Will Ohman to the Phillies for 23-year old reliever Matt Way. Finally I would flip Mark Hendrickson to the Giants for righty starter/reliever Joe Martinez. These trades would be solid ones if the Orioles could pull them off. Danks, Shelby, Slama and Way are solid prospects. Marquez, Martinez and Chavez would give them some solid arms that could help them right now. Morales is a solid hitting catcher, Blanco a solid CF and Hernandez has good versatility in the field.

26-year old righty swinging 1B/OF Nolan Reimold played in 29 games for the Orioles earlier this year and he was 17 of 83 (.205 avg, .639 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 2 homers and 10 RBIs. He was then sent to AAA and he hasn’t being playing any better in the minors. Reimold has played in 52 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 39 of 190 (.205 avg, .611 OPS) with 21 runs scored, 6 homers and 19 RBIs. Despite a possible fire sale I don’t see the Orioles calling Reimold back to Baltimore until he starts to show something in the minors.

The Orioles have placed 24-year old switch hitting catcher Matt Wieters on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring. Wieters has played in 77 games for the O’s this year and he is 66 of 269 (.245 avg, .672 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 6 homers and 29 RBIs. Craig Tatum and Jake Fox will take over for Wieters while he is out of action. Tatum has played in 24 games for the Orioles so far this season and he is 15 of 61 (.246 avg, .622 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 5 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He will likely handle most of the catching because he’s a lot better defender than Fox is behind the plate. Fox has played in 12 games for the O’s this season and he is 7 of 28 (.250 avg, .847 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 3 homers and 4 RBIs.