(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
The madness of the MLB trade deadline is officially upon us.
By 6 p.m. Eastern time tonight, all trades will be complete and there will be no more offers made.
The starting pitching market has seen the most movement so far.
Pitchers such as Max Scherzer, Lucas Giolito, and Jordan Montgomery were traded, and several other starters will likely soon be dealt.
On Twitter, Buster Olney of ESPN predicted that we will see plenty of movement in the latter hours before the deadline, specifically in the market for starters.
One staffer says there will be a barrage of starting pitcher deals completed today, maybe in the last couple of hours before the deadline, as desperation begins to factor in for buyers and sellers. Verlander, Flaherty, E-Rod, Lorenzen among the names in play in that corner of the…
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) August 1, 2023
He noted that Justin Verlander, Jack Flaherty, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Michael Lorenzen are among the names in play.
The latter three starters would be rentals.
Flaherty and Lorenzen are on expiring contracts.
Rodriguez technically has three years left on his deal, but has the ability to opt out at the end of this season and return to the free agent market.
Among those four, Verlander is the only controllable starter.
Olney notes that the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, and Baltimore Orioles are among the teams that are likely to jump on the availability of some of these starters.
With Verlander being the only controllable starter, it’s very likely that he would net the best return for the New York Mets, who recently decided to sell and traded away Max Scherzer on Saturday.
But it’s going to be interesting to see what happens in the next few hours, and things should get exciting towards the end of the trading period.
The post MLB Insider Notes A Series Of Trades To Potentially Come Tuesday appeared first on The Cold Wire.