You hear the trade rumors. You scan the websites searching for the latest info. You comment on social media about whether your favorite team is going after that bum or trading away that stud.

Late July is a great time to be a baseball fan.

But what if those rumors are about you? About your spouse?

What if every day for weeks you wake up and wonder if you’re going to be shipped across the country and your wife will have to pack up your stuff and your infant daughter and follow days later?

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What if you’re the wife, and your husband, in his highly paid, highly public job, is struggling and message boards are screaming about how he needs to be sent away from the place you’ve lived for the last few years for anything his employer can get because, well, he sucks?

Orioles reliever Brad Brach and his wife, country music singer/songwriter Jenae Cherry Brach, have been there. They are still there. They hope they can move on with their lives — in Baltimore or elsewhere — by Tuesday’s non-waiver trade deadline.

Brach, a free agent at season’s end, was front-and-center in potential trade rumors last year when he had a 2.58 ERA and 15 saves in the first half of 2017. He didn’t get dealt; the Orioles decided not to sell.

This year, Brach is suffering through a disaster; he’s compiled a 4.85 ERA in 42 games in 2018 and a 10.80 ERA in eight July games.

A 42nd-round draft pick by the San Diego Padres who made the 2016 AL All-Star team with the Orioles, the 32-year-old New Jersey native is about as earnest and genuine as anyone you’ll meet in professional sports.

Instead of hiding behind the time-honored baseball cliché that you control only what you can and you don’t worry about outside pressures, Brach admits this has been an extremely stressful time in his life. It was last July and it is again this year — basically since the Orioles fell out of realistic contention by early May and the trade speculation began.

It’s also a crazy time for his wife, who had the couple’s first child, daughter Brilee, seven months ago. She’s put her music career on hold for a spell, but agreed to perform the national anthem and an in-stadium, postgame concert at Camden Yards with her Nashville band before Friday night’s fireworks display.

As the date grew nearer, she realized there was a possibility that her husband could be traded before she performed her concert.

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That’s what the Brachs have been dealing with in July. They know it’s possible he could be traded in August, too, but they aren’t thinking about that. They are hoping the uncertainty ends — one way or the other — soon.

The Brachs talked candidly about what the trade deadline has been like for them — both this year and in 2017. 

What’s been the difference between last year and this year?

Brad Brach: “Last year I was constantly looking online and stuff like that, trying to find new information on it. This year, it’s I know it’s there and I’m trying not to pay attention to it as much. I think going through it for the first time is always difficult just because you know there is a good possibility, but you also don’t know what the team is thinking. I think that was the hardest thing. This year, you know exactly what the team is thinking. And if you don’t get traded it’s almost like you look at it as a ‘no one else wants you’ type-of-thing. It’s definitely a little different feeling from last year, but I’m trying to deal with it as best as I can.”

Jenae Brach: “I think last year was completely different. This year, we knew going into it he was going to be a free agent at the end of season. So, I think we both went into this season trying to soak it all up, everything. This is our fifth season in Baltimore and we wanted to soak up our favorite restaurants, our favorite areas. And getting our families out to see us because we know this could be our last year here. Last year, that was just madness. It was crazy. I know for Brad it was flattering to hear his name mentioned in trade talks. But this year it’s a different story because we don’t have that final day of the season. Last year, on the final day of the season, you knew you were coming back next year, or you assumed you were. I feel like right now, as the season winds down, I’m going to every game because I don’t know if it is going to be the last time I see him pitch here. I feel like it is this undefined last day. It could be in two months. We hope it is in two or three months, but it could be tonight. So, I feel like every day I’m trying to treat it like the last day because we love it here. We always have.”

How do the rumors and uncertainty affect you?

Brad Brach: “It’s like you want to go out there and almost overly impress. You think one outing is going to make or break a trade or stop someone from wanting you. It’s just difficult because the baseball season, 162 games, everybody evaluates you over that period of time. But when it is getting close to the trade deadline, it’s almost like one outing can make or break a trade. If they see something you are doing, they might think maybe he’s figured something out here. Even if that’s not the case, that may be what you’re thinking. When all this stuff is being written about and you know the scouts are there, it’s hard not to think about it, at least for me personally. (Last year), before the All-Star break it wasn’t as big of a deal. Then when I went home, I had time to sit there and really do nothing. So, you start looking on your phone and you see some stuff. Then when you come back you can tell the trade talk is ramping up because there are more reporters there, more people asking you about it. I think the second half of July last year definitely had a little bit of an effect on my performance, but it’s still not an excuse. You can’t go out there and say, ‘Oh, I was nervous about a trade.’ That doesn’t really matter. It should be more of a flattery thing, But the uncertainty is always the biggest thing for me.”

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Jenae Brach: “I grew up in a baseball family. I have my brothers, I have his brothers, I have my dad and his dad. And they are like, ‘Oh, did you see this? Did you see this?’ You can ignore the notifications from MLB.com and from mlbtraderumors.com and whatever, but you can’t ignore it from your parents or your brothers and the people that love and care about you. I think that’s one of the hardest parts of it. I’ll be like, ‘Dad, I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want to listen to it, I don’t want to think about it.’ And he’s like, ‘But did you see this here?’ And it just gets hard to ignore that kind of thing. There are so many random people on the Internet that can tweet whatever they want. There was stuff last year, there was stuff over the offseason. ‘So-and-so is close to acquiring Brad Brach.’ And you’re like, ‘Are you serious?’ And your heart drops. And your whole life goes up in the air. And it’s someone that doesn’t know what they’re talking about. And that I found has been extremely stressful.”

Do you talk much about trades when you are home together?

Brad Brach: “Just because we have a daughter now, we have to sit there and discuss this stuff. If it does happen, what would happen? It’s like, ‘I’ll go set it up at the new city.’ Her parents are in town, so they can help her pack up. These are the kinds of things you have to have conversations about. Because if you don’t have them and it happens, then you’re all panicking and all hell breaks loose. We’ve got to get Brilee ready to travel somewhere else and Jenae has to get packed up herself and get the movers. It’s something if you don’t plan for, just in case, you’re not going to be ready for it.”

Jenae Brach: “Thankfully Brad talks to me about it often. Other days, like lately, we’ve been playing a lot of card games instead of watching TV so we’re away from our phones. We’re just hanging out, him and I. It’s gonna be over in a few days here. … As for packing our things, we’ve done it. We do it three times a year already. I feel like we’ve gotten the packing-into-plastic-bins thing down to a science. That part never worries me. I just want my husband to be happy and playing the game he loves for people that love him. After that, I really don’t worry about it. The packing doesn’t bother me.”

Jenae is singing Friday at Camden Yards. You both had concerns that Brad could be dealt before then. What has that been like?

Brad Brach: “We’ve actually discussed that this week, too. It’s like the perfect storm. She’s extremely stressed out right now. She wants to perform well, she wants to look good when she’s out there. There’s a lot that goes into performing. On top of that, her band members are coming into town, and it’s the first time they’ve played together in a while. She wants to do all of that well. And, then, unfortunately people can be mean online, so she sees some of that stuff. There was a Facebook blog or something like that and her dad put it on his page and it was like, ‘Please don’t look at the comments. … It was more about me. All the typical stuff. ‘He sucks, so why should I have to listen to her sing?’ Stuff like that. So, she’s had a lot of stresses this week basically with our whole life being up in the air at this moment.”

Jenae Brach: “So many people have asked me that, mainly our families. I’m excited to play. I’m flying in all three of my band members from Nashville and they are excited to do Baltimore and do the whole crab experience. And it’s cool to have Brad there in the dugout or the bullpen. I’m glad, as of now, that he is going to be there. Yeah, I think it has been a good distraction this week, an actual blessing in disguise.”

Manny Machado and Zach Britton, two of Brad’s longtime teammates, were recently traded. Does that make an impact on you as you wait?

Brad Brach: “Zach, he’s one of those guys you can talk to about pretty much anything. We’ve been throwing ideas back and forth for the last few weeks. When he got traded to New York he talked to me (a New Jersey native) because he was wondering where’s a good place to live. I had a little bit of advice but not much. … We discussed that and his wife and Jenae have been talking. It’s just not an easy thing. It’s the unknown. He’s never been traded before, the only time we’ve been traded was in the offseason (November 2013 from San Diego to Baltimore). It’s a totally different thing when you get traded in the offseason and you come into spring training than getting traded in the middle of a season. We were trying to talk about it as minimally as possible, but it’s like the elephant in the room.”

Jenae Brach: “I had a really hard time with Yainee Machado leaving. It’s crazy. We’ve been here for five years and the Brittons and Machados have been here longer. So ever since we came to the Orioles, they were already staples here. Before the All-Star break, Yainee and I were just crying in the downstairs (tunnel) knowing all the rumors and that things were coming to an end there. It’s hard because these women have really taken in my daughter and my family as part of their own. It’s Aunt Naenae at that point and Aunt Courtney (Britton) and it’s hard to say goodbye to these girls that you’ve been with for so long. I also know Brad and Zach were able to sit together and talk through the past year and Courtney and I have done the same. So, we wish them the best. We also wish we were all still together here in a different situation. But that’s how it goes.”

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Is the idea of a trade different now that you have a daughter?

Brad Brach: “It’s a lot more. I just feel like, for me personally, it’s a lot more pressure because you feel like you need to provide, get everything done, help them if you can. But, at the same time, the team wants you in 24 hours. I’d have to go right away and do the baseball part, which is always the easy thing. For me, it’s more stress, because of the family as opposed to the baseball stuff. The baseball stuff, if I can’t do it here I can do it someplace else. But for her its completely different. She has to get everything packed up, everything moved, find a place. It’s more on her end. So, I’m feeling the stress from her, and vice versa.”

Jenae Brach: “I think throughout this whole baseball journey, Brad and I, even when we were in Tucson to San Diego, that whole ride, you just load up and go. That was part of the deal. But then you add in our daughter and it adds a whole new level because you want her to be comfortable. She’s 7 months old. She has no idea what’s going on. And I know that has added a whole new stress, especially to Brad, because he is such a good dad. He worries about those things. It’s just part of it. Brilee is going to understand that one day. But I think it adds a lot of stress on him because he thinks about that all the time. For me, it’s just kind of another day, but for him it’s a lot heavier (of a burden) than it was.”

How much are you looking forward to having all of this resolved?

Brad Brach: “When it is done, when the trade deadline goes, I think I’ll finally be able to relax and just go out there and perform without anything else in the back of my mind. It’s unfortunate that it has dragged on this long. Since the end of April, since we were out of it, they’ve talked about the four (free agents), me, Jonesy, Manny and Zach, and we’ve been constantly talked about like, ‘Oh they’re going to be traded.’ It’s hard not to think about it, so I think when July 31 comes, it will allow me to let go. Even if you have a little bit of doubt in your mind, it’s the worst thing on a baseball field, especially as a pitcher because I feel like that little bit of tension affects everything. Hopefully, when it is all done, that’ll be it and we can just enjoy the last two months of the season.”

Jenae Brach: “It’s a been a full year now from trade deadline to trade deadline with these conversations. I think he and I are both ready for Tuesday to come and pass. We either stay with our friends and family here or we move on to something new. (His) struggles this year have been extremely, extremely painful for me to watch. I know everybody else sees him as a piece to this puzzle on the field. But it really affects him at home. He is so much better than the results he is getting this year. We both know that. We all know that. So, I’m just ready for him to show his full potential again. He’s dealing with it the best he can, but he is a very loyal person in everything he does. He loves this organization, he loves the Orioles through and through and so right now he’s just trying to get better for the team.”

(Top photo: Jenae Brach, seven-months pregnant last year; credit Joy R. Absalon)