Duquette on O's trades: 'We are in this race'

BALTIMORE -- The Orioles had quite the weekend.

Friday's non-waiver Trade Deadline saw a flurry of moves that continued into Saturday and can be best be boiled down to this: Gerardo Parra and Mychal Givens are on the active roster. Bud Norris, Chris Parmelee and Tommy Hunter are not.

But are the Orioles better for it?

"I think so," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said on Friday after the Parra and Hunter moves became official. "I hope so. I'm not getting too deep right now. That other stuff, we all think about in our down time, but there are a lot of things contingent on signing players. Next year is next year. We are trying to win a World Championship this year. That's the situation we are in."

Parra gives the O's a solid outfield bat and versatility in the corner outfield spots, as he's played both left and right field. That trade, which went down on Friday morning, was nearly done several days prior but got held up. The move, which saw pitching prospect Zach Davies go to the Brewers, also came with the news that the Orioles had designated Norris for assignment.

Norris, who has struggled to find his footing and didn't take well to the demotion to the bullpen, hasn't garnered much trade interest, given his performance and salary remaining. Baltimore has a few more days to find a suitor, but it's likely Norris will be released at some point later in the week.

The O's also designated Parmelee for assignment prior to Friday's game and traded Hunter to the Cubs in exchange for Triple-A outfielder Junior Lake, a move that saves them Hunter's remaining salary and adds flexibility to the 'pen. Baltimore immediately recalled Givens and Mike Wright, who was placed on the disabled list Saturday.

"Believe me, we added [some salary]," executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette said. "But at the same time, we have other very capable pitchers coming into our bullpen. Tommy Hunter is going to be a free agent at the end of the season. And the players that are going into the bullpen not only have talent, but they can also do a very responsible job for the club in the future. We just thought this was a good opportunity to make a transition with the bullpen and help us manage our pitching."

Despite the O's inconsistent play this season, Duquette was adamant that the Orioles would be buyers at the Deadline.

"And the reason for that is our run differential. We've been scoring more runs than we've given up That tells me we are in this race and we are still competing for this season," he said. "I think our fans, our players, our organization, are going to do what we can to get to the next step."