Andrew Cashner, Tyson Ross, Ian Kennedy Shake Up the MLB Trade Market

A market that already is chock-full of quality top- and mid-rotation arms is adding even more quantity to the quality, as the latest report from Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports indicates the San Diego Padres are listening to offers for their three best pitchers, Ian Kennedy, Andrew Cashner and Tyson Ross:

These three may not be household names like, say, Max Scherzer, Jon Lester or James Shields, but they're not necessarily that much less valuable.

In fact, a larger number of teams might view the Padres trio as more attainable, simply because their salaries aren't near the likely $20 million per season that Scherzer, Lester and Shields could land in free agency.

In other words, the addition of Kennedy, Cashner and Ross to the list of available starting pitchers could potentially shake up that market.

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

Aside from being right-handers, all three also are under team control through at least next season at reasonable salaries based on projections from MLB Trade Rumors.

The soon-to-be 30-year-old Kennedy, entering the final year of arbitration eligibility, is projected to make slightly north of $10 million in 2015. Meanwhile, the 27-year-old Ross is expected to get a raise to $5.7 million, and the 28-year-old Cashner to $4.3 million.

The latter two are especially well-priced and are controllable for even longer: Cashner becomes a free agent after 2016, Ross after 2017.

Not only that, they also offer more upside than Kennedy, who posted a 3.63 ERA and 1.29 WHIP with 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings last year.

By comparison, Ross put together an under-the-radar but fantastic campaign with a 2.81 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 9.0 K/9 while throwing a career-high 195.2 innings.

Cashner—who has the most electric arm of the bunch but also has been the most injury-prone—sported a 2.55 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 123.1 innings while battling through elbow and shoulder ailments that cost him almost half the season.

Of the three, Ross would seem to have the most value at this moment, but between the finances and performances, it's easy to see why each would be a savvy and coveted trade chip for new general manager A.J. Preller to play as he tries to upgrade an offense that finished dead last in the sport in runs scored.

But back to the pitching market as a whole.

When the offseason began, one of the biggest strengths of this free-agent class was arms. Studs like Scherzer, Lester and Shields are available, as are solid mid-rotation types like Ervin Santana, Brandon McCarthy, Jason Hammel and Francisco Liriano.

In recent days, that crop has expanded to include a number of star-caliber starters on the trade front, too.

Among some of the bigger names that have been rumored or at least mentioned as potential trade candidates?

Take a deep breath: The Washington Nationals' Jordan Zimmermann, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times; Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies, as Jon Heyman of CBS Sports writes; Jeff Samardzija of the Oakland Athletics, per Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe; Zack Wheeler of the New York Mets, via Bill Price of the New York Daily News; and possibly one or both of the Cincinnati Reds right-handers Johnny Cueto and Mat Latos, according to Heyman.

J Pat Carter/Associated Press

Now tack on Kennedy, Cashner and Ross, who check in at the bottom of that tier, and teams have all kinds of options on the mound.

That might make it more of a challenge for Preller, or any other general manager who is peddling pitching this offseason, to get a huge return.

Then again, not all of those above will change clubs.

And because so many factors go into evaluating and valuing pitchers—from age and injury history, to contract status and performance—no two available arms are the same.

Kind of like snowflakes. Only some of these starters, perhaps even Kennedy, Cashner and/or Ross, will have new teams before the first sight of snow this winter.

Statistics are accurate through the 2014 season and courtesy of MLB.com, Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.

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