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NL Central Notes: Strop, Cards, Rosenthal, Iglesias

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Cubs setup man Pedro Strop suffered a left knee injury while sliding to make a play on a weakly hit grounder last night and had to be helped off the field, as MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat writes. Strop will undergo an MRI today, at which point the club will know more about the amount of time he’ll need to miss. The Cubs’ bullpen is a bit thin at the moment as it is, with right-hander Hector Rondon dealing with a triceps issue (though Rondon has not been placed on the disabled list). A significant injury to Strop would be a substantial blow to the Cubs’ late-inning relief corps, as Strop has turned in a very strong 2.89 ERA with 11.5 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 59.6 percent ground-ball rate in 43 2/3 innings. His 50 relief appearances trail only Travis Wood for the team lead.

More from the NL Central…

  • MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch provides an update on a number of injured Cardinals, noting that left-hander Tyler Lyons’ season could be in jeopardy. The 28-year-old has been diagnosed with a fracture in his right knee and recently received a platelet-rich plasma injection as part of the treatment. It’ll be another three weeks before he’s evaluated, though, and GM John Mozeliak candidly stated: “I definitely feel like his season may be in question.” Shortstop Aledmys Diaz is back with the team and currently sporting a splint on his fractured left thumb. He’ll meet with a hand specialist next Monday to further establish a timeline for his own return. Meanwhile, right-hander Jordan Walden, who has pitched just 10 1/3 innings as a Cardinal since coming over in the Jason Heyward/Shelby Miller trade, hopes to return in September, though the Cardinals are being more cautious about his potential availability.
  • Injured closer Trevor Rosenthal told Jim Hayes of FOX Sports Midwest (video link) that he’s dealing with a “pretty significant” flexor mass strain in his right forearm that has previously not been reported or acknowledged by the Cardinals. (Langosch notes in the above-linked piece that the team has still not confirmed that diagnosis.) Rosenthal is on the disabled list with inflammation in his right rotator cuff and recently received an PRP injection of his own, but the forearm issue, which Rosenthal says may have led to the inflammation in his shoulder, would be a new and possibly greater concern than the previously reported shoulder injury.
  • Raisel Iglesias recorded the first save of his big league career on Wednesday, and there could be quite a few more in his future, writes C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “He’s stepped it up and I think we’re looking at a role that could be very comfortable for him and something we’ll have to weigh moving forward between starter and reliever,” said manager Bryan Price. Iglesias himself expressed an enormous amount of pride in being asked to take the ball in the ninth inning, explaining through a translator that he was as proud to pitch in that role as he was to be named Opening Day starter for the Reds. Said Iglesias: “I feel really proud because I’ve waited for this moment, this is what I’ve wanted to be on the team, this is what I want to do. I want to be the closer.” Iglesias looked like a highly intriguing rotation candidate entering the season, but a shoulder injury sidelined him for two months, and he’s pitched exclusively out of the bullpen since returning. Since being activated from the DL, Iglesias has a sensational 0.65 ERA with a 31-to-12 K/BB ratio in 27 2/3 innings.

Reds Outright J.J. Hoover

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The Reds announced on Thursday that right-hander J.J. Hoover has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Louisville. That represents a disappointing end to his work this year in Cincinnati, though a late-year return remains possible.

Entering the year, Hoover was positioned as the Reds’ closer after winning his arbitration hearing in his first year of eligibility. That didn’t last long, though, as he blew his first save opportunity and only ended up converting one on the season.

Hoover ended up being optioned in early May after posting disastrous results in the early going. He showed better immediately upon his return, but coughed up five earned runs in consecutive outings before going out on optional assignment once again. A significant decline in average fastball velocity certainly hasn’t helped. Hoover sits with a 13.50 ERA over 18 2/3 frames at the major league level in 2016, with opponents hitting a ridiculous .345/.433/.750 against him.

Ultimately, Cincinnati decided it couldn’t dedicate a 40-man roster spot to the veteran and decided on today’s outright. As things stand, he looks to be a non-tender candidate in the fall. That being said, Hoover ought to receive attention as a bounce-back candidate. Entering the year, he owned a 3.34 ERA over 223 2/3 major league innings with 9.1 K/9 against 4.1 BB/9, and he has been better this season when pitching at the Triple-A level.

Mariners Likely To Be Active On August Trade Market

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The Mariners didn’t make a trade on Monday in the hours leading up to the non-waiver deadline, but GM Jerry Dipoto doesn’t expect that to preclude them from further tweaking the roster, as Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune writes. “We’re going to have something on the market in August,” Dipoto tells Dutton. “I guarantee there will be more activity throughout the league, and we’ll probably be at the center of that.”

[Related: How August Trades Work]

That the Mariners didn’t make a trade wasn’t for a lack of effort, per Dipoto, who says that the Mariners had a lot of different discussions taking place, some of which “got very deep into the deal-making phase and just didn’t come to pass.” While Dipoto doesn’t address any specifics, one of those near-swaps was likely for Reds shortstop Zack Cozart. It was widely reported on Monday (first by Dutton himself) that the two sides were closing in on a trade that would send Cozart from Cincinnati to Seattle, but the deal never came to fruition.

Dutton now sheds some light on the talks, reporting that the two sides believed they had a basic two-for-two framework that would’ve sent Cozart and a minor leaguer to Seattle in exchange for minor league lefty Luiz Gohara and a second prospect. However, the Reds ultimately had to spend a great deal of time on Monday restructuring their trade of Jay Bruce to the Mets due to medical concerns surrounding some of the minor leaguers they were set to acquire. As such, Dutton writes that the Reds effectively “ran out of time” to assess all of the medical information on the players they would be receiving from the Mariners in exchange for Cozart. Gohara rated as the Mariners’ No. 5 prospect at MLB.com, whose scouting report notes that he’s had a breakout campaign after dropping 30 pounds in the offseason. Gohara has a 1.94 ERA and a 63-to-14 K/BB ratio in 51 minor league innings (nine starts).

Dutton adds that he spoke to some Mariners officials who didn’t rule out the possibility of revisiting talks for Cozart, though Cozart would have to pass through the entire National League and through nearly half of the American League to get to the Mariners on the waiver wire, which seems unlikely. Talks, of course, could resume in the offseason if Cozart remains in Cincinnati. It’s worth noting that Reds president of baseball operations Walt Jocketty told the Cincinnati Enquirer’s C. Trent Rosecrans yesterday that Cozart is not someone he’s actively looking to move, though he’s a free agent following the 2017 season, so it makes sense for the rebuilding Reds to be highly open to the concept so long as they receive quality talent in return.

In the days leading up to the deadline, the Mariners served as a reminder that the “buyer” and “seller” classifications are often too black-and-white, and teams will often operate in a gray areas somewhere between. Seattle shed some veterans that have disappointed this season — Joaquin Benoit and Wade Miley — but acquired MLB-ready assets in exchange. Benoit was swapped out for another change of scenery candidate, Drew Storen, while left-hander Ariel Miranda came over from the Orioles in the Miley swap and has already pitched in the big leagues this year himself. The Mariners did trade a long-term, controllable asset in moving Mike Montgomery to the Cubs, but Dipoto received a more or less MLB-ready first baseman in exchange by picking up blocked prospect Dan Vogelbach, creating the possibility for near-term gains. And, talks for Cozart further indicated that the Mariners don’t seem content to punt on the 2016 season.

Looking around the roster to identify potential August trade candidates, then, Adam Lind stands out as a logical option. Acquired from the Brewers this offseason to platoon at first base, Lind has struggled to a .226/.261/.434 line through 280 plate appearances. The emergence of Dae-ho Lee and the presence of the left-handed-hitting Vogelbach in Triple-A Tacoma could make Lind, a free agent at season’s end, expendable for the Mariners, and there were indeed rumors of his availability leading up to the non-waiver deadline. Veteran outfielder Nori Aoki has also underwhelmed in his first season with the Mariners, though he’s performed considerably better in a small sample upon his return from an option to Tacoma.

As for possible external acquisitions for Seattle, the Mariners were linked to names like Cozart, Jay Bruce and Joe Smith in the days leading up to the deadline. Given Steve Cishek’s recent struggles and the reported interest in Smith, adding another bullpen arm seems like a possibility, and their talks for Cozart could signal a desire to add another up-the-middle type of infielder. And, given Seattle’s current ranking, they’ll likely have a good shot at claiming any short-term assets that are placed on trade waivers by American League clubs. Seattle is currently five games back of the second Wild Card spot, and the two of the teams closest behind them — the Yankees and White Sox — acted largely as sellers, while the Royals (who have the same record as the ChiSox) stood pat as opposed to making any pre-deadline additions. That means that (for now) the Mariners have priority over virtually every team that considers itself a legitimate Wild Card contender.

Central Notes: Salazar, Volquez, Pirates, Reds

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Indians right-hander Danny Salazar is headed for what the club is calling a precautionary MRI due to discomfort in his right elbow, as MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian writes. “There’s something in my elbow,” said Salazar following a rough outing against the Twins on Monday. “I don’t know what it is. We don’t know. I think we’re going to find out tomorrow.” Manager Terry Francona said that Salazar’s elbow has been bothering him for at least a couple of weeks. Salazar had Tommy John surgery prior to making his big league debut and said the discomfort he feels in his elbow feels “totally different” than the pain he felt when he tore his ulnar collateral ligament. Nonetheless, there’s clearly some cause for concern, especially due to a recent decline in Salazar’s velocity (as Bastian highlights in his column).

A few more notes from the game’s Central divisions…

  • The Royals’ decision to stand pat at yesterday’s trade deadline was a surprise to some, considering the fact that Kansas City has fallen to 50-55 and has at best a narrow window to make the postseason. General manager Dayton Moore spoke about the team’s lack of trades with Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star, stating that he wants to give his players a chance to “dig back out of this mess we’re in.” More interesting, perhaps, was his take on righty Edinson Volquez, who has a mutual option on his contract for the 2017 season that figures to be declined one way or another. While he wouldn’t firmly commit to the notion, Moore suggested that the team could very well make Volquez a qualifying offer at season’s end, which is projected to be worth $16.7MM, as ESPN’s Buster Olney recently reported. Said Moore of Volquez: “We’ll see. Obviously we have to evaluate that, but that’s certainly a part of our thinking.”
  • The Pirates had a tough decision when determining whether the club was better-served by betting on Francisco Liriano returning to form or acquiring multiple years of Drew Hutchison and creating some financial flexibility, GM Neal Huntington explained to MLB.com’s Adam Berry. As Berry notes, the financial flexibility the Pirates gained by shedding the remaining money on Liriano’s contract will be significant in 2017 when Gerrit Cole and Tony Watson, among others, are due arbitration raises and other players signed to extensions see their salaries naturally escalate. Huntington said that the Pirates have liked Hutchison and right-hander Ivan Nova (also acquired at yesterday’s non-waiver deadline) for quite some time, adding that while it was difficult to part with outfield prospect Harold Ramirez and catching prospect Reese McGuire, the team dealt from positions of depth. Berry adds that the Bucs talked with the Rays about their starters at length but were asked for a minimum of two of their top five prospects in return — too lofty a price for Huntington’s liking.
  • Reds president of baseball operations Walt Jocketty spoke with the Cincinnati Enquirer’s C. Trent Rosecrans about the difficulty of trading away a homegrown slugger like Jay Bruce even in the midst of a rebuild. “It was extremely tough to make the deal,” said Jocketty. “We’ve talked about it for some time, but until it actually happens, it doesn’t set in. …It was tough to say goodbye to him.” Reports on Monday indicated that medical concerns over one of the minor leaguers that was said to be in the initial iteration of the Bruce deal — said to be centered around outfielder Brandon Nimmo — slowed the deal. Rosecrans,though, hears that multiple prospects that would’ve come to the Reds failed to live up to the Reds’ medical standards, leading to further discussion. Jocketty also spoke a bit about Zack Cozart, who was reportedly nearly traded to Seattle, stating that Cozart isn’t someone the team is actively looking to move. Rosecrans adds that talks with the Mariners did take place but fell apart over the course of the day.

Mets Acquire Jay Bruce

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After a snag in the medical reviews of a Mets prospect derailed an earlier version of the trade, the Mets and Reds announced today that Jay Bruce has been traded to Cincinnati in exchange for minor league second baseman Dilson Herrera and minor league left-hander Max Wotell.  Top outfield prospect Brandon Nimmo was originally said to be in the deal, and while he wasn’t the player whose medicals sank the first iteration of the trade, he is no longer included in this version.

Jay Bruce

Bruce, 29, now has the chance to join Cespedes in the New York outfield. The career-long Red is in the midst of not just a resurgent season at the plate, but the finest offensive season he’s ever produced. Bruce is batting .265/.316/.559 with 25 homers, 22 doubles and six triples this season while playing on a reasonable $12.5MM salary. He’s still owed about $4.3MM of that sum through season’s end, and his contract comes with a $13MM club option for the 2017 season as well.

Cincinnati came close to moving Bruce during Spring Training in a supposed three-team deal, but medical reviews of some of the minor leaguers involved torpedoed the deal. That looks quite fortuitous for Cincinnati now, as Bruce’s huge season has rebuilt his trade stock substantially. Bruce underwent arthroscopic knee surgery early in the 2014 season and rushed back in less than a month, and he didn’t look like himself at the plate in either 2014 or 2015 (combined .222/.288/.406 slash line). Now, he’ll be moved for a stronger package of young talent than he’d have fetched about four months ago.

Bruce will provide the Mets with a power bat to slot into the corner outfield mix, although his acquisition likely pushes some combination of Curtis Granderson and Michael Conforto into center field due to Yoenis Cespedes’ now-infamous preference to remain in left field. Certainly, that defensive alignment is sub-optimal, as Bruce’s defensive ratings have plummeted this season, but the Mets have long appeared more concerned with ratcheting up their offensive production (e.g. placing Yoenis Cespedes in center field, signing Asdrubal Cabrera to play shortstop) and seem content to live with a sub-par defensive alignment in order to achieve that end.

Herrera, 22, is no longer considered a “prospect” because he’s tallied 169 big league plate appearances, but he becomes a vital future piece for the Reds and is the unequivocal centerpiece of this deal. The 22-year-old has batted just .215/.308/.383 in his limited big league playing time, but he’s yet to receive an opportunity to play on a regular basis. One would imagine that the Reds will afford him with that opportunity in the near future, giving them a look at a player that has been pegged by many scouting reports as a possible big league regular. Herrera is a career .300/.354/.485 hitter in 753 Triple-A plate appearances, displaying a blend of power and speed that has resulted in 24 homers and 19 steals at that level. Brandon Phillips is blocking him at second base, but it’s conceivable that the Reds’ long-term middle infield tandem will consist of Herrera and Jose Peraza. Whether or not that duo lines up in the middle infield, they both figure to be key factors in the Reds’ emerging young core.

Wotell, 19, has already been slotted in as Cincinnati’s No. 22 prospect by Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis at MLB.com. He’s yet to pitch above Rookie ball since being selected in the third round of last season’s draft, though he has a solid 3.57 ERA with 10.5 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9 in 40 1/3 innings between the Gulf Coast League and Appalachian League. Callis and Mayo write that he sits 90-91 mph with his heater but can touch 95 and has room to add to his 6’3″ frame. Wotell’s breaking ball has plus potential but he needs to smooth out his delivery and work on his command, the MLB.com duo notes.

Buster Olney and Jerry Crasnick of ESPN, FOX’s Ken Rosenthal and Joel Sherman of the New York Post did a great deal of the reporting on the initial trade. Olney reported that a restructured deal was close to completion (Twitter link). Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reported originally called the Mets the favorites and said that the restructured deal was done (via Twitter). Rosenthal tweeted that Herrera was in the deal instead of Nimmo. MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo tweeted that Wotell was the second player going to Cincinnati.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mariners, Reds Fail To Complete Zack Cozart Trade

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3:25pm: Seattle didn’t pull off any deals, Dutton tweets, so evidently the sides were not able to line up on Cozart.

9:05am: The Mariners and Reds are closing in on a trade involving Zack Cozart, reports Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune (on Twitter). While the trade isn’t done yet, both sides are confident that a deal can be worked out, according to Dutton, who notes that talks are still fluid at this time. ESPN’s Jayson Stark reported last week that Seattle had asked the Reds about Cozart.

Cozart, 30, is one of the game’s premier defenders at shortstop and has also substantially elevated his offensive game over the past couple of seasons, hitting a combined .263/.314/.461 with 24 homers over 615 plate appearances. He’s earning a reasonable $2.925MM salary in 2016 and is controllable through the 2017 season via arbitration.

The Mariners have a young shortstop option in Ketel Marte that looked to have cemented himself at the position with a strong rookie campaign in 2015, but the 22-year-old’s bat has taken a huge step backwards in 2016. After a .283/.351/.402 slash in 247 plate appearances last year, Marte has batted a mere .273/.299/.358 in a larger sample of 300 PAs in 2016. Beyond that, Marte has missed time this season with a sprained thumb and, more recently, a bout of mononucleosis (for which he is currently on the disabled list). Adding Cozart to the fold wouldn’t necessarily preclude Marte from emerging as Seattle’s primary shortstop down the line, but it could relegate him to a utility role next year before giving him another crack at a more regular role in 2018.

From the Reds’ vantage point, moving Cozart could open up an avenue for prospect Jose Peraza to at last get regular at-bats. Cincinnati picked up Peraza in the Todd Frazier deal this offseason, but he’s played sparingly of late while spending more time on the bench than the club would presumably like for a piece that could be a long-term asset in their lineup. The 22-year-old speedster has 93 plate appearances in 33 games since being recalled from Triple-A back on June 15.

Mets, Reds Nearing Completion Of Bruce Trade

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2:34pm: The two sides have been able to re-work the trade and a deal is “all but done,” tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

2:30pm: Olney tweets that things are back on track and the Mets are almost done with the trade.

1:59pm: Minor league lefty Max Wotell is one of the players that could be headed to the Reds if the deal goes through, tweets Rosenthal.

1:13pm: Rosenthal tweets that the medical issue is not with Bruce or with Nimmo. The Reds and Mets are trying to restructure the trade at the moment, he adds.

12:55pm: The Reds are balking at the medical reports on one of the minor leaguers in the package, tweets USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.

12:37pm: ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick now tweets that a medical issue may be holding up the Mets’ acquisition of Bruce. Crasnick adds that the severity of the issue isn’t known, but the medicals are no longer a formality.

11:47am: The Mets and Reds will have a deal, tweets Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that two low-level minor leaguers are going to the Reds alongside Nimmo.

11:32am: Outfield prospect Brandon Nimmo will be part of the package going to the Reds, reports Yahoo’s Tim Brown (on Twitter). Yahoo’s Jeff Passan tweeted that the Giants and Rangers tried to jump back into the mix with late offers on Bruce but did so too late.

11:26am: The Mets are “on the verge” of completing a trade to acquire outfielder Jay Bruce, reports ESPN’s Buster Olney (on Twitter). This marks the second straight year in which the Reds have been linked to Bruce leading up to the deadline, although last year’s would-be deal never crossed the finish line, and the Mets eventually shifted their focus from the Reds and Bruce, coming away with a last-minute pickup out outfielder Yoenis Cespedes from the Tigers.

Bruce, 29, now has the chance to join Cespedes in the New York outfield. The career-long Red is in the midst of not just a resurgent season at the plate, but the finest offensive season he’s ever produced. Bruce is batting .265/.316/.559 with 25 homers, 22 doubles and six triples this season while playing on a reasonable $12.5MM salary. He’s still owed about $4.3MM of that sum through season’s end, and his contract comes with a $13MM club option for the 2017 season as well.

Cincinnati came close to moving Bruce during Spring Training in a supposed three-team deal, but medical reviews of some of the minor leaguers involved torpedoed the deal. That looks quite fortuitous for Cincinnati now, as Bruce’s huge season has rebuilt his trade stock substantially. Bruce underwent arthroscopic knee surgery early in the 2014 season and rushed back in less than a month, and he didn’t look like himself at the plate in either 2014 or 2015 (combined .222/.288/.406 slash line). Now, he seems likely go to New York for what is presumably a considerably stronger package of young talent than he’d have fetched about four months ago.

Bruce will provide the Mets with a power bat to slot into the corner outfield mix, although his acquisition likely pushes some combination of Curtis Granderson and Michael Conforto into center field due to Yoenis Cespedes’ now-infamous preference to remain in left field. Certainly, that defensive alignment is sub-optimal, as Bruce’s defensive ratings have plummeted this season, but the Mets have long appeared more concerned with ratcheting up their offensive production (e.g. placing Yoenis Cespedes in center field, signing Asdrubal Cabrera to play shortstop) and seem content to live with a sub-par defensive alignment in order to achieve that end.

From the Reds’ vantage point, Bruce has long been one of their most obvious trade candidates due to the team’s rebuild and the Bruce’s timeline to free agency. In landing Nimmo, they’ll secure a former first-round pick that can essentially step directly into the outfield in Bruce’s absence. The 23-year-old made his big league debut with the Mets this season but has struggled through 60 plate appearances, batting .236/.300/.291. However, Nimmo has torn up the Pacific Coast League (albeit an extremely hitter-friendly environment) by slashing .336/.409/.517 in 325 plate appearances this season and ranked third on Baseball Ameica’s midseason list of Mets prospects and fifth on the midseason top 30 over at MLB.com.

Earlier today, Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reported that the Mets were the favorites to land Bruce.

Mets The Favorites For Jay Bruce

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The non-waiver trade deadline is just under nine hours away, and rumors/transactions figure to be flying around quickly today. Reds outfielder Jay Bruce remains one of the likeliest candidates to be dealt between now and the 4pm ET deadline. As of Sunday, the Giants were said to be making a “strong push” for Bruce, who is also said to be a prime target of the Mets. Bruce has also drawn interest from the Indians, Dodgers and Rangers, among others, over the past few days, and the Rays have at times been mentioned as a possible factor in three-team trade scenarios involving Bruce.

We’ll keep track of all the day’s Bruce rumors here in this post…

  • Morosi now tweets that the Mets and Reds have made progress on a deal involving Bruce.
  • Yahoo’s Jeff Passan tweets that the Mets are the favorites to land Bruce, but the Rangers and Giants are still in. Talks could stretch into the afternoon, he notes.

Earlier Updates

  • Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports/MLB.com tweets that the Mets remain in active talks with the Reds as of Monday morning. ESPN’s Jayson Stark also tweets that conversations with the Mets remain active, while talks with the Giants and Dodgers are currently in “slow mo.”
  • Heyman tweets that the Mets don’t seem to have heard anything on Bruce this morning (Twitter link). He also tweets that the Giants haven’t heard anything about Bruce being dealt this morning.
  • USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that the Reds have “found a match” for a Bruce trade and expects Cincinnati to trade Bruce to a National League club this morning. That team is not the Dodgers, according to Nightengale. The Giants and Mets are the two non-Dodgers NL clubs that have been most heavily linked to Bruce in the past day or two.
  • Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports tweets the Giants, Mets, Indians and others have been in on Bruce recently. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, meanwhile, lists the Giants, Dodgers, Mets, Rangers and Blue Jays all as teams that still have some interest in Bruce as of Monday morning.

Giants Pursuing Rays’ Matt Moore, Making “Strong Push” For Jay Bruce

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11:36pm: With several notable names already gone from the relief market, the Giants are “making [a] late and strong push” to land outfielder Jay Bruce from the Reds, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). San Francisco has been variously rumored to be in and out on Bruce in recent days, but it seems that the club is a serious contender for his services at this late stage.

As with Moore, Bruce is reportedly in play for a number of other contenders, including the Dodgers. The power-hitting right fielder is controllable for 2017 by way of a $13MM club option, so he’d represent an asset for next season as well with the Giants set to lose Angel Pagan to free agency.

10:07pm: The Giants are pursuing a deal for Rays lefty Matt Moore, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). It remains uncertain, he notes, whether San Francisco has the right prospect pieces to work out a deal for the controllable southpaw.

It’s long been unclear just where the Giants’ focus is with the trade deadline nearing. We’ve seen reports connecting the club to starters, relievers, outfielders, and infielders — with the last spot seemingly already covered by the recent acquisition of Eduardo Nunez.

Though the focus has been said to have shifted to the pen, with an eye also on picking up a slugging outfield piece, San Francisco has continued to look into a broad and fluid market for rotation pieces. Moore holds an interesting place in that picture, as he is one of many controllable arms that could be available, but need not be traded by their current teams.

Tampa Bay has been targeted by teams interested in starters because the team is out of the race and possesses a variety of pitchers with relatively lengthy and affordable control rights. While other organizations may be hesitant to deal their better arms, the Rays could do so without compromising their depth.

Still, the price tag won’t be low, and the Giants arguably lack the kind of premium prospect assets that would motivate the Rays. Indeed, the club is requesting a player that is currently on San Francisco’s active roster, per Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area (via Twitter). Infielders Joe Panik and Matt Duffy would be the most sensible fits, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle observes on Twitter, though it should be noted that he is making only an analytical point rather than suggesting either or both have been discussed.

Adding to the intrigue, the Rays are also said to be negotiating on pitching with the Dodgers, who are currently neck-and-neck with their heated rivals in the NL West. There are other contenders in the mix, too, and other pitchers reportedly on the table. Jake Odorizzi and Chris Archer have been those most mentioned, though theoretically Drew Smyly could also be moved.

Moore, who recently turned 27, is perhaps the toughest player to value from that group. He has the talent and contract to be valued quite highly, but has posted uneven results since returning last year from Tommy John surgery. He has posted strong results over his last seven outings, permitting only nine earned runs over 40 2/3 innings in that span, though he registered only a 25:14 K/BB ratio along the way.

On the year, Moore owns a 4.08 ERA with 7.5 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 over 130 innings. That last statistic is notable, as he has previously struggled to limit the free passes, though ERA estimators aren’t as convinced (4.50 FIP, 4.67 xFIP, 4.41 SIERA in 2016) as the scouts may be that Moore has returned to being a frontline starter. While he isn’t throwing quite as hard as he did early in his career, Moore has restored most of his velocity with a 92.9 mph average on his four-seam fastball.

The early-career extension signed by Moore held out the promise of becoming one of the best contracts in baseball. It hasn’t quite turned out that way, as the cheapest years were marred by injury. But it still holds plenty of appeal: Moore is owed just $5MM for all of 2016, and can be controlled through 2019 through a series of club options that total to just $26MM.

Jay Bruce Rumors: Saturday

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Since it’s probably fair to assume we’re going to learn quite a bit of new information on Reds outfielder Jay Bruce today, we’ll go ahead and kick off the weekend’s deadline chatter with a post to house it. You can check back on last night’s whirlwind series of reports right here. Bottom line: there was talk of movement with the Dodgers, possibly involving Yasiel Puig and/or a third team, but nothing has come to fruition as of yet.

Here’s the latest on the veteran slugger, who is putting up career-best numbers at the plate and comes with another season of control via a $13MM club option:

  • Rosenthal tweets that the Mets and Reds continue to discuss a Bruce swap, but nothing is close at this time.
  • The Mets are “very involved” in the pursuit of Bruce, according to MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon (Twitter link). New York, of course, discussed Bruce with Cincinnati at last year’s trade deadline but ultimately secured Yoenis Cespedes instead.
  • Stark reports that the Reds aren’t asking for elite prospects for Bruce but want two or three good players from the next tier down (Twitter link).

Earlier Updates

  • The Rangers have at least “checked in” on Bruce, per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link). Texas could be a fit with Prince Fielder out for the year and Shin-Soo Choo dealing with ongoing back issues, though Crasnick notes that pitching remains the priority.
  • The Mariners were said yesterday to be both out and then in on Bruce, but Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says (Twitter links) that there’s nothing happening on that front (though the teams are discussing shortstop Zack Cozart). Another team with questionable interest is the Giants, and Rosenthal suggests that they are still kicking around the idea of adding Bruce. The idea would be to slot his bat into the outfield mix now, and then use him as a replacement for free agent-to-be Angel Pagan in 2017.
  • Though the Dodgers are still involved on Bruce, last night’s chatter of a three-team swap is dead, according to ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark (via Twitter). It was never entirely clear just what that scenario might have looked like, though it seemed that Puig was a piece of the picture.
  • Bruce’s market represents a “moving target,” Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets. (Those of you who followed yesterday’s frenzy will surely understand this.) As things stand as the weekend begins, the Orioles are out, per Heyman. The Nationals are focused first on improving their bullpen, though seemingly remain involved. That leaves the Dodgers as the obvious suitor, with the Mets and Mariners among the other organizations that have at least some ongoing interest in Bruce.
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