The Rangers and Rockies have made trades within the past couple of weeks and teams across the league are continuing to contact them about the availability of their players. With the playoffs out of the picture, will either of these teams send off some of their valuable players for prospects?
Although Rockies general manager Daniel O'Dowd made it clear that he's not willing to move stars Troy Tulowitzki or Carlos Gonzalez before Thursday's trade deadline at 4 p.m., but there's no telling what they'll do if a team offers a prospect-filled package for either of them. The Mets said they are willing to include top prospect pitcher Noah Syndergaard, but nothing has come out of it yet. However, if Tulowitzki wants a trade and notifies the general manager, the team can blame the public relations person who printed 15,000 jerseys that had Tulowitzki's name spelled wrong when the stadium had a jersey giveaway night on Saturday.
But Colorado is garnering a lot of interest for their pitchers - particularly Jorge De La Rosa, Adam Ottavino, Rex Brothers, Matt Belisle, and LaTroy Hawkins. The Yankees and Orioles have expressed interest in De La Rosa, who has been with Colorado since 2008, but the Denver Post reported today that the left-hander is likely to stay put. De La Rosa is a free agent at the end of this year and if he decides to sign with another team, the Rockies will receive draft-pick compensation. But again, an over-the-top offer could change the Rockies' mind. Additionally, the Pirates have inquired about LaTroy Hawkins due to their bullpen issues with Ernesto Frieri (11.25 ERA in 8 innings pitched) ever since they acquired him from the Angels. The Rockies have not shown any unwillingness in trading Hawkins.
As for the Rangers, they traded closer Joakim Soria to the Detroit Tigers for two pitching prospects last Wednesday and with the worst record in baseball (42-64) they might be looking to make other moves. The Nationals inquired about all-star third baseman Adrian Beltre over the weekend because they're unsure of Ryan Zimmerman's status on the disabled list, but the Rangers did not entertain the conversation. Additionally, outfielder Alex Rios has attracted interest from the Mariners, Yankees, Giants, and Reds, according to reports. It's said these teams are keeping tabs on him as the deadline draws nearer in case he ends up being a fit. However, despite the bad season, the Rangers have young talent on the roster (Elvis Andrus, Leonys Martin, Rougned Odor) and they'll have Prince Fielder returning from injury next year.
There are two days left for teams to work out a trade and just about anything can happen if contenders get desperate. You can check out more news on the MLB Rumors page.
