The latest ahead of the MLB trade deadline

The hot stove is heating up around major league baseball. With just over a week until the trade deadline, TSN.ca takes a look at some of the latest news, rumours and rumblings from around the league.

Toronto Blue Jays

Sitting at 44-51 with six teams between them and the second wild card spot, time is ticking on the 2017 season for the Toronto Blue Jays. Their standing coming into play Friday is probably too poor to justify going into buyer-mode at the trade deadline.

John Gibbons was on MLB Network Radio on Friday and said that despite the Blue Jays' struggles, they plan on keeping the core together. "We want to finish this year strong and who knows what the hell might happen this year. But yeah, [management] wants to hold it together," Gibbons said. 

While the news is reassuring for fans hoping to avoid a rebuild, a deal could still happen if the right offer comes along. Here are some of the latest rumours regarding the Blue Jays.

Rougned Odor

The last team in the world anyone would imagine having interest in second baseman Rougned Odor? The Toronto Blue Jays. Yet, as John Heyman of FanRag Sports reports, the Blue Jays have checked in on Odor before. 

While it’s unclear if anything has happened recently, the framework for a potential deal is there. Devon Travis has struggled mightily with injuries throughout his career – playing in only 213 games over the past three seasons, with his return for 2017 in doubt – and the Texas Rangers are looking to sell off some of their assets and go into rebuilding mode.

Dee Gordon

Another option at two-bag for the Blue Jays could be speedster Dee Gordon. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that a bunch of clubs have shown interest in Gordon, including the Blue Jays.

With the Miami Marlins reportedly nearing a sale, lower payroll may be more appealing for a potential buyer.

Gordon has been inconsistent throughout his career. He led the NL in batting at .333 in 2015, but followed that up in 2016 by hitting .268 while sitting out 80 games because of a performance enhancing drug suspension. This season, he’s up to .290 but has an OPS of just .685.

Marco Estrada

Marco Estrada is having his worst season since being acquired by the Blue Jays prior to the 2015 season.

He’s 4-6 with an ERA of 5.33 (well above his career average of 4.01), with 155 base runners in 104.2 innings over 19 starts. 

Those are hardly the kind of numbers buyers are looking for, but as Crasnick reports, the Blue Jays are still shopping the right-hander.

Estrada is a free agent at the end of the season. Coupled with his stellar postseason resume (2.64 ERA in 10 appearances), that could make him an attractive rental option for a contender looking for starting pitching. Given his season thus far, he would come relatively cheap.

Other Blue Jays rumours

Crasnick reports that the Blue Jays have also shopped lefty starter Francisco Liriano and reliever Joe Smith. Liriano’s season has been a disaster, pitching to an ERA of 6.15 in 16 starts. Coupled with his injury history, it would be hard to see a contender looking at him as anything other than a depth option.

Meanwhile, Smith, 33, has had a solid season for the Blue Jays and is a free agent at the end of the season. Relievers on expiring contracts have little value to teams with their eyes on next year, so Smith would be handy to a contender looking for bullpen help. The Washington Nationals have the worst bullpen ERA in baseball at 5.32, while the Minnesota Twins (4.69) and Colorado Rockies (4.43) aren’t much better.  

Around the MLB

Giancarlo Stanton

Would the Miami Marlins really trade Giancarlo Stanton? According to Heyman, it’s a possibility.

The St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies are among teams that have shown strong interest in Stanton.

His $325 million deal goes against the Marlins’ usual spending habits. They had the 10th lowest payroll in the MLB going into the season. While Stanton finding a new home at the trade deadline is unlikely to begin with given the size of the deal it would take, he also has a no-trade clause that would have to be waived for a deal to work. 

Justin Verlander

Justin Verlander has been the subject of trade rumours the last couple of weeks as the Detroit Tigers have fallen further and further from contention in the AL Central. 

Those rumours intensified after a report saying the Tigers would be willing to pay all of Verlander's 2017 salary to facilitate a deal according to Andrew Fenech from the Detroit Free Press. This would work out to roughly $11 million. Verlander is owed $28 million for the next two years after 2017, and then has a vested option in 2020 worth $22 million. 

Yu Darvish

The Texas Rangers are asking teams what they would be willing to give up for starter Yu Darvish according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. While interest around the league in Darvish would be astronomical, few teams would likely be able to offer up enough to land him.

However, the Chicago Cubs have inquired on Darvish per a report from Jon Morosi of the MLB Network. 

With Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Kyle Schwarber and Jose Quintana all controlled through 2020 and beyond, the Cubs don’t appear to be going into rebuilding mode anytime soon. Gutting the system for win-now talent seems to make sense.

Sonny Gray

The market is heating up on the star right-hander. After the Cubs snatched Quintana off the market, Gray is probably the top starter readily available at the deadline. Many have kicked tires on Gray, but a surprise team is also said to be in the mix.

According to LaVelle Neal III of the Star Tribune, the Minnesota Twins are monitoring the market for Gray.

The New York Yankees are also interested in Gray. These rumours picked up when MLB.com reported that A’s assistant general manager Billy Owens was at Double-A Trenton on Thursday evening, where one can only assume he was getting a first-hand look at some of the Yankees’ farmhands.

Asdrubal Cabrera

According to Crasnick, the Indians are interested in a potential reunion with infielder Asdrubal Cabrera.

Cabrera was with the Indians from 2007 to 2014 where he made the only two All-Star appearances of his career. The recent injury to second baseman Jason Kipnis opens a hole at second base. With Cabrera hitting the market after the season, he could be the perfect short-term piece to replace Kipnis. 

Justin Wilson

The late-inning reliever market is always jumping this time of year and left-hander Justin Wilson looks like he'll be on the move before long. 

The Milwaukee Brewers are interested in his services according to Nightengale. 

They've caught lightning in a bottle with Corey Knebel in the closer's role (4.68 ERA in 2016 to 1.79 this year) but are still reportedly looking to add back-end help. With the Tigers seemingly entering a rebuild, trading the 29-year-old Wilson makes sense.