Peter Gammons made a radio appearance, full transcript here, during which he discussed what he's heard on Seattle's pursuit of Ben Zobrist:
The Rays’ recent surge in the standings has them holding off on selling pieces, Mariners sources told Gammons. Seattle thought they were closing in on a deal for Ben Zobrist, but they’ve since been told that the Rays plan to wait until the final 48 hours prior to the deadline before determining a course of action.
DOWN TO THE WIIIRE.
If the Rays are putting a hiatus on all trade activity until seven days from now, that means...
"I think they take it down to the wire," an executive told [Joel] Sherman. "That allows them to make sure they know who they are while making a couple teams sweat to the end that one of their competitors are going to get him. ... It wouldn't surprise me if Price actually ends up a July 31 decision."
I WANTED WATER BUT I WALK THROUGH THE FYYYYYRE!
...we won't get a decision on a Price trade decision until the deadline is upon up. That means we have a week to keep postulating on the merits of a trade and what packages might be best suited to acquire the Rays' ace.
As things stand, thanks to the off-day, the Rays are at eight games behind Baltimore and last in the division, but if the Rays can cut that lead down to, say, five games over the next week, how compelled do you think the front office would be to sell?
As always, it depends on what people are offering.
LINKS
Joel Peralta likely to be sidelined with flu-like symptoms as the Rays begin a two game series in St. Louis this evening. Now would be a great time for the Rays players to show off for the Cardinals brass.
Former top pick Tim Beckham is finally healthy, and his season debut is here
The Rays are one of twelve teams to receive supplemental draft picks in 2015, but a lottery will decide if that will be after the first or second round.
The Blue Jays are promoting their top prospect Aaron Sanchez.
Baseball Prospectus: Robert Arthur examined swing rates for batter counts, including Evan Longoria in his examples, behind the paywall.
Hardball Times: Dan Farnsworth wrote a very medical article on batter wrist injuries.
The Angels completely revamped their bullpen, as Mike Petriello discusses.
Deadspin: One of the most Phillies things ever happened yesterday -- Ryan Howard checked his swing with bases loaded, batted in two runs, and then they coughed up the lead in the next frame to lose -- and Yankee pitcher Shane Greene has no idea what to do at first base.
Aaaand the Indians got snarky on twitter.
.@Dinomaddamma Ownership has committed over $240 million to MLB payroll in the last 20 months. Try again.
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) July 21, 2014