With the MLB trade deadline about 24 hours left lots of questions still remain. For instance, does Mike Minor get traded? Does Zack Wheeler get traded? Also, why has this been the slowest lead into trade deadline ever to Major League mankind?
First off, let's look at the first couple of questions. The Texas Rangers have been shopping Mike Minor while at the same time the New York Mets have been shopping Zack Wheeler. So which piece if either falls first? With Mike Minor his performances have been less than stellar since the All Star break going 0-2 with an ERA upward of 6.25. The biggest pitcher to fall off the block was Marcus Stroman and he went to the Mets for two prospects. All indications are the Texas Rangers want an MLB established pitcher and at least 2 more prospects from a teams top 30. As for Zack Wheeler all indications are the Houston Astros are the favorite to land him which would indicate to me that they are not certain Gerritt Cole will re-sign. Just in the last hour we have learned that the Astros are favorites for Wheeler and the Rangers might be looking to add the right-handed bat of Trey Mancini. Why would a team looking for pitching go after Mancini? Well that's another post. So stay tuned as later we'll look at this very subject.
Now let's look at why it seems that this is the slowest lead into trade deadline in history? First, I honestly believe it has a lot to do with the fact that the last 2-3 years some teams mainly the Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, and New York Yankees wait until 2:59:59 CDT to get deals done. What does that do to other teams? It honestly can and has hurt teams the last 2 years. So now guess what? It's an all hands on deck, but let's wait approach. Second, teams are still trying to figure out the new way of MLB's deadline. What's different? This year there is absolutely no August waiver trade and that could be factoring into teams decisions. Some teams now are juggling the fact that they have to do deals or stand pay for the season. Contenders are really grappling with this. The question is: will it remain this slow? My answer is: NO! It's going to pick up, but I really don't see any HUMONGOUS deals like years past. What about free agency you ask? Well that's for another post.
In conclusion, I do think Zack Wheeler is traded. However, I'm not convinced Mike Minor is. Slow lead into trade deadline? It's going to pick up so buckle up and hang on.
Comments