MLB Trade Rumors: Rounding Up All the Latest Buzz and Speculation

Finally baseball fans are starting to see the Hot Stove heat up a bit.

Michael Young gets traded to the Phillies, Zack Greinke signs with the Dodgers, and now the rest of the market should begin to take shape.

Yes, there is still a bit of a holding pattern for several teams while Josh Hamilton mulls over his options. However, now that arguably the biggest piece on the market has signed, the remainder of the dominoes can start to fall.

Here is a look at some of the latest buzz surrounding some of Major League Baseball’s key trade chips.

R.A. Dickey

With Zack Greinke off the market, other starting pitchers will begin to sign deals, and the chatter surrounding R.A. Dickey will certainly heat up.

According to New York Daily News writer John Harper, Dickey is seeking a contract extension for two years and $26 million.

As ESPN's Buster Olney points out via his Twitter feed, those demands seem reasonable given what Greinke and Joe Blanton have signed for.

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Given the current market -- from Greinke getting $147m to Joe Blanton getting 2/15m -- extension request by Dickey looks very reasonable.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 9, 2012"

According to Richard Durrent of ESPN Dallas/Fort Worth, having missed out on Greinke, the Rangers will likely be very interested in making a trade for the 2012 NL Cy Young Award winner.

Dickey, whose 233.2 innings pitched last season led all of the NL, is exactly the type of pitcher that Nolan Ryan covets in Texas: a horse. The Rangers only had one pitcher throw for over 200 innings in 2012, and that was Matt Harrison, who pitched 213.1 innings and led the Rangers with 18 wins.

Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal lists both the Rangers, who have offered infielder Mike Olt for Dickey, and the Toronto Blue Jays as teams that would make the most sense as trade partners for Dickey's services.

James Shields

****** UPDATE ******

Hours after posting the original article, the Tampa Bay Rays traded James Shields and Wade Davis to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for prospects Wil Myers, Jake Orodizzi and two others, according to ESPN Boston via the Associated Press.

The original text of the slide can still be seen below.

Just like R.A. Dickey, James Shields will see his market open up now, and by very familiar teams.

We have already seen rumblings of a potential trade to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for top prospect Wil Myers, as initially reported by the Kansas City Star's Bob Dutton.

In addition to the Royals, the Tampa Bay Times' Marc Topkin reports that teams like the Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers and Colorado Rockies all could be in the mix for Shields.

In 2012, Shields posted a 15-10 record for Tampa Bay with a 3.52 ERA and 1.168 WHIP.

During the winter meetings, there were several tweets like this one from Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal, indicating architecture being laid down for a multi-team blockbuster trade involving Justin Upton.

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#Rangers, #Diamondbacks, #Rays still at meetings, working on Upton blockbuster.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 6, 2012

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While it is purely speculation on my part, looking at the teams involved, it would be hard to imagine that Shields would not be a moving part in any trade of that magnitude. 

Justin Upton

Speaking of Justin Upton, he is next up on the rumor mill.

As I just mentioned on the last slide, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports was one of several people reporting a potential blockbuster trade being worked out to build around Justin Upton.

Since those talks have seemingly fallen off, Rosenthal has tweeted that with Greinke having signed with the Dodgers, the Texas Rangers are still interested in making a deal for Upton.

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Source: #Rangers, after losing Greinke, still want to trade for #Diamondbacks' Upton,

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 9, 2012

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One would imagine that acquiring Upton would mean that the Rangers are prepared to move on without Josh Hamilton.

Upton, who had a letdown season last year after an impressive 2011, is only 24 years old and under team control for three more seasons.

Jacoby Ellsbury

While there was significant chatter last week surrounding the Boston Red Sox and the prospect of trading their center fielder, Jacoby Ellsbury, it appears that it was all talk.

According to CSN Philly's Jim Salisbury, the Red Sox approached the Phillies regarding a trade of Ellsbury for Cliff Lee, but were told that Lee was unavailable.

While the Boston Herald's John Tomase believes that the Red Sox should move Ellsbury this year, general manager Ben Cherington is saying just the opposite:

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We’re expecting Jacoby to have a really big year in 2013, be a huge part of what we’re doing. You answer the phone and take the calls and listen to ideas, but our expectation is Jacoby will be here and be our center fielder.

"

While Ellsbury may not get moved at this point, one could speculate that if the Red Sox have another bad season he could be moved by the trade deadline.

Of course, that type of move would go against everything the Red Sox typically do at a trade deadline.