The Phillies have been trying to decide if they are buying or selling for weeks. Then, they lost seven straight. Michael Young, the team's third baseman, has still been drawing trade interest, although some teams believe Philadelphia could still buy. But, the Orioles, Red Sox, and Yankees all are trying to get in on Young. It was then stated that the Red Sox may have the "best overall package" to offer the Phillies for Michael Young. What should the Phillies do with Young? They have Cody Asche and Maikel Franco playing in AAA and AA, respectively. Asche is hitting nealy .300, has 13 home runs, and has been a run-producer, driving in 65. Franco has sped through the Phillies organization, being only 20 years old, and two steps away from the big leagues. The Phillies have had trouble developing third basemen in the past, and now have two players who seem to be not too far from playing in Citizens Bank Park. This gives the Phillies plenty of options for Young, but if they get a good enough offer (a couple mid-level prospects), I believe they should take it. When you have a "bidding war" between three division rivals, it can get ugly in terms of prospects heading to Philly. This holds true even more when two of the teams are the Yankees and Red Sox, both looking to try and make a run deep into the post-season. Young, 36, becomes a free agent in 2014, and will help and club's chemistry. He's hitting .277 with 7 HR and 32 RBI on the season.
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Jake Peavy has been drawing plenty of trade interest from teams like the Athletics, Cardinals, Braves, Red Sox, and Orioles. He's been a very reliable pitcher, going 8-4 with a 4.28 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. Peavy's future is very uncertain, but one thing is quite possible. He could be leaving Chicago at any minute. John Heyman of CBS Sports says that the Cardinals, Red Sox, and Athletics could be "co-favorites" in a sense. It was noted that the White Sox were looking at the Red Sox starting pitching and infielder prospects, which could be the asking price for Peavy. But, the Red Sox seem to be more interested in reliever Matt Lindstrom, leaving the door open for other teams on Jake Peavy.
Jake Peavy could get a similar deal to Matt Garza, who was traded for four or five prospects (J. Grimm, C.J. Edwards, M. Olt, and one or two PTBNLs), unless this deal gets way out of hand. As I noted earlier, the White Sox are looking at infielders and starting pitchers. Looking at the top 20 prospects from each of the "contending teams", the White Sox have a lot to be happy about in terms of their possible return from Peavy. The Red Sox have plenty of prospects that could be dealt. Deven Marrero, Allen Webster, Henry Owens, Anthony Ranaudo, Matt Barnes, and Xander Bogaerts are all drawing interest from the White Sox. Each of those prospects are on the Red Sox top 20 prospect list, according to MLB.com. The A's and Cardinals each have great farm systems as well as the Red Sox. But, I believe the Cardinals have the best prospects in terms of starting pitching. That is something that they could really use as "bait" in acquiring Jake Peavy. Players such as Michael Wacha, Carlos Martinez, and Michael Blazek are close to being in the major leagues full time. Is Jake Peavy truly worth what teams could be throwing at him? He's been very injury-prone throughout his career, not pitching a full season four times in his twelve year career. As he continues to get older, the injuries could become much more serious. Depending on the deal the White Sox get for him, he may be a huge part in rebuilding their system. But, if he can show why he was a former Cy Young with his new team, this deal could be pretty evenly matched, especially if he plays a big part in getting his team to the post-season. In the end, I believe the Red Sox, even though they are reportedly more interested in Matt Lindstrom, could receive Peavy as well. It seems as if they could make a deal involving both Lindstrom and Peavy, if things really do get out of hand. I just don't believe that Oakland or St. Louis is interested enough in Peavy to part with their top prospects. But, I do believe that the Braves could be a player, especially considering the fact that their ace, Tim Hudson, just received surgery on his ankle. At this point, speculation is the best you can do. Peavy will almost certainly be traded, however, due to the type of prospects the White Sox could be receiving in return. They have three days to do the trade, as our countdown to the trade deadline continues. The San Francisco Giants are listening to offers on Hunter Pence, according to Robert Murray of MLB Injury News (via Twitter). He also later tweeted that the Texas Rangers look like are making Pence their "number one hitting target."
With July 31 just four days away, how possible is this deal happening? The Rangers have many tradable prospects, and the Giants would like to fill some pitching holes (4.16 team ERA; 23rd in MLB). Luke Jackson and Connor Sadzeck seem like names to be watching in this trade, if the deal makes progress, and the Rangers are truly interested. I believe that this deal could happen very, very quickly because the Giants have a hole in the pitching rotation, and the Rangers have some pretty nice pitching prospects. At this point and time, it's unknown exactly how far the Rangers are willing to go for Pence, and how much the Giants want in return. But, on paper, this seems like it could eventually happen. The Chicago Cubs have gone all out in getting rid of their stars in exchange for prospects. Their fire sale has put them, on paper, to be a contender within the next few years. If you take a look at their recent trades, you can see how well the Cubs turned out by trading their major league stars.
7/2/13 -- Chicago Cubs trade RHP Scott Feldman and C Steve Clevenger to Baltimore Orioles for RHP Jake Arrieta and RHP Pedro Strop 7/2/13 -- Chicago Cubs trade RHP Carlos Marmol to Los Angeles Dodgers for RHP Matt Guerrier 7/8/13 -- Chicago Cubs trade RF Scott Hairston to Washington Nationals for RHP Ivan Pineyro 7/22/13 -- Chicago Cubs trade RHP Matt Garza to Texas Rangers for RHP C.J. Edwards, RHP Justin Grimm, 3B Mike Olt, and one or two PTBNLs. 7/26/13 -- Chicago Cubs trade OF Alfonso Soriano to New York Yankees for RHP Corey Black The Cubs acquired really good prospects through the Garza deal and were able to get a lot of pitching depth, a place that they've had a lot of trouble with this season. By flipping many of their stars the Cubs were able to replenish their AAA affiliate, the Iowa Cubs. Since the deal on the 22nd, the Cubs are 2-2, a decent record, but not great overall. Justin Grimm starts tonight for the Cubs, who are 51-55 overall. If I was to say one thing to Cubs fans everywhere, it be "wait", because the Cubs have a future of exciting team that the rest of the NL Central is trying to catch. The Cubs are a few years away from being a powerhouse throughout baseball. The 2013 deadline season has been a nice one to the Cubs, who have taken advantage of nearly all of their moveable trade pieces, something that they haven't done in the past. They could be setting themselves up to be a "surprise team" within the next The Yankees and Cubs completed a trade involving Alfonso Soriano, sending him to New York. In exchange for Soriano, the Cubs received prospect Corey Black, whom some of you may not know. Cover The Bases got a chance to have an interview (via Twitter) with Corey Black, the prospect headed to Chicago.
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