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Archives for July 2022

Giants Acquire Dixon Machado From Cubs

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3:15PM: The Giants announced the trade to reporters, including Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, with minor league righty Raynel Espinal going the other way. The 30-year-old made his MLB debut last year, logging just two innings for the Red Sox. The Giants signed him to a minor league deal for this year, with Espinal working as a starter in Triple-A. In 19 games, he has thrown 81 1/3 innings with a 5.29 ERA. He has an impressive 27.6% strikeout rate for the year but below-average walk and ground ball rates of 10.3% and 39%.

As expected, Thairo Estrada was placed on the concussion IL to make room for Machado on the active roster, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com was among those to relay. To make room on the 40-man roster, righty Tobias Myers was designated for assignment. Myers began the season with the Guardians but went to the Giants in a trade earlier this month. Between the two clubs, he’s thrown 63 innings in Triple-A this year with a 6.14 ERA.

2:42PM: The Giants have officially acquired Machado, Morosi reports.  ESPN’s Jesse Rogers adds the interesting detail that Machado requested a trade, likely in order to land on a team that could offer him big league playing time.

2:09PM: The Giants are looking to acquire infielder Dixon Machado from the Cubs, as MLB Network’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link) reports that the two sides are in talks.  It isn’t known if this could be part of a larger multi-player swap, or if Machado would be the primary player involved.

It is quite possible it could be a cash-considerations type of minor move, as Machado hasn’t played in the big leagues since 2018.  The Giants are also in particular need of shortstop help, as injuries have drastically thinned out their shortstop depth chart at both the Major and minor league levels.  Brandon Crawford is on the 10-day injured list recovering from a knee injury, while Thairo Estrada was hit in the head by a pitch yesterday and is expected to be placed on the seven-day concussion IL.

After appearing in 172 games with the Tigers from 2015-18, Machado has since played with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in both 2019 and 2022, with two seasons with the KBO League’s Lotte Giants sandwiched in between.  Over those four years, Machado posted some solid averages and developed a knack for getting on base, even if his power was sporadic at best (though he did hit 17 home runs during the homer-happy 2019 Triple-A season).

This year at Triple-A Iowa, Machado has hit .312/.402/.394 with two homers and 10 steals (in 13 chances) over 391 plate appearances.  While Machado has played as a shortstop for the vast majority of his pro career, the 30-year-old has also seen some action at second and third base, making him a good fit for the Giants’ preferred model of versatile players.

Athletics Sign Beau Taylor To Minor League Deal

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The Athletics have signed catcher Beau Taylor to a minor league deal, reports Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle. Taylor has been signed to Triple-A Las Vegas.

Taylor, 32, returns to the organization that drafted him, as the A’s selected him back in 2011. He worked his way up the minor league ladder and made his MLB debut with Oakland back in 2018. Since then, he’s also suited up for Toronto and Cleveland in the big leagues. He’s earned a reputation as a strong defensive catcher but hasn’t hit much at the MLB level so far, with a career batting line of .118/.237/.255, though in a small sample of just 25 games.

This past offseason, he signed a minor league deal with the Orioles after Adley Rutschman suffered an injury before the season began. Taylor himself dealt with injuries this year, however, and was only able to get into 23 games for the Norfolk Tides before being released just over a week ago.

For the A’s, Taylor will add an extra layer of veteran depth at the Triple-A level. The club has Sean Murphy and Stephen Vogt handling the catching duties in Oakland, though Murphy has been the subject of recent trade rumors. If the club were to pull the trigger on a deal before the August 2 deadline, that would likely lead to prospect Shea Langeliers getting promoted to the big leagues and Taylor taking over his spot on the depth chart.

Guardians, A’s Have Discussed Sean Murphy

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The Guardians and Athletics have had trade discussions surrounding catcher Sean Murphy, writes Zack Meisel of The Athletic.

Murphy’s name has been in trade rumors since the offseason, when the A’s were poised to undergo a major selloff. He never seemed like the highest priority, though, given he’s not set to reach free agency until after the 2025 season. However, in one of the trades that the A’s did make, they sent Matt Olson for a package of prospects that included catcher Shea Langeliers. Since that time, Langeliers has been having an excellent season in Triple-A, hitting 19 home runs and slashing .280/.363/.529 for a wRC+ of 118. That theoretically gives Oakland incentive to trade Murphy, despite his remaining control, allowing them to improve elsewhere on the roster while letting Langeliers take over the catching duties. As such, Murphy has been the focus of recent trade rumors, with the Guardians apparently among those checking in.

The fact that the Guardians are interested isn’t terribly surprising. For one thing, they typically run low payrolls and would surely be interested in the fact that Murphy won’t even reach arbitration for the first time until this winter. Secondly, they haven’t gotten any offensive production from their backstops this season, with Austin Hedges and Luke Maile getting the bulk of the playing time. Though both are considered strong defenders, Hedges has hit .172/.235/.278 for a wRC+ of 46 with Maile slashing .192/.299/.273, wRC+ of 69. Murphy, on the other hand, has a .241/.317/.428 line for a 114 wRC+, making him an obvious upgrade with the bat. And he’s no slouch with the glove either, having won the AL Gold Glove for catchers last year.

Despite that lackluster showing from behind the plate, the Guards are still in the thick of the postseason mix. Their 52-49 record has them just one game back of the Twins in the American League Central and just 1 1/2 games behind the Rays for a Wild Card spot. Bringing on Murphy could give them a boost for the final months of the season but also for the next three campaigns. The A’s, on the other hand, are 39-65, the worst record in the American League, paving the way for their selloff to continue as planned.

They don’t have any real hurry to trade Murphy, meaning they can wait for a truly satisfying offer. As such, Meisel reports that the trade talks with Cleveland have yet to gain any real traction. If the Oakland decision-makers aren’t truly bowled over by an offer, they can sit tight and wait. Having Murphy and Langeliers on the same roster in the future wouldn’t be ideal but would certainly be workable, as long as some at-bats in the designated hitter slot were available to keep both guys in the lineup.

Still, if talks pick up again between now and the deadline, there are reasons Cleveland could push a deal over the line. At the end of Meisel’s piece, he notes that the Guardians have nine players who will likely need to be added to the club’s 40-man roster at the end of the year in order to protect them from the Rule 5 draft. A similar situation played out last year, when the club added ten players to their roster and had to designate seven others for assignment to create room. The only player on the roster headed into free agency this winter is Hedges, with Bryan Shaw potentially a second, as a the Guardians have a club option for his services next year. As such, the club might have to think about trades wherein multiple prospects are exchanged for a single big league regular. Although the A’s might be sticking to a high asking price, the Guardians might be the team in the best position to pay it.

Latest On Mike Trout’s Back Injury

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Mike Trout has been out of action for almost three weeks due to an issue that was eventually diagnosed as “a costovertebral dysfunction” in his back. A few days ago, Angels head trainer Mike Frostad spoke to reporters and said that Trout may have to manage the issue “not just through the rest of this season, but also through the rest of his career probably.”

Despite that ominous-sounding quote, Trout himself seemed far less concerned, even though he was set to see a back specialist. With that meeting now having taken place, it seems that the initial concerns were perhaps overblown, with Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reporting that Trout got encouraging news from the specialist. After speaking with Dr. Robert Watkins, Trout is going to begin rotational exercises this week and hopefully start swinging a bat not long after.

“It went from my career is over to hopefully I’m going to play soon,” Trout said, adding that he’s already started a workout regimen of core exercises and isn’t really feeling the injury anymore. “It’s pretty much gone right now. It’s pretty promising.”

With the club sitting at 43-59, it seems it will be another lost season for the Halos. meaning there’s no need to rush Trout back and that he can ramp up activities at whatever pace is best for his long-term health. Though he won’t be able to make a huge impact in terms of the standings, returning before the end of this season would surely be an encouraging sign for the Angels and their fans.

2023 figures to be another important season for the franchise, as it will potentially be the team’s last with two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, who is slated to reach free agency after that campaign. (The Angels have reportedly been considering trade offers on Ohtani but a deal still seems unlikely to come together.) Despite having the superstar tandem of Trout and Ohtani in recent years, the Angels haven’t had a winning record since 2015 and haven’t made the postseason since 2014. They are unlikely to break either of those droughts here in 2022, meaning next year could be the last chance to do so with both Trout and Ohtani on the same team, barring an Ohtani extension.

Trout is still capable of producing elite numbers but has been significantly hampered by injuries for a second consecutive season. Last year, he got into 36 contests and hit .333/.466/.624 for a wRC+ of 190 before a calf injury ended his season. This year, he’s already more than doubled last year’s games played number, getting into 79 so far. His .270/.368/.599 batting line is a bit below last year’s pace, but his 167 wRC+ is still among the best in the majors.

Latest On Red Sox’ Deadline Plans

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As the calendar flipped from June to July, the Red Sox were sitting on a record of 43-33 and holding onto an American League Wild Card spot. However, this has been a disastrous month for them, in which they went 8-19. Now their record is 51-52, placing them 3 1/2 games behind the Rays for the final playoff spot, with three teams in between.

Due to that slide, there’s been recent chatter about the club giving consideration to trading impending free agents such as J.D. Martinez, Christian Vazquez and Nathan Eovaldi. With less than 48 hours remaining until the trade deadline, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports that financial considerations will be a factor in discussions between the Red Sox and other teams. According to Speier, the front office will think about ducking under the luxury tax but will not be required to do so. It’s even possible that they could take on additional salary commitments if it meant adding more prospect talent to the system.

The Red Sox have paid the luxury tax in the past but have been trying to run lower payrolls in recent years. Most famously, or infamously, Boston traded away Mookie Betts and David Price as a means of shedding salary. However, they did some aggressive spending this past winter, most notably the six-year, $140MM contract given to Trevor Story, putting them back over the CBT line for this year. Jason Martinez of Roster Resource estimates their current CBT number is just over $238MM, placing them $8MM beyond the lowest $230MM threshold. (Speier says they are about $7MM over the line.) Since luxury tax status isn’t determined until the offseason, the Sox could still lower their CBT number and avoid all penalties.

Trading Martinez alone would go most of the way, or perhaps all of the way, to getting Boston back under the line. He’s making a salary of just over $19MM this year, but a player’s contribution to the luxury tax calculation is based on the average annual value of the player’s entire contract. Since his deal was for $110MM over five years, it comes with an AAV and CBT hit of $22MM this year. At the time of the trade deadline, there will be just over a third of the season remaining, meaning the Red Sox can chop about $7.5MM off of their luxury tax calculation if they find another team to take on the entirety of the remainder of the Martinez contract. Eovaldi and Vazquez have lower AAVs of $17MM and $7MM, respectively. That means an Eovaldi trade could subtract about $5.8MM from the ledger and about $2.4MM in the case of Vazquez. If the Boston brass decide they need to get under the line, it’s certainly something they can achieve by moving some combination of this trio.

This approach will appeal to certain teams but not others, of course. Teams with lower payrolls could potentially prefer to pay a higher prospect cost in order to take on less salary, but there are also teams in the opposite camp. For example, the Mets are reportedly looking to buy at the deadline but would rather take on money than give up prospects.

However, the Red Sox are also apparently willing to go in another direction, giving thought to using some financial heft to absorb some salary as a means of bolstering their system. The Red Sox have a large number of contracts coming off the books this year, in addition to those already mentioned. Enrique Hernandez, Michael Wacha, Rich Hill, Matt Strahm and Kevin Plawecki are set to reach the open market as well. Furthermore, option decisions could subtract even more money from the 2023 payroll, most notably that owed to Xander Bogaerts, who is widely expected to opt out of his contract in a few months. That gives the Red Sox a CBT number of just under $108MM for next season, according to Jason Martinez. That doesn’t include raises for arbitration eligible players, including Rafael Devers, but it does include Bogaerts. If Bogaerts is indeed subtracted from the ledger, the arbitration players won’t raise that number by much. If Boston is willing to inflate their luxury tax payment this year, they could be in good position to “reset” their CBT status next year. (There are escalating penalties for paying the luxury tax in consecutive seasons, meaning that even the teams with the highest payrolls often find ways to periodically avoid the tax in order to avoid such a scenario.)

All in all, the Red Sox are shaping up to be one of the most interesting teams to watch as we approach the trade deadline, which is at 5pm on August 2. Since they are on a precipice between the contenders and the rebuilders, they might try to walk a line between the two customary “buying” and “selling” strategies. One thing that seems to be off the table, however, is a full-scale rebuild that sees the team strip things down in a serious way. Bogaerts recently said that he was told that he will not be traded, and now Devers has said the same, per Rob Bradford of WEEI. Bradford also relays, however, that there have been no recent contract talks with Bogaerts and the club, meaning it’s still quite possible he opts out at the end of the year, with the club sure to extend him a qualifying offer at that time. Speier also relays word from Vazquez, who also has not had any recent talks about a new contract. Though there are still many possible permutations, it seems that Boston’s roster is headed for a significant shakeup, either this week or in the offseason or both.

Mariners, Braves Among Teams Interested in Brandon Drury

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The Mariners, Braves and Dodgers are among the teams interested in Brandon Drury, reports Jon Morosi of MLB Network.

Drury has seemed like an obvious trade candidate for a few months now, due to a variety of factors. He’s an impending free agent with a modest salary who is playing for a basement-dwelling team. Beyond that, he’s having the best season of his career and is capable of playing multiple positions, making him a fit for many clubs. He is slashing .275/.336/.523 and just hit his 20th home run. That production is 33% better than league average, according to wRC+. He’s also taken the field at all four infield positions this season, in addition to a brief cameo in right field.

The interest from the Dodgers, as well as the Giants, was reported a few weeks ago. As for Seattle and Atlanta, they are likely interested in Drury primarily for second base, despite his ability to play elsewhere. Most of Drury’s work this year has been at the hot corner, with 53 starts there, though he’s also manned the keystone in 20 different contests.

For the Mariners, they’ve given the bulk of this year’s playing time at second base to Adam Frazier, who is having a down year at the plate. After a strong 2021 where he hit .305/.368/.411 for a wRC+ of 114, the Mariners acquired him from the Padres in an offseason trade. Unfortunately, he’s only been able to muster a .244/.304/.312 line for Seattle, amounting to a wRC+ of 81. He’d likely be the infielder most at risk of losing playing time in the event of a Drury trade, with Eugenio Suarez, J.P. Crawford and Ty France occupying the other spots around the diamond. There’s also the possibility of a platoon, as Frazier hits from the left side of the plate and Drury the right.

As for the Braves, their need for help at second base arose when Ozzie Albies suffered a foot fracture in June. He’s been on the shelf about six weeks already and could return in about a month, though he still hasn’t begun a rehab assignment. With Albies out of action, most of his playing time has gone to Orlando Arcia, who is hitting .238/.316/.371 on the year. That amounts to a 92 wRC+, which is just 8% below league average but well below Drury’s work on the year. With Dansby Swanson, Austin Riley and Matt Olson taking up the other spots in the dirt, second base would stand out as the most obvious spot to plug Drury if he were to be put into an Atlanta jersey.

For the Reds, they’re well out of contention and have already begun their deadline selloff with Friday’s Luis Castillo trade. Drury seems highly likely to follow him out the door, with Tyler Mahle, Donovan Solano, Tommy Pham also among those that the club will exchange for prospects. The trade deadline is in about 48 hours, 5pm CT on August 2.

NL Central Notes: Cardinals, Mahle, Drury, Quintana, Blue Jays, Sosa

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The Cardinals’ search for starting pitching has taken them inside their division, as MLB Network’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link) reports that St. Louis is one of the many clubs interested in Reds righty Tyler Mahle.  With the Cards looking at all options for rotation help, it only makes sense that they’d be at least checking in on Mahle’s services.

The Phillies, Twins, and Mets are among the clubs linked to Mahle since the start of the season, while the Rangers also reportedly had interest during the offseason.  With Luis Castillo already off the board, it’s fair to guess that most pitching-needy teams have spoken to the Reds about Mahle, and on paper the Cardinals have the kind of young talent that the Reds would surely demand.  However, it is possible Cincinnati might want a higher price for moving Mahle to a division rival — as Morosi notes, the Reds and Cardinals haven’t completed a player-for-player trade since 1997, so it would count as a surprise on some level if Mahle ended up in St. Louis.

More notes from around the NL Central…

  • Just because Castillo has been traded doesn’t mean the Reds are necessarily likelier to hang onto Mahle, since CBS Sports’ R.J. Anderson hears that Mahle and Brandon Drury are expected to both be on new teams after the deadline.  Drury is a free agent after the season and thus an obvious trade chip, though Mahle is still under team control through 2023.  But, it now seems like Cincinnati is going to dive into something close to a full rebuild, a process that really started over the winter when they moved several other veteran talents.
  • The Blue Jays are in the mix for Pirates starter Jose Quintana, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, along with such previously-reported suitors as the Yankees and White Sox.  The veteran left-hander is having a bounce-back season after struggling in 2019-21, and Quintana could help bolster an inconsistent Toronto rotation.  Pirates GM Ben Cherington previously worked in the Jays’ front office, so this familiarity with the AL East side’s prospects could help the Blue Jays in the bidding, though the two sides haven’t completed a player-for-player trade in the two-plus years since Cherington went to Pittsburgh.
  • The Yankees were one of the other teams interested in Edmundo Sosa before the Cardinals dealt Sosa to the Phillies, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes.  Sosa would’ve been an interesting depth add to the Yankees’ infield, and it is even possible that Sosa could have worked his way into a timeshare with Isiah Kiner-Falefa at shortstop.

Latest On Phillies’ Pitching Search

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The Phillies are looking to add a front-of-the-rotation type of arm, with The Athletic’s Jayson Stark (Twitter links) writing that the Phils want “a starter who can start a playoff game.”  To this end, the club has been linked to such arms as the Reds’ Tyler Mahle, the Angels’ Noah Syndergaard, and the Pirates’ Jose Quintana — three of the most prominent starting pitchers remaining on the trade market.

Mahle is controlled through the 2023 season, while Syndergaard and Quintana would be pure rentals as players who are scheduled for free agency this winter.  As such, Mahle would surely cost the most in a trade, and Syndergaard carries a bit of a financial hit, with roughly $7.2MM still owed to him over the remainder of the season.  By contrast, Quintana is owed only around $675K for the rest of 2022, but Quintana also has a shaky track record over the last few seasons before righting himself this year in Pittsburgh.

Dave Dombrowski, Philadelphia’s president of baseball operations, suggested earlier this week that his team was hoping to bolster the rotation, but the Phils were also hesitant about dealing any of their top prospects.  Stark backs up that assertion, noting that the Phillies haven’t been willing to move any of Mick Abel, Andrew Painter or Logan O’Hoppe (the Phils’ consensus top-three prospects in the view of Baseball America and MLB Pipeline), or right-handed pitching propects Griff McGarry or Ben Brown.  BA ranks McGarry fourth and Brown seventh in their ranking of Phillies prospects, while Pipeline is a little less bullish, ranking McGarry eighth and Brown 26th.

Since the Phillies’ system isn’t considered to be too deep overall, it isn’t any surprise that the front office isn’t keen on parting ways with any of the relatively few premium names on hand in the minors.  However, as Stark observes, the Phils will find it difficult to obtain higher-tier pitching unless they’re open to trading prospects.  Given the amount of interest Mahle has received from around the league, and given what the Reds just obtained from the Mariners in the Luis Castillo deal, it would seem almost impossible for the Phillies to land Mahle without at least one of the blue-chip prospects.

Syndergaard and Quintana would come at a lower price tag as rental players, but Stark notes that Dombrowski also prefers controllable starters.  This was Philadelphia’s strategy in landing Kyle Gibson from the Rangers at last year’s deadline, and landing a starter who is controlled through at least 2023 would give the Phillies some cover since Gibson and Zach Eflin could both be free agents this winter.

The rotation seems to be Philadelphia’s top priority at this point, as Stark says that the Phillies aren’t focused on any bullpen moves for the moment.  This is a little surprising given the Phils’ longstanding needs in the relief corps, but it could be that Dombrowski is first exploring his options with the starter market before turning to the (relatively) easier route of adding relievers.  Also, virtually every contender in baseball is looking for relievers right now, so Dombrowski could be opting to make some late strikes after the first wave or two of bullpen trades have been made.

Mariners Place Julio Rodriguez, Dylan Moore On 10-Day IL; Ty France To Undergo MRI

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The Mariners placed outfielder Julio Rodriguez (right wrist contusion) and utilityman Dylan Moore (back spasms) on the 10-day injured list.  Jarred Kelenic has been called up from Triple-A, and first baseman/outfielder Jack Larsen’s contract has been selected from Double-A.  To make room for Larsen on the 40-man roster, left-hander Anthony Misiewicz has been designated for assignment.

Last night’s 5-4 win over the Astros was a costly victory for the Mariners, as Rodriguez, Moore, and Sam Haggerty (due to a cut on his forehead) all had to leave the game, making Seattle’s late-inning triumph all the more improbable.  If that wasn’t enough, Ty France is also set to undergo an MRI, as his bothersome left wrist injury again flared up late in the game.

Rodriguez’s injury drew the most immediate concern after the star rookie was hit on the right hand while swinging, though x-rays were negative.  Rodriguez is still sore enough that he won’t be able to swing for the next 4-5 days, manager Scott Servais told Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times and other reporters, and thus the IL stint was necessary to both keep the Mariners from being undermanned and to give Rodriguez time to get healthy.

There’s no easy way to replace Rodriguez, who has quickly cemented himself as both the present and future of Seattle baseball.  The outfielder is the heavy favorite to capture AL Rookie Of The Year honors, unless this IL stint lingers or impacts Rodriguez’s production once he does return.  Likewise, France also made the AL All-Star team this year and has basically done nothing but hit since the M’s acquired him from the Padres at the 2020 trade deadline.

Rodriguez and France are the Mariners’ two team leaders in fWAR, so losing at least one and potentially both to injury just prior to the trade deadline leaves Seattle’s front office in a tight spot.  President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto implied that after the Luis Castillo trade, the M’s could be done with any huge moves, and were relying on Mitch Haniger’s return to boost the offense rather than rely on any outside pieces.  The Mariners still have over 52 hours to monitor and evaluate Rodriguez and France before the 5pm CT deadline on August 2, but if there’s any uncertainty, the aggressive Dipoto might opt to swing at least a depth trade for the lineup just in case.

Moore has been a valuable player in his own right, posting a 116 wRC+ (from five homers and a .197/.350/.367 slash line in 185 PA) and playing at least one game at seven different positions around the diamond this season.  Abraham Toro will have to pick up some of the utility slack in the interim, though Toro has mostly played only second and third base during his two seasons with the Mariners.  Back spasms might not sideline Moore for much beyond the 10-day minimum, yet Dipoto could also explore adding a multi-position player to help fill Moore’s shoes in the short term.

Kelenic will get another opportunity to establish himself in the majors after struggling badly in first 473 plate appearances in the Show.  Kelenic has hit .173/.256/.338 as a big leaguer, with an ungainly 30% strikeout rate.  That swing-and-miss has crept into Kelenic’s work in the minors, as though he is hitting well at Triple-A, his strikeout rate over 252 PA for Tacoma this season is 23.8%, considerably up from 15.4% in 143 Triple-A PA in 2021.

Larsen went undrafted in 2017, but after inking a deal with the Mariners shortly after the amateur draft, the UC San Diego product is now on the verge of his Major League debut without so much as a cup of coffee at the Triple-A level.  The 27-year-old has played all three outfield positions and a handful of games as a first baseman, though Larsen hasn’t played any center field this year.  At the plate, Larsen has hit .266/.371/.444 in 564 career PA in Double-A ball.  Neither Baseball America or MLB Pipeline rate Larsen as one of the 30 best prospects in Seattle’s farm system.

Misiewicz has been a regular in the Mariners’ bullpen for the last three seasons, but he was optioned to Triple-A in June after posting a 4.61 ERA and only a 14% strikeout rate in 13 2/3 innings this season.  The M’s are known to be looking for bullpen help before the deadline, and left-handed relief could be a particular need, as Misiewicz’s struggles further lessened a pen already thin on southpaws.  It isn’t out of the question that Misiewicz could be claimed on DFA waivers, given how other clubs are constantly on the hunt for left-handed relief.

Latest On Frankie Montas

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TODAY: The Yankees, Cardinals, and Blue Jays seem to be the top suitors for Montas, as Jon Morosi of MLB Network writes that the right-hander’s “market is focused on” these three teams.

JULY 30: With Luis Castillo now on his way to Seattle following last night’s trade to the Mariners, Frankie Montas stands out as perhaps the best and likeliest arm left to be traded before Tuesday’s 5pm CT deadline. The majority of teams that held interest in Castillo are involved, to varying extents, in the Montas market, so it’s possible that last night’s deal begins to accelerate the pace of the pitching market overall.

The Yankees, for instance, were known to be Castillo suitors but have now made Montas their top target according to both Bob Nightengale of USA Today and Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter links). The Cardinals, who never seemed likely to be able to land Castillo from a fellow NL Central club, are continuing their pursuit of Montas, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. Their pursuit, however, is complicated a bit by simultaneous interest in Nationals superstar Juan Soto; Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes in his latest column that some of the Cardinals prospects the A’s are targeting in return for Montas are also coveted by the Nationals.

Several other clubs were linked to both Montas and Castillo in the past week, including the Twins, Padres and Blue Jays. There are also surely other clubs on the periphery of the market whose presence isn’t publicly known. Both Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News and Rosenthal have indicated, for instance, that the Rangers had engaged with the Reds in talks regarding Castillo. Whether the A’s would seriously entertain sending Montas to a division rival isn’t clear, but it’s telling that Texas is in the market for arms that can be controlled into 2023.

The Athletics’ asking price on Montas was reportedly quite high even before last night’s trade of Castillo potentially upped Oakland’s leverage in talks. In profiling the Cardinals’ current rotation needs, Katie Woo of The Athletic wrote (prior to the Castillo deal) that Oakland is believed to be seeking a pair of top prospects and “potentially a currently rostered player with substantial team control remaining.” It’s a steep ask, to be sure, though not an unrealistic one given Montas’ trade value.

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