Orioles' Duquette says team in market for pitching, won't give up on season

If you had the Baltimore Orioles labeled as sellers, think again.

Executive Vice-President of Baseball Operations Dan Duquette refuted rumors that the Orioles would look to trade away members of its core and, instead, said the team is focused on adding pitchers before the trade deadline.

"Day in, day out we have to compete against the toughest teams in the league. This year we haven't had the starting pitching that we need, but the other elements of our ball club are intact," Duquette said, according to Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com.

"And if we can get a little bit better pitching or add to the pitching we can make a run at this ... whatever we do (at the trade deadline) we are going to try to help the club. I still like a lot of our core players. I don't believe all of this stuff that says we have half the club on the market because we have a lot of baseball left to be played."

Duquette's comments come after it was recently reported that club owner Peter Angelos granted Duquette, who oversees baseball operations, permission to trade away the team's top relievers, as well as outfielder Seth Smith.

Entering Saturday, Orioles starters have posted the league's most walks per nine innings (4.04), second worst ERA (5.93) and third lowest WAR (2.0).

The club currently sits four games under .500 and has a run differential of minus-72, the third lowest among American League teams.