The MLB trade rumors are coming quickly with only days remaining until the Aug. 1 non-waiver deadline.
A few marquee deals have already been finalized. With what is a shallow free-agent class, teams might feel extra pressure to be aggressive now in order to avoid inflated contracts in the offseason.
Below are updates on three players who could find new homes come August.
Mystery Team Adds Intrigue in Lucroy Rumors
The Milwaukee Brewers don’t necessarily need to trade Jonathan Lucroy before the deadline. He has a club option for 2017, so he won’t be hitting free agency until 2018. Given his performance and the demand for his services, though, dealing Lucroy is the Brewers’ best move.
The 30-year-old entered Friday night with the third-highest WAR (2.8) among qualified catchers, per FanGraphs. He also has a .300/.360/.484 slash line along with 13 home runs and 50 RBI.
The numbers alone would be enough to make Lucroy a marketable asset at the deadline. The scarcity of quality catchers available only makes him a more prized commodity.
ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reported Friday that multiple teams have submitted proposals to the Brewers for a Lucroy trade.
Reporting for USA Today, Tom Haudricourt wrote the Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, New York Mets, Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox are among those weighing the move. According to FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman, an unidentified team has entered the fray, and the mystery team isn’t likely the Red Sox or Seattle Mariners.
Complicating matters is the fact Lucroy has a no-trade clause that includes eight teams, per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick. Among the teams, Cleveland looks to be the only one that is in the Lucroy sweepstakes.
With so many teams possibly in the hunt, the Brewers might want to wait until the last minute to drive up Lucroy‘s price as high as possible and maximize their return.
Hill Scratched from Sunday Start
Of course, the Oakland Athletics can attest to the pitfalls of waiting to make a trade. With Rich Hill a prime candidate to move teams, the left-handed starting pitcher won’t be able to take the mound for his scheduled start Sunday, per MLB.com’s Jane Lee. Hill is suffering from a blister on his left middle finger.
A’s general manager David Forst said the injury hasn’t significantly impacted Hill’s trade value:
The deadline is Monday, no matter what happens with Rich. There has been interest, we’ve had conversations. We’re not going to give Rich away just because he’s a free agent next year. He has a lot of value to us and, frankly, who’s to say we’re not interested in keeping Rich beyond this year?
According to Olney, Oakland has packaged Hill together with Josh Reddick in a trade offer to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Olney added that Hill’s blister has cast some doubt on whether he’ll be traded.
At this point, the A’s might be better off holding on to the 36-year-old for the rest of the year. There were already significant questions about his durability. Only once in his previous 11 years has he pitched more than 100 innings.
Hill has already spent time on the disabled list with a groin injury. His blister shouldn’t become a serious problem, but it will give any suitors further pause as to whether he’s a solid addition at the deadline. Surely, the A’s have parties interested in Hill’s services, but his value has decreased quite a bit over the last couple of months.
The Athletics might as well keep Hill and give him a qualifying offer in the offseason, which Olney estimates will be $16.7 million. In what is a weak free-agent crop of pitchers, Hill could test his value on the open market, and should that happen, Oakland would be in line to get a compensatory pick in the 2017 draft.
Pirates Only Trading Melancon for Strong Return
Since he’s one of the best closers in baseball, Aroldis Chapman is an exceptional case. But his trade to the Chicago Cubs, which included shortstop Gleyber Torres going to the New York Yankees, demonstrated teams will have a high asking price if they’re going to deal their best relievers.
A free agent at the end of the year, Mark Melancon likely won’t be a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates once the deadline passes. The Pirates’ playoff chances are fading fast, so they might as well cash in on the 31-year-old while they still can.
According to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, the Indians, San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals are all tracking Melancon. Rosenthal added Pittsburgh is looking to receive a late-inning reliever in addition to one or more prospects.
If that is indeed the Pirates’ position, they may have a hard time getting a deal done. Trading a setup man for a closer doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, and Melancon isn’t a closer worthy of surrendering multiple prospects for unless they’re way down the organizational ranking.
Melancon has converted 30 save opportunities and posted a 1.51 ERA, both of which are impressive. On the other hand, he ranks behind the likes of Dan Otero, Ken Giles, Xavier Cedeno and A.J. Ramos with 0.8 WAR, per FanGraphs.
ESPN.com’s Dan Szymborski also made a compelling argument that trading for a closer provides negligible returns over half a season:
For the right price, a Melancon trade could make sense. But unless Pittsburgh lowers its asking price, the investment wouldn’t be worth the cost.
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