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Breaking:
First baseman Jesus Aguilar has been traded from the Milwaukee Brewers to the Tampa Bay Rays, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 31, 2019
We’ll report details as soon as possible.
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The MLB trade deadline is just hours away. This year it’s a “hard” deadline, with no major league rostered players available for trade once it has passed.
If you follow baseball, you’ve been hearing and reading trade rumors now for weeks. After all, there are 30 GMs talking and countless baseball reporters trying to get information, read tea leaves, or do whatever it takes to have something of interest to report.
So far there have been a few major transactions — Marcus Stroman, Trevor Bauer and Yasiel Puig are all with new teams — but a lot more smoke than fire.
As we spend our day wondering whether the Rays will be the “do nothing [except getting Eric Sogard] champs”, or reprise last year’s big two-trade day, I’ve been having fun documenting the various ways reporters talk about trade rumors, many of which don’t have a whisper of substantiation.
Teams are “interested in” a player; they are “in the mix”; they are “linked to”. Teams are “having conversations”. Here are some classic rumor tweets:
Have had multiple people saying to still keep an eye on the Astros regarding Matthew Boyd.
— Dan Hasty (@ThatDanHasty) July 31, 2019
Sources: #Indians, #Astros have had recent communication about possible Trevor Bauer trade. The extent of progress in talks is unclear. Houston is pursuing multiple starting pitchers, with hopes of landing one. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 30, 2019
Source says Giants and Astros "engaged" on Bumgarner. Amount of traction unclear.
— Tim Brown (@TBrownYahoo) July 30, 2019
Update: OK, thanks Marc, this clarifies everything:
Hearing #Rays "have a decent chance to do something" by deadline, and are "slammed" going through options right now.
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) July 31, 2019
Until we have actual trade news to share, we can have fun watching journalists report poorly-sourced rumors. What are some of your favorite trade-related clichés?