Major League Baseball’s trade deadline is just over 24 hours away, and things have been quiet so far. Those involved, however, expect a flurry of activity as the clock ticks down to Thursday, July 31, 6 p.m. ET.
Which teams are looking for pitching help?
Straight Arrow News previewed the latest position players rumored in trade talks on Tuesday, July 29, but pitching is what every contender is looking for, and most of those teams are looking for bullpen help.
The Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers and both New York teams — the Mets and Yankees — could use upgrades to help them lock down games in the final two months.
The issue is that the teams that have good arms in their pen are holding out for a strong return. Supply and demand at its finest. The Minnesota Twins are dangling both Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran. They are perhaps the two best relievers on the market right now. Teams are going to have to pay a steep price to pry one of them loose.
Who are some of the bullpen arms on the block?
The Pittsburgh Pirates are another team with a double-dose of late-inning arms in David Bednar and Dennis Santana. Though it’s slow right now, some pundits believe Thursday’s deadline deals could look like a game of musical chairs as relievers change teams all over the league.
A few more players to keep an eye on are St. Louis Cardinals two-time All-Star Ryan Helsley, San Diego Padres closer Robert Suárez and Tampa Bay Rays closer Pete Fairbanks. The hesitation for these teams is that they’re still within wild-card striking distance. Fairbanks, for one, is not thinking about the possibility he could be traded, he’s leaning on some fatherly advice.
“I got it written on my note card, written on my glove near my initials, ‘control your sphere,’” Fairbanks said. “It’s something that my dad used to bury into my head, and I hated it when I was a teenager. But to be living that out, to control what we can control as an individual as a clubhouse, that’s what we’re going to do regardless of the time of year.”
What about the market for starting pitchers?
The market for starting pitchers is not quite as hot, but there are contenders that would love a third or fourth starter to compliment their frontline arms. The Arizona Diamondbacks have already signaled that they are sellers. Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen could be the next big-name players to leave the Valley.
The Pirates are reportedly offering up a pair of starters along with their relievers. Mitch Keller and Andrew Heaney could fit the bill as that third or fourth arm on a contending team. Keller has 100 strikeouts in 127 innings and an ERA of 3.69.
Add All-Star Joe Ryan, with his 10-5 record and his 2.82 ERA, to the list of Twins players that could change teams, but he will not come cheap. Ryan said Saturday, July 26, that he’d like to stay in Minnesota.
“As far as a trade goes, I don’t see it happening,” Ryan said. “At the same time, it’s completely out of my hands, so I really haven’t thought about it much. I think we have a good opportunity, years forward, to do something here, so I would like to stay. But like I said, it’s out of my control.”
Why have there been so few deals thus far?
Marlins starter Sandy Alcántara and Padres veteran Dylan Cease have also been deep in the rumor mill for weeks now. They faced each other a week ago, and Padres manager Mike Shildt was loving it.
“I thought Dylan had really good stuff,” Shildt said. “I had the privilege to sit there and watch and realize, ‘Man, we got two guys out there competing, Dylan and Sandy,’ I just turned to our bench coach Espo and said ‘Wow, these arms,’ y’know?”
Pitching well at this time of year means they’ll both be on the short list for most general managers who are shopping, but if you want a luxury car, you can’t be worried about the price tag. The American League, in particular, is so wide open that it’s driving a lot of optimism and rumors. There is a possible path to the World Series for close to seven teams, and some general managers may be willing to make some big moves in the final hours to put them over the top.
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Author: Chris Francis
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