There have been Orioles lineups without Manny Machado over the past few years. There were the times he got hurt. There were routine days off. On a couple of occasions, he got suspended for a few games. Yet none of them were quite the same as Friday’s Orioles lineup, where Machado is absent for the first time by virtue of his no longer being on the team.
Not that everything is changing overnight. Machado’s spot in the lineup is just one spot. Everybody else is still around, for now. Other trades may be worked out over the next 11 days, but as the second half of the season begins, the Orioles still look like the same Orioles of the last few months.