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MLB Rumors: Trade Buzz on Trea Turner, Trevor Story, More
July 27, 2021
The Washington Nationals are reportedly open for business ahead of Friday's MLB trade deadline.
According to MLB Network's Jon Heyman, "everyone but Juan Soto is available" is the message being sent from the Nationals to the rest of Major League Baseball.
Washington has some of the most intriguing trade targets in shortstop Trea Turner and pitcher Max Scherzer.
If Turner is on the market, that would put two of the game's best shortstops available to sellers ahead of Friday.
Trevor Story of the Colorado Rockies has been the subject of trade speculation for most of the season due to his team's status in the National League West.
The 28-year-old has generated plenty of interest and there is a chance he joins Nolan Arenado as the latest big-name player to leave Colorado through a trade.
Latest MLB Trade Buzz
Trea Turner
According to Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post, the Nationals "are getting a lot of interest in Trea Turner."
Janes noted that the Nationals "haven't ruled out dealing" the All-Star shortstop. If that is the case, the Nationals could be busy over the next few days fielding offers for Turner, Scherzer and others.
Turner would provide an instant upgrade to any lineup, but the price to acquire him should be set at a high mark.
The 28-year-old has an arbitration year on his contract for 2022 and is set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2023. The one extra year of control could drive up his price a bit more to ensure Washington gets the best possible return for him.
Turner is hitting .320 with 18 home runs, 49 RBI, 21 stolen bases and an .887 OPS this season. If he moves, he would slot into the top part of any order.
Any contending team could use his bat, but the fit in the order can't be forced to mess up the lineup chemistry that is already there.
The Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees are among the teams that stick out in the playoff races that could use an upgrade at shortstop.
Of course, other teams with established shortstops could get into the mix for Turner as well if they feel comfortable with plugging him into a different spot on the diamond.
For a Turner trade to even happen, a contending team has to offer a large bounty of prospects, and that price tag may seem too high for some franchises.
Trevor Story
Story has long been viewed as the top name available at the trade deadline.
The Colorado shortstop is a free agent at the end of the season, and the Rockies may want to get some type of return for his talent, as they did with Arenado in February.
According to Heyman, Milwaukee has "checked in on" the All-Star shortstop. The Brewers are on top of the NL Central, but they need as much firepower as possible to win the NL pennant.
The Brewers lead the Cincinnati Reds by seven games, but their focus seems to be contending with the three top teams in the NL West. If they want to match what the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres are doing, they need as deep of a lineup as possible.
Milwaukee already improved at shortstop when it acquired Willy Adames from the Tampa Bay Rays, and he has been a perfect fit in the middle of the lineup.
With Christian Yelich struggling to consistently hit for power, the Brewers could use another big bat in the heart of their order.
Story has 12 home runs, 46 RBI and an OPS of .733 over 86 games this season for the Rockies. Those numbers could receive a boost if he is inserted into the Milwaukee lineup.
If a trade to the Brewers goes down, they could shift Adames to another part of the infield to fit in Story at shortstop.
Other teams should be interested in Story in the coming days, and it would be much less of a surprise if he moves compared to Turner.
Kyle Hendricks
The mass exodus of players from the Chicago Cubs could happen in the coming days, but starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks will not be one of the players departing.
According to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, the 31-year-old is "definitely not being shopped" on the trade market.
Chicago offloaded reliever Andrew Chafin to the Oakland Athletics on Monday night, and Craig Kimbrel and Ryan Tepera are two other bullpen arms who could be on their way out.
The Cubs also have a plethora of bats who could depart before Friday, including Kris Bryant. They dealt Joc Pederson to Atlanta right after the All-Star Game.
Hendricks is under contract until 2024, so he may have been hard to move if the Cubs made him available.
Chicago likely would have asked for a healthy return of prospects in exchange for a pitcher with three years of control left on his deal.
Instead, Hendricks will stick around as one of the building blocks for the next iteration of the Cubs with whomever is left on the roster after Friday.
Statistics obtained from Baseball Reference.