Trade Rumor Miscellany: Sale, Bruce, Puig, Beltran

A handful of items for your wee hour consumption, in addition to the bit about the Cubs still looking at starting pitchers:

  • Jon Heyman writes about the slim, but still existent, chance that White Sox ace Chris Sale is dealt by today’s deadline. The three teams Heyman’s heard are still trying to make something happen? The Red Sox, Rangers, and Dodgers. Each definitely has the prospect fire-power to get a deal done if the White Sox are truly interested. And, you know, it sure seems like they should at least strongly consider it. Yes, I know that their core – if they have one – is not especially youthful right now, but how many years are they going to be content to linger on the fringes of competitiveness before, you know, crapping or getting off the pot? In this super thin pitching market, they might be able to get a franchise-altering return for Sale.
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  • Indeed, Dave Cameron calculates Sale’s value in trade at something like two to three times what the Yankees got from the Cubs for Aroldis Chapman. Obviously that’s kind of a fuzzy concept, so he lays out possible packages from each of the Red Sox, Rangers, and Dodgers. They are serious, serious top prospect packages. I kinda hope something happens with Sale, because it would be fun. Maybe even more fun than cutting up some jerseys.
  • We know that Jay Bruce was scratched yesterday by the Reds, suggesting trade talks were advancing, but nothing came together by the end of the day with the Mets or Dodgers or Indians or any other team that’d been rumored to be in on him. How about the Giants? John Shea reports they’re making a “late strong push” to get Bruce.
  • Speaking of outfielders, Jon Heyman says the Dodgers are still trying to move Yasiel Puig – can you even imagine typing that sentence just a couple years ago when he was probably one of the most valuable assets in baseball? He’s still just 25 and plays good defense (on a reasonable contract), but Puig’s offensive numbers have simply evaporated the last two years. Picking him up in trade would be a huge bet on some kind of fix to his offensive game, and I’m not sure you can really bet on that.
  • Speaking of outfielders part two, Heyman also says the Yankees haven’t been impressed by offers for Carlos Beltran, calling the Rangers, Astros, Red Sox, and Indians as among the pursuers. Beltran, 39, is ripping it this year (.301/.342/.538), but is a free agent after the season and isn’t a lock to decline a qualifying offer. To me? The Yankees would be crazy not to trade him if they get a half-decent offer.
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    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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