A Birdland Salute to Brad Brach

The end of an era for the Orioles has meant farewell to star mainstays like Manny Machado and Zach Britton and on Sunday it even meant farewell for a less heralded, but still important, one of “our guys,” with Brad Brach’s trade to the Braves for international bonus slot money.

Brach came to us from San Diego, the result of what may well be the best trade that Dan Duquette has made as an Oriole. The O’s gave up nothing of value in that late November 2013 trade, sending pitcher Devin Jones, who never appeared above Double-A, to the Padres.

In return, the Orioles received Brach, then 27 years old. He was a former 42nd round pick, a round of the draft that doesn’t even exist any more, who had to…