FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Less than two weeks before Opening Day, trade noises are echoing throughout Major League Baseball, but if the Orioles make a move, it figures to be more of a whisper than a shout.
Ken Griffey or Carlos Beltran? No chance.
"A sure-fire productive player is going to be very tough to come by," Orioles executive vice president Jim Beattie said yesterday.
After striking out in their efforts to sign a major run-producer on the free-agent market, the Orioles entered spring training at least somewhat hopeful they could accomplish this longtime goal through a trade.
The Orioles called about Griffey, but the Cincinnati Reds said he's no longer available. The Kansas City Royals are still looking to move Beltran, but they're asking for things the Orioles simply don't have.
Most baseball executives expect to see some movement on the trade front between now and the March 29 deadline for teams to set their Opening Day rosters. Once this window closes, teams figure to stand pat for a while again.
"We still have efforts out there to improve the club," Beattie said, speaking only in general terms. "But if you rely on a trade [to fill a need], you cannot necessarily say it's going to be a done deal. And even if we get a player, there are going to be some people who say, `That's not good enough.'
"If they're looking for one of those premier guys, those are guys you can't get."
Last week, in the first trade of the Beattie and Mike Flanagan era, the Orioles moved oft-injured outfielder Chris Richard to the Colorado Rockies for power-hitting prospect Jack Cust. That deal might help the Orioles down the road, but it doesn't figure to have much effect this year.
In their latest player evaluation meeting, at least two Orioles coaches had Cust on their projected Opening Day roster, but the prevailing wisdom is he'll go to Triple-A Ottawa for continued seasoning.
What's next?
"The player we've always looked at," Beattie said, "is someone who has some upside, who might have even struggled last year. Take a little bit of a chance maybe in having a player return to form. Maybe he's in the last year of his contract."
The Orioles asked the Chicago White Sox about outfielder Carlos Lee, whose average over the past three years has dropped from .301 to .269 to .264.
Those talks went nowhere.
