"I've gotten several emails in the past few days about the Orioles and their trade possibilities.

I've been asked why they haven't made a deal already for St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kyle McClellan or the Texas Rangers' Koji Uehara or another fill-in-the-blank name.

The reason is pretty simple. If the Orioles are going to get a big leaguer in return -- even in a potential salary dump -- they are probably going to have to give up a prospect. And, frankly, the Orioles don't have much to offer that they are willing to part with and that other teams covet.

We've been saying that for a while, so I decided to take a closer look at the club's top 10 prospects -- as ranked by Baseball America -- and it's pretty easy to see where the problem in finding a trade fit arises. Three of the Orioles' top 10 prospects, Dylan Bundy (No. 1), Nicky Delmonico (No. 6) and Jason Esposito (No. 8) were drafted last June. So even if the Orioles wanted to deal them -- and they don't -- they couldn't until August, a year after the players signed."