It’s the most wonderful time of the year not having to do with a fat man in a red and white suit. Yes, it’s the MLB Trade Deadline!
As 4:00 PM EST nears and teams scramble to throw together the sweetest deals imaginable to either build for their future or make a late push into the post-season and prepare themselves for a World Series run, here’s the latest buzz around the league. We’ll keep you updated as transactions complete and rumors heat up.
- The Boston Red Sox have spoken to the New York Yankees about slugger, Carlos Beltran, who at the youthful age of 39 is having quite a year. While the Yanks have already seemed to throw in the towel on the 2016 season trading Andrew Miller to the Indians on Sunday, parting ways with Beltran would almost assure that assumption. Then again, NY is just 5.5 out of a wild card spot while the Red Sox are in a three-way battle with the Blue Jays and Orioles for the AL East crown just 1.5 games back.
- The Detroit Tigers are rumored to be interested in Angels lefty Hector Santiago. The 28-year old began his career with the White Sox in 2011 and has spent the last 3 seasons in Los Angeles. In 2016 he’s 10-4 with a 4.25 ERA in 120.2 IP for the Halos. Detroit is currently in second place in the AL Central just 4.5 back of the Indians and 1 game back of a wild card spot. The Angels have struggled all year and sit at 47-58, obviously sellers.
- The reigning NL Champion, Mets, are in the Jay Bruce conversation for the second year in a row. Bruce, 29, has spent his entire career with the Reds and currently leads the NL in RBI with 80 to go along with his 25 home runs. His .875 OPS this year is a career high. Cincinnati sits at 42-62 and in last place in the NL Central while the Mets are still alive in the playoff hunt despite being 54-50, they’re only 2.5 games out of a wild card.
- Three teams are in the hunt to try and pry lefty Chris Sale away from the White Sox. The Rangers, Dodgers, and Red Sox have shown interest in Sale but Chicago’s asking price has been way too high for any of these teams to go for. Sale’s current situation with the Sox is very team friendly so they’re not in desperate need to move him this season. Chances are he stays put.
- The Braves are most likely going to ship off reliever, Jim Johnson, at some point before the deadline. Johnson has fallen off fast after back-to-back seasons of 50+ saves with the Orioles in 2012-2013. He’s bounced around since then, as well, having been with Oakland, Detroit, Los Angeles, and two different stints in Atlanta.
- The San Francisco Giants are also in the hunt for Jay Bruce as well as Tampa Bay Rays lefty Matt Moore. The Rays southpaw has turned his season around over the last couple months as he’s currently on a streak of 10 straight starts going 6+ innings. Moore has a 7-7 record with a quickly shrinking 4.08 ERA for the last place Rays. In case you didn’t know – it’s an even year. Which means the first place Giants have a tradition to uphold and Moore could be a key piece to doing just that…for the right price.
- The Mets have reportedly traded for Reds OF Jay Bruce. The deal will be completed pending a physical.
- The Los Angeles Dodgers have acquired OF Josh Reddick and SP Rich Hill from the Oakland A’s. The rumors of the Yasiel Puig era being over in LA look like they’re more than rumors now with the acquisition of Reddick. Could also mean the market for Chris Archer just got a bit smaller bringing in Rich Hill who’s having a very solid year in Oakland.
- White Sox, Rangers, Yankees, and Indians all reportedly in the mix to land Dodgers Of Yasiel Puig.
- The Seattle Mariners are close to acquiring Reds SS Zack Cozart. The Mariners are 5.5 games out of a wild card spot in the AL and are 8.5 games out of first place in the AL West. The 30-year old Cozart would bring some pop to the lineup and fill a need at the position as Ketel Marte is currently on the DL with mono.
- The Tampa Bay Rays have traded OF Brandon Guyer to the Indians for OF prospect Nathan Lukes and RHP prospect Jhonleider Salinas.
- San Francisco still in talks with Rays about SP Matt Moore and the St. Louis Cardinals have also entered the conversation about Moore as well as Chris Archer. Dodgers, still pursuing Archer, also have interest in Rays 2B Logan Forsythe.
- Reports have the Yankees sending OF Carlos Beltran to the Rangers for P Dillon Tate.
- The Chicago Cubs have acquired RP Joe Smith from the Angels. Smith, 32, was in his third year in LA with a 12-7 record and 2.64 ERA in that span in 146 games.
- The Rangers reportedly have won the Jonathan Lucroy sweepstakes. They’ll get him from the Brewers in exchange for Rangers #2 and #3 prospects in OF Lewis Brinson and RHP Luis Ortiz.
- The Rays have traded LHP Matt Moore to the Giants and INF Steve Pearce back to the Orioles for minor league catcher Jonah Heim. Rays get INF Matt Duffy and SS prospect Lucious Fox for Moore from Giants.
- Pittsburgh Pirates have acquired SP Ivan Nova from the Yankees for a “player to be named later.”
Stay tuned for more updates as that 4 PM deadline nears.
Information in this article is per CBS Sports, Jerry Crasnick, and Ken Rosenthal.
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