MLB Rumors: Latest Pre-Trade-Deadline Buzz on Brian Dozier and More

Many of the big names have already been dealt prior to the July 31 trade deadline (4 p.m. ET), but there are several additional moves that have a chance to be made.

The Minnesota Twins came into the 2018 season with the idea that they were good enough to contend with the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central. It hasn't worked out that way, as the Twins are nine games behind the Tribe after losing three of four games to the Boston Red Sox. 

They are even further behind in the wild-card race, as they trail the Seattle Mariners for the No. 2 spot by 13.5 games.

As a result, the Twins are in a sell mode as the deadline approaches, and second baseman Brian Dozier could be among their most valuable commodities to move. The San Francisco Giants and Cleveland Indians are two of the teams that are most interested in Dozier, according to Twins beat writer Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Dozier is not having the kind of explosive year with the bat that he did in either of the last two years, but he still represents something of a power bat at a middle-infield position. Dozier has a .224/.306/.404 slash line with 16 home runs and 52 runs batted in. Dozier belted 42 homers and knocked in 99 runs in 2016, and he hit 34 homers and 93 RBI last year.

Dozier was especially hot in the second half of the season in each of the last two years.

While the Indians are on their way to winning the AL Central and have their sights set on competing with the Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees in the postseason, the Giants are in fourth place in the NL West.

The Giants have a 53-54 record and have dropped seven of their last 10 games, and they are 6.5 games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers. 

The Cincinnati Reds picked up pitcher Matt Harvey off the scrapheap after the New York Mets parted company with him early in the season.

While Harvey appeared to have lost most of his velocity and was pitching poorly at the time of his departure from Citi Field, he has bounced back nicely since joining the Reds.

Harvey has a 5-4 record in his 14 starts with Cincinnati, and he has a 4.44 earned-run averaged with a 1.192 WHIP. That's not a superstar level, but it is fairly competent.

That's good enough to interest the Milwaukee Brewers, who have a strong need to upgrade their starting pitching. MLB network insider Jon Morosi tweeted that talks between the Brewers and the Reds are ongoing about sending Harvey to Milwaukee. 

One other potential move among pitchers involves Zack Wheeler of the New York Mets, who has won his last three starts and has pitched with increased efficiency.

Wheeler has pitched 7.2, 7.0 and 6.0 innings (per Baseball-Reference) in those three starts, and he has allowed six earned runs in those three starts. Wheeler is 5-6 with a 4.11 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 120.1 innings pitched.

The Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, Brewers and Yankees are among the teams that have shown the most interest in Wheeler, according to MLB insider Jon Heyman of Fancred.

It seems likely that the Mets might be most interested in dealing with the Brewers since the Phillies and Braves are division rivals and sending him across town to the Yankees could be dangerous.

The Mets may end up keeping Wheeler unless any of the potential trade partners improve their offers.