MLB Trade Rumors: Latest on Teams Looking to Sell at the 2017 Trade Deadline

It's a tale of two different playoff races in the American and National Leagues this year.

The AL is highly competitive, as seven teams are within five games of the New York Yankees for the second wild card spot. In fact, no team is more than 10 games out of the playoff picture.

The NL is a completely different story, as the only close race is in the Central division, where four teams are within five games of each other.

Otherwise, no team is within five games of the second Wild Card spot (currently occupied by the Colorado Rockies), and six teams sit 11 or more back.

There is no shortage of contenders or pretenders, which is leading to an active trade market. A few big names (J.D. Martinez, Todd Frazier) have already changed cities, and that trend should continue until the non-waiver trade deadline on Monday, July 31.

Here's a look at four teams playing out the string who will most likely be active in the trade market.

San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres

The Giants and Padres currently sit miles behind third-place Colorado for the final Wild Card spot in the National League.

A few pitchers have been thrown into some recent trade rumors. Jon Morosi of Fox Sports and MLB Network noted that the Seattle Mariners have inquired about their availabilities:

Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com and Baseball America reports that the Padres want a sizeable prospect haul in return for left-handed reliever Brad Hand:

And Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle notes that the Giants have received inquiries on starter Jeff Samardzija and reliever Hunter Strickland:

Hand started for the Miami Marlins earlier this decade, but he moved to the bullpen when he joined the Padres in 2016. Hand has been nothing but fantastic since then, as he's earned a 2.69 ERA while striking out 11.3 batters per nine innings, according to Baseball-Reference.

The Padres should get a solid deal in return for Hand's services. The same goes for the San Francisco Giants in regards to Samardzija and Strickland.

Although Samardzija is nearing close to a 5.00 ERA this year, he's striking out over a batter per inning and has proven to be one of the more durable pitchers in the game over the past five seasons.

Strickland currently has a 1.85 ERA. He allows too many men on base (1.41 WHIP), but he's finding a way to wiggle out of trouble time and again.

Don't be surprised if all three of these pitchers are on American League teams within two weeks given how many of them are still contending in the playoff race.

New York Mets

A season that had World Series expectations during spring training has turned into a disaster as the 41-50 Mets will likely finish below .500.

They could certainly look to trade some veterans in order to rebuild for the future, keeping a few younger players in the process as part of their core.

Per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, the Mets are willing to part with cash in addition to some veterans:

"The Mets are willing to include cash in trades to secure better prospects, according to sources with knowledge of the team’s thinking. Outfielder Jay Bruce, for example, currently is owed more than $5 million for the rest of the season — a significant payroll bump for even a high-revenue club. Infielder Asdrubal Cabrera, meanwhile, has a $2 million buyout on his $8.5 million club option. The Mets likely would pick that up, knowing they would pay it anyway."

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com also noted that the Mets' crosstown rivals are interested in first baseman Lucas Duda and reliever Addison Reed:

New York is currently 11.5 games back of the Colorado Rockies for the last NL Wild Card spot, and the division is out of reach with the Washington Nationals sitting 15 games ahead of the Mets and 11.5 games in front of the second-place Atlanta Braves.

The bright side is that the Mets have a nice core to build around, including starters Noah Syndergaard and Jacob DeGrom, All-Star outfielder Michael Conforto, 21-year-old shortstop Amed Rosario (hitting .330 in Triple-A) and 22-year-old first baseman Dominic Smith (.332 in Triple-A).

But the Mets still have work to do. They would be wise to move some veterans in order to rebuild a farm system that Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report ranked a below average 20th out of 30 MLB teams following this year's MLB draft.

Therefore, the Mets' best bet is to have a fire sale and look toward the future.

Oakland Athletics

The A's have already begun trading off a few veterans, as relief pitchers Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson have been dealt to the Washington Nationals.

However, first baseman Yonder Alonso and starting pitcher Sonny Gray could be on the move as well.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reports that the A's were scouting some Yankees prospects recently, noting that Alonso and Gray would be good fits in pinstripes:

Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports indicates that the Yankees have interest in Alonso: 

Gray has a few different suitors, including the Houston Astros and Kansas City Royals, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today:

With the A's 10 games below .500 and sitting last in the American League West, their 2017 season is all but over. Therefore, it makes the most sense for executive vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane to trade away Alonso and Gray while they are hot.

The 30-year-old Alonso is having the best campaign of his career and made the All-Star team for the first time this season. He has hit 21 homers to go along with 44 RBI, a .267 batting average and a .918 OPS this year.

Those are impressive stats considering that Oakland's home stadium, O.co Coliseum, is a notoriously pitcher-friendly park.

Gray has bounced back nicely after injuries largely derailed his 2016 season, as he's managed a 5-4 record and a 3.72 ERA while striking out 79 batters in 84.2 innings. From 2013 through 2015, Gray had a 2.88 ERA in 74 starts, so last season looks to be an anomaly.

Teams have coveted more starting pitching since the beginning of baseball, and the 27-year-old Gray is one of the best names out there.

The A's should get a solid return for Gray (and Alonso) prior to the deadline.