BALTIMORE -- The Manny Machado sweepstakes are well underway, and Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette acknowledged Tuesday that with Baltimore in last place, his phone will be ringing a lot over the next month and a half.
"We have several weeks of work to do, yeah," Duquette said, laughing at the understatement as Baltimore enters a pivotal non-waiver Trade Deadline window. "[A lot of work] in the next day."
That doesn't mean, of course, that there will be a fire sale. The Orioles had a high asking price for Machado this winter when they dangled him, and the interest is higher right now.
"Well, there's more clubs that have identified that they're contenders, right? In the winter time, clubs weren't sure where they would be in the race, but now, I think they've got a better idea," Duquette said of Machado's market. "There's a lot of clubs in the race that are active, trying to add to their ballclub."
While there's been speculation that the Orioles would consider trading guys who aren't free agents, such as Jonathan Schoop or pitchers Kevin Gausman and Dylan Bundy, Duquette said that isn't the case. The interest lies in the club's four primary pending free agents: Machado, Zach Britton, Adam Jones and Brad Brach.
"That's generally how the market works this time of year," Duquette said of the interest in rentals. "Whatever we do, we want to add to our club. Hopefully we can do that for a couple years."
In the final year of his contract -- along with manager Buck Showalter -- Duquette will be tasked with making trades that could impact the organization for a long time. Does he feel pressure to get a substantial return for a player like Machado?
"Well, the market will dictate that," said Duquette. "I'm sure there will be a lot of teams trying to add to their club."
Duquette said trade talks have not advanced enough with any club to talk specific names and he -- like Showalter -- is confident Britton will be able to re-establish his value coming off the disabled list.
"It's disappointing for everybody when your ballclub doesn't do what it's expected to do," Duquette said. "The good news is our pitching has been decent, obviously we've been struggling to score runs. Our defense needs to get stronger. So we have a lot of work to do."
Cashner to DL
Andrew Cashner was placed on the 10-day disabled list Tuesday (retroactive to Saturday) with a lower back strain. The club hopes the righty, who first had his back lock up after his Friday start in Toronto, will return after the minimum 10-day stay.
To take Cashner's roster spot, the O's recalled left-hander Donnie Hart from Triple-A Norfolk.
Cashner will miss Wednesday's scheduled start, and Yefry Ramirez will be called up from Norfolk to make his Major League debut.
Worth noting
• Struggling slugger Chris Davis did not start on Tuesday and will get three days off to help get him going.
• Rule 5 pick Pedro Araujo, who was placed on the DL on Monday with a right elbow strain, said there is no timetable for his return.
• In addition to first-rounder Grayson Rodriguez, the Orioles have signed 14 other players from this year's Draft. Outfielder Robert Neustrom (fifth round), left-handed pitcher Kevin Magee (ninth), right-handed pitcher Dallas Litscher (10th), right-handed pitcher Parker McFadden (16th), right-handed pitcher Jake Zebron (18th), infielder Ian Evans (26th), left-handed pitcher Jason Montville (27th), catcher Jared Denning (29th), right-handed pitcher Tyler Joyner (30th), right-handed pitcher Jayvien Sandridge (32nd), infielder Zach McLeod (33rd), outfielder Trey Truitt (34th), catcher Matt Beaird (36th) and right-handed pitcher Andrew Ciolli (37th).