Suffice it to say, the trade deadline season is starting to heat up, and this isn’t even taking into consideration the big moves that have already been made.
First, there was Monday’s shocker acquisition of Troy Tulowitzki by the Toronto Blue Jays. Then there was the Rangers’ trade for Cole Hamels for four of the Rangers top 20 prospects.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Marlins, and Atlanta Braves pulled off a huge three-way deal last night.Matt Friedman’s Dodgers picked up RHP Mat Latos and 1B Mike Morse from the Marlins, the Braves top prospect 2B Jose Peraza, LHP Alex Wood, RHP Jim Johnson, and LHP Luis Avilan. The Braves netted Cuban infielder Hector Olivera, LHP Paco Rodriguez, Minor League prospect RHP Zach Bird, and Miami’s 35th pick in next year’s draft. Miami acquired three Single-A pitchers: RHP Kevin Guzman, RHP VictorAraujo, and RHP Jeff Brigham, plus they saved somewhere in the ballpark of $14MM by not having to pay Morse and Altos.
The biggest news, according to Jon Heyman (CBS Sports) David Price is headed to Toronto:
david price is going to toronto. norris is going back in deal.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) July 30, 2015
It’s the second time in two years that Price has been featured as a marquee summer trade chip. This time, however, he’s rental with one function: getting the Blue Jays to and through the post-season this year. Toronto pitch prospect Daniel Norris, is heading to Detroit in return. It is unknown whether any other pieces are involved in the deal.
My dearest Stu Sternberg, THIS is what it looks like when a team is going all in for a postseason push. Chris Archer echoed the sentiment:
If anyone wants to know what it looks like to be all in, check out the Jays.
— Chris Archer (@ChrisArcher42) July 30, 2015
and then:
@NTwelves fingers crossed
— Chris Archer (@ChrisArcher42) July 30, 2015
I digress.
You may be wondering, are there any trade rumors surrounding the Tampa Bay Rays? The simple answer is yes. Per Jeff Passan (Yahoo Sports), Tampa Bay is listening on Nathan Karns:
Source: Rays listening on Nate Karns, who’s drawing interest from a number of teams. Five years of control with really good off speed stuff. — Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 30, 2015
Given their starting depth, the team has indicated a willingness to listen to offers on the right-hander. Karns has ample team control and has emerged with 115 innings of 3.37 ERA pitching this year.
Passan was quick to note the Rays roster depth, asserting that there is a plethora of players that could plug the hole left in (potential) Karns’ wake:
Rays have enormous SP depth: Archer, Odorizzi, Moore, Smyly, Karns, Erasmo, Andriese, Cobb, with Snell, Guerrieri and Honeywell on the come. — Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 30, 2015
On the contrary, Matt Moore isn’t quite the same after undergoing Tommy John surgery, Drew Smyly is still on the DL, Blake Snell was only recently promoted to Triple-A Durham, and neither Guerrieri nor Honeywell are ready for major league action.
Sure, Matt Andriese or Andrew Bellatti could replace Nathan, however, a cursory warning to the other teams looking at Karns: Tampa Bay will demand a mighty haul.
Keep hearing Rays would have to be “overwhelmed” to deal him, considering control. But they are listening. https://t.co/78D7JkJPdc — Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) July 30, 2015
Friend of the blog Danny Russell (DRaysBay) summed up the Nathan Karns trade rumors perfectly:
Years of control, loads of talent. This doesn’t seem like something the Rays would do, but this is a new front office, after all.
Besides, as I wrote last night, Kevin Cash told Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) that he hadn’t heard anything about other possible trades before Friday’s 4 p.m. deadline. Whatever the case, buckle up kids — we could be in for a bumpy/weird/interesting ride.
Noteworthiness
— One player who seems to legitimately be on the trade bubble is reliever Kevin Jepsen. Say the Rays were to trade Jepsen, what could they receive in return? Jared Ward (DRaysBay) thinks the Rays could acquire a top 30 prospect, similar to who the Athletics received from the Mets in Meisner.