The Milwaukee Brewers are expected to be one of the MLB's big time sellers before the July 31 deadline and their top trade chip is outfielder Carlos Gomez. Where will he land later this week?
Recent trade rumors have been focusing on starting pitchers, especially with the potential availability of David Price as well as Cole Hamels' no-hitter over the weekend. However, there are other talented position players out there and Gomez is one of them. He's under contract through 2016 and will make just $9 million next year, which has a number of new teams interested in acquiring him.
"The Rangers and Indians are among the clubs that have reached out to the Brewers about Gomez, according to major-league sources," FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal wrote earlier today.
"Both teams rank near the bottom in the majors in OPS from the center-field position - the Indians are 23rd, the Rangers 28th.
"The Giants, who rank 24th, and Astros, who rank 25th, are two other clubs that find Gomez appealing, but the Giants might not have the prospects to land him and the Astros appear more focused on bullpen help, sources say."
Previous rumors suggested the New York Mets, Los Angeles Angels, Baltimore Orioles and Minnesota Twins were targeting the 29-year-old as well, but the acquisition cost will likely be high. The Mets have already made a trade with the Braves that landed them Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson and may not want to move their better prospects; the Orioles are giving "serious consideration" to becoming sellers; and the Twins have a full outfield right now with Eddie Rosario, Aaron Hicks and Torii Hunter.
Additionally, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports said over the weekend that "someone who spoke to the Brewers lately suggested they were trying harder to trade Gerardo Parra than Carlos Gomez." That also could be true because the Brewers will have the opportunity to trade Gomez in the offseason and still get good value for him, while Parra is slated to become a free agent and is owed a decent chunk of money this year. The market for Parra is good right now because various teams are looking for left-handed outfield bats.
The Rangers, Giants, Indians and Astros would be a good fit for Gomez, but each of these clubs would have to do some sort of addition by subtraction due to their current outfield situations.
So while the market for Gomez is beginning to materialize just a few days before Friday's deadline, it's still pretty murky given all of those who are interested in his services.
The Brewers have a ton of trade candidates so it wouldn't at all be surprising if they waited until the offseason to move the outfielder.
