Central Notes: Davies, Fulmer, Castellanos, Moustakas, Duffy

The Brewers have received some poor news of late on the health of their rotation. Righty Zach Davies is slated to undergo an MRI, MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy tweets, rather than embarking on a rehab assignment as had been planned. Davies hit the DL with rotator cuff inflammation nearly two months back. Now, though, he’s said to be dealing with a back issue. The Milwaukee organization certainly seems as likely as ever to pursue a rotation piece on the trade market, especially after the recent news on Brent Suter.

Here’s more chatter from the central divisions:

• It seems the Tigers likely won’t be moving some of their most notable potential trade assets. Jayson Stark of The Athletic had tweeted that Detroit isn’t interested in structuring a deal involving starter Michael Fulmer while he’s on the DL and likely won’t be moving outfielder Nicholas Castellanos “barring a huge overpay.” He has pared down those rather definitive characterizations in a subsequent tweet, suggesting greater openness on the Tigers’ part to consider trade scenarios. There’s still no real indication that either player is particularly likely to be moved, though it seems that talks could still take place.
• There’s wide interest in Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). Indeed, a whopping nine teams are said to be “in discussions” with the Kansas City organization on a possible agreement. That is rather a surprising figure to hear, if only because it seems to include almost every realistic contender, but perhaps quite a few teams can at least imagine a place for Moustakas on their roster. While his limits as a player are well known, Moose still delivers a useful, power-heavy bat and has returned to drawing above-average ratings at the hot corner.
• While Moustakas is a near-certain trade piece, the same is not true of Royals teammate Danny Duffy. Nightengale tweets that the organization has “no intention” of striking a deal involving its top starter. That’s really not terribly surprising, as Duffy has not been in top form this year. On the other hand, the southpaw has been on a much better run of late. Since taking the hill on May 24th, he has allowed just twenty earned runs over 69 2/3 innings. Duffy is earning $14MM this year with $46MM guaranteed over the ensuing three campaigns.