The major league baseball non-waivers trading deadline is this Thursday, and it's not entirely clear whether the Rays are buyers or sellers. They've won nine of the last ten games, and now sit 7.5 games out of the division and 4.5 games out of a wild card slot. FanGraphs playoff odds (which incorporate projected team strength), now give them a 12.9% chance of earning a playoff spot.
It's unlikely that the Rays will be buyers at this deadline (there will be waiver trades for that), but being swept by the Brewers could push them towards selling, while continued success makes David Price, Ben Zobrist, and Matt Joyce unlikely to go anywhere. If they do sell, here is one of the options.
Giants among multiple teams ready to act if Rays move Ben Zobrist, sources tell @ken_rosenthal and me. @foxsports
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 28, 2014
Two players who would not be part of a Ben Zobrist trade are Edwin Escobar and Heath Hembree. The Red Sox acted first, shipping Jake Peavy to San Francisco for those two. Tony Blengino breaks it down.
Speaking of the Sox, we've once more got a small controversy. Yesterday, David Ortiz did this.
And Chris Archer didn't like it. Well, I do think that Ortiz is a punk, and I love everything about Archer, and I wear striped socks every single day, but I'm sort of with Papi on this one. Too sensitive. Learn a changeup and strike the lefty out next time.
Other Links
Anyway, you know who sucks now and isn't as good as Ben Zobrist, who is still a Ray? Dustin Pedroia.
Eno Saris gets Brett Anderson to talk in-depth about his pitch selection.
Alex Skillin has a The Hardball Times longform on prospects and starting slow.
An independent league is trying out some interesting new rules to speed up the game.