The trade deadline will feature movement of pitching come this July. The A's will hope to cash in on a durable starter. The White Sox could make a blockbuster deal, or hold on for another year.
The Red Sox will hope to duplicate what past World Series champions have had in the past. Here are the latest rumblings as we enter the last week of June.
Many have been scouting Gray
According to David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Braves are in the market for a controllable starter. The Braves are 37-39, but their young players have been playing up to par.
The Braves are hopeful to make a step in the right direction so that they can contend for a while card spot for next season.
However, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Cubs, Blue Jays, Mariners, and Red Sox were other teams that have scouted Sonny Gray this week along with the Braves. Gray lowered his earned run average to 4.45 after going seven strong innings in his last start.
Red Sox want three headed monster
Baseball fans can remember three years ago when the Royals had a seventh, eighth, and ninth inning three-headed monster with Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis, and Greg Holland. Then, there was last year's Yankees with Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller, and Aroldis Chapman.
Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reported that the Red Sox are hoping to acquire another reliever to pair with Joe Kelly and Craig Kimbrel. Kelly has an ERA of 1.10 while Kimbrel has an ERA of 1.06.
The Red Sox could go big by going after someone like David Robertson or go after someone smaller like the Padres left-handed reliever Brad Hand.
Herrera of the Royals could be someone as well even though he has a ballooned 4.35 ERA, but a change from closer to setup man could help.
Jose Quintana has been talked about recently
The White Sox ace has been brought up to multiple clubs according to Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. Quintana has been raising his stock after recording the month of June with a 2.25 ERA.
Quintana does sport a 4.45 ERA for the season, but his contract is still a steal. Quintana is only owed $29 million over the next three years which includes a team option for 2019, and 2020.
The Yankees could be contenders for Quintana's services according to the report. The starting pitching has been dismal for the Yankees. Masahiro Tanaka has an ERA at 5.74. CC Sabathia has been on the DL. Michael Pineda has been solid, but he has the talent of a number four starter.
Quintana won't command a player like Gleyber Torres, who is the No. 2 ranked prospect in the MLB. Torres is out for the season with an injury. The trade would take a combination of players such as Clint Frazier (No. 33), James Kaprielian (No. 67), or Justus Sheffield (No. 68).
