Latest On Rays’ Starting Pitchers

Here’s the latest on the Rays’ starting pitching trade candidates, several of whom have been discussed quite a bit in the run-up to the deadline. There’s nothing firm as of yet, but the Rays seem to be weighing offers on several arms.

• In addition to the Giants and Pirates, the Dodgers have interest in Moore, per Rosenthal (via Twitter). Other teams, too, may be after the southpaw.
• The Giants are still working on a deal involving Moore, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter).
• The Dodgers remain in pursuit of Tampa Bay’s hurlers after adding Rich Hill, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com tweets. Of course, L.A. may have less willingness to move its own young arms after giving up three in that swap.
• The Pirates are still looking at Rays starters, with lefty Matt Moore the primary target and righty Jake Odorizzi also of interest, per Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via Twitter). Pittsburgh has dealt away closer Mark Melancon, but landed a strong major league relief arm in that trade and is evidently serious about upgrading its rotation now and in the future. It certainly looks to be an interesting deadline strategy from GM Neal Huntington, but it remains to be seen whether anything else will get done over the next two hours.
• Also checking in with Tampa Bay on arms are the Astros, as Chris Cotillo of SB Nation and MLB.com’s Jon Morosi have noted (Twitter links). As things stand, though, it doesn’t seem as if there’s much momentum toward any kind of agreement between the teams.

Earlier Notes

• Continuing their prior dialogue, the Rays and Dodgers are in talks on Tampa Bay’s starters, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets. While most of the Rays’ starters have been chatted about in one way or another over recent weeks, staff ace Chris Archer has been most closely tied to Los Angeles, though it’s not clear at this stage whether he’s the focus.
• The Rays and Giants are still discussing lefty Matt Moore, per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). We covered that story last night — check here for details. Tampa Bay is requesting two top prospects, per Crasnick’s report.