MLB Trade Rumors: Latest Buzz on Madison Bumgarner, Marcus Stroman and More

The Madison Bumgarner sweepstakes is expected to intensify as the MLB trade deadline approaches at the end of July.

The San Francisco Giants left-hander is one of the most coveted players on the trade market, but he might come at a steep cost with the last-place team in the National League West looking to receive a decent haul in return for a player with an expiring contract. 

Since contenders in both leagues are always in need of pitching improvements at the trade deadline, plenty of other hurlers on struggling ball clubs are already being featured on the rumor mill. 

In addition to San Francisco, Toronto has been rumored as a seller in July since it sits 17.5 games back in the American League East. 

Among the Blue Jays reportedly on the trading block are one of their top starters and a player who was acquired in a deadline deal a year ago. 

Latest MLB Trade Rumors

Madison Bumgarner 

According to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, Houston, Minnesota, Atlanta and Milwaukee are among the interested teams in Bumgarner. 

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

Atlanta, Houston and Milwaukee are on the 29-year-old's no-trade list, per Rosenthal, which also includes Boston, St. Louis, Philadelphia, the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees. 

The Astros, Braves and Twins are all currently in first place in their respective divisions, while the Brewers trail the Cubs by half a game. 

Atlanta already made a move to bolster its pitching staff by adding Dallas Keuchel in free agency, and bringing in another veteran pitcher would be a massive boost to a young group looking to solidify its spot atop the National League. 

Houston has shown no hesitancy to make deals at the deadline to improve its pitching before, with Justin Verlander being the most notable acquisition at the end of the August waiver trade deadline in 2017. 

Milwaukee has also been bold in its quest for a championship, after adding Joakim Soria, Mike Moustakas and Jonathan Schoop in July 2018. 

Minnesota's path to Bumgarner could be more difficult than others' since the Twins are not on Bumgarner's reported trade list, which means they would acquire him without his permission at the moment. 

In terms of what type of pitcher a contender would be getting, Bumgarner is 5-7 with a 4.03 ERA in 19 starts and has not reached double-digit wins since 2016. 

But he was able to finish June on a high note by giving up seven hits and three earned runs over 13 innings against Colorado and Arizona. 

However, there could be some concerns about his health, as he left Saturday's game after being hit by a line drive. Luckily for the left-handed hurler, the X-rays on his pitching elbow came back negative. 

Atlanta could be viewed as the favorite for Bumgarner since it has a plethora of young prospects in its system and he is 4-1 with 1.07 ERA in his career in Atlanta, although those results came at Turner Field. 

Regardless of where he lands, the team that acquires him is hoping he can replicate his postseason form from earlier in the decade, as he has eight playoff victories, with four of them coming in the World Series. 

Marcus Stroman 

According to TSN's Scott Mitchell, the Yankees and Twins have inquired about the Toronto pair of Marcus Stroman and Ken Giles. 

Matt Marton/Associated Press

Just like Bumgarner, Stroman has a record below .500, but his win-loss record does not tell the whole story about his season. 

The two-time 10-game winner has an ERA of 3.18 and has only given up 37 earned runs over 18 starts. 

Before he was scratched from his last start with a pectoral injury, Stroman gave up seven earned runs in his last four starts. 

In half of his 18 appearances, the right-handed hurler has conceded one or zero earned runs, which is why he could be a coveted asset on the trade market if healthy. 

The Yankees have plenty of familiarity with Stroman because they have faced off with the Blue Jays on plenty of occasions in the AL East. 

But he has not had a ton of success at Yankee Stadium in his career, and he is 2-5 with a 6.37 ERA in nine starts.

If the Yankees acquired Stroman, he would round out a strong rotation led by Domingo German, J.A. Happ, James Paxton and fellow All-Star Masahiro Tanaka. 

If Minnesota is able to add Stroman to its stable of starters, it would have one of the better rotations of the AL contenders since it already possesses four pitchers with eight wins or more. 

From Toronto's perspective, it should try to offload some of its valuable assets, like Stroman, in order to add more prospects to the young core headlined by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Cavan Biggio. 

While it may hurt for the Blue Jays to offload Stroman within the AL East because they would see him often, that factor did not stop them from trading Happ for two players last July. 

Ken Giles and Kirby Yates 

According to LaVelle Neal of the Star Tribune, the Twins have checked in on Giles and San Diego's Kirby Yates. 

Orlando Ramirez/Associated Press

Currently, the combination of Taylor Rogers and Blake Parker has 22 saves for the Twins, and adding a closer like Giles or Yates would significantly boost their chances of remaining on top of the AL Central. 

Giles, who was shipped to Toronto from Houston in the Roberto Osuna deal last July, has 13 saves in 31 appearances and has given up five earned runs in his 31 innings on the mound. 

Yates leads the majors in saves with 30 for a San Diego team that is third in the NL West but is 15 games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Both the Blue Jays and Padres are building their rosters in a similar mold with young players being the focal point of their respective squads.

If San Diego or Toronto enter negotiations with the Twins, they would likely ask for one or more of their better prospects at Triple-A that is close to being major league-ready. 

As Neal noted, Nick Gordon, Brent Rooker and Stephen Gonsalves are the top-15 prospects in the Minnesota organization at Triple-A Rochester. 

Since the Twins are likely to add an experienced arm or two to their bullpen to complement their stable of starters, they might have to give up one or more of those prospects in order to get the best players available before other contenders in the AL swoop them up with sweeter deals. 

The Yankees and Astros could go after relievers closer to the deadline to add to their already strong bullpens, and Cleveland could do the same to find a partner for Brad Hand, who was a teammate of Yates in San Diego. 

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Statistics obtained from Baseball Reference.