Houston’s Justin VerlanderSteph Chambers/Getty Images
Top Trade Target: Justin Verlander, RHP, Houston Astros ($22.5M in 2024, $17.5M vesting player option for 2025) [excludes portions of the contract already retained by the New York Mets]
It’s still hard to believe the Astros will embrace selling, even as they continue to flounder at six games below .500. But it’s at least plausible that this three-time Cy Young winner will be on the move for a second consecutive summer. The 41-year-old would certainly generate a ton of interest if Houston does make him available. He is allowing home runs at well above his usual rate, though. (11 HR in 52 IP). Something to monitor.
Second-Best Option: Tyler Anderson, LHP, Los Angeles Angels ($13M in 2024, $13M in 2025)
Can Anderson continue his tightrope walk? The 2.37 ERA looks great, as long as you can ignore the 4.66 FIP that goes along with it. But given the 2.57 ERA that he had as an All-Star in 2022, there might be several teams willing to ignore that FIP. At 15 games below .500, the Halos might as well trade him now before that regression hits.
Also Intriguing: Paul Blackburn, RHP, Oakland A’s ($3.45M in 2024, arbitration-eligible in 2025)
The A’s aren’t going to trade away Mason Miller, but Blackburn should be available. He’s currently on the IL with a fractured foot, but he has a 4.31 ERA dating back to the start of 2022. It’s not a great mark, but for a prorated salary in late July of $1.2M with one year of team control still to come, it’s certainly not a bad mark.
Worth Mentioning: The Texas Rangers
If the Rangers drop out of contention, Max Scherzer ($22.5M in 2024, excluding what NYM retained) and Nathan Eovaldi ($17M in 2024 with a $20M vesting player option for 2025) might hit the trade block.
Conversely, if they get Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle back from injury and opt to make a push for back-to-back World Series rings, they might look to trade away impending free agents Andrew Heaney ($12.5M) and Michael Lorenzen ($4.5M) to combat their surplus of starting pitchers.
Or they might do nothing, pending the rehab timelines for those injured pitchers.
Just a great big question mark in Arlington that will eventually come into focus over the next seven weeks.
(With so much up in the air here, Rangers pitchers were not counted as part of the 25 promised in the headline. But it does feel almost inevitable that at least one Rangers starting pitcher will be traded.)
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