The Red Sox scratched Jon Lester from his start on Wednesday amid heating trade speculation and it's rumored that the left-hander's destination has been narrowed down to six teams. Meanwhile, the Rays are contemplating whether or not to deal David Price because of their resurgence.
According to sources, a deal for Lester has not yet been confirmed and there are just under 30 hours remaining until the MLB's trade deadline. The Red Sox have recalled starting pitcher Brandon Workman from Triple-A to make the start tonight in Lester's place against the Toronto Blue Jays. Nothing has yet been mentioned to Lester or his agents about an impending trade, leaving him waiting like the rest of eager baseball fans.
"I think in light of all the uncertainty surrounding Jon Lester, it's probably in everyone's best interest that he not make that start, so Brandon will be recalled," said Red Sox manager John Farrell, in this ESPN article. "There will be a corresponding move roster-wise at some point tomorrow."
The fact that Lester was scratched and his replacement was announced has many believing a deal has already been executed, but no such confirmations have been made. According to reports, the Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, Oakland Athletics, St. Louis Cardinals, and Los Angeles Dodgers are among Lester's potential suitors, with the Pirates, Cardinals, and Dodgers as the front-runners. The Red Sox are looking for top prospects, an industry source said, and are citing the Oakland Athletics and Chicago Cubs trade that occurred a few weeks ago for their reason being. Oakland gave up their top prospect (Addison Russell) and 2013 first-round pick Billy McKinney for pitchers Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel.
However, teams are likely not inclined to surrender top prospects in a deal for Lester because he will provide a mere two-month rental if he doesn't decide to re-sign with the team he is dealt to after the season is over. The Red Sox are pointing to the A's/Cubs trade because Samardzija is also a free agent at the end of the year and he managed to turn out prime value when he was traded. But Samardzija, although a great commodity, will not be attracting as much money as Jon Lester by the end of this season, which is a big worry in terms of market competition for the team that happens to acquire Lester in a trade.
The Tampa Bay Rays are in the same boat as the Red Sox, except they're slowly beginning to reconsider trading their ace and impending free agent David Price. Back when teams began to inquire about Price's services, the Rays looked dismal and their playoff hopes looks even worse. But a resurgence has the put the Rays at 53-54 and they're now seven games back for the division lead and 4.5 back in the AL wild card race. Should they keep Price (despite likely being unable to afford him after the season) and take a gamble on their playoff chances or trade Price and get value for him and begin preparing for the future?
"Rays GM Andrew Friedman is going to make the most interesting call of the next two days: Whether or not to trade David Price," writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. "Colleagues suggest Friedman has the guts to deal Price when the team has rallied from nowhere to the cusp of the AL pennant race. A few even suggest that he may prefer to pull the trigger." It looks like the Cardinals are the front-runners for Price if Friedman decides to trade the former Cy Young winner.
The fate of both Lester and Price is unknown, and their cases are interesting because they will both be free agents after this year, which puts a ceiling on what the Red Sox and Rays will get in return.
