The MLB trade deadline is coming and that means trade rumors are heating up and in 2014 names like Troy Tulowitzki, Starlin Castro, Jake Peavy and Matt Kemp could be traded and teams like the NY Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners could be interested in making moves at the end of July.
The deadline should be very interesting this year, as there are a ton of teams in both leagues in wild card contention, meaning they could pull back on selling. According to FOX Sports, both Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez have spoken about the possibility of being traded this year and while both said they love the Rockies, they also admitted they understand why the trade talk keeps coming up. Rockies owner Dick Monfort has said he will not trade Tulo, but that could change as the season wears on and especially if the shortstop asks for a deal.
The Cardinals and Rockies engaged in trade talks earlier in the offseason regarding Tulo and they could once again be an option, as their offense has been horrible this year. The team has Jhonny Peralta at short, but they would love to get Tulo over him and while it will take some pitching to do it, the Cards have that in strong supply. The team may look at trading Shelby Miller or Lance Lynn, as the Rockies have a weak spot in their pitching rotation and organizational depth.
According to the NY Daily News, the Mets may be looking at Starlin Castro with the Cubs after the trade of Addison Russell. The Cubs now have a top 10 prospect at short and that could lead to the team trading Castro. John Harper writes that the Mets are desperate for an offensive player at short and since they have a ton of young pitching, this is a deal they could make. Castro is not very expensive now, as he is making $6 million next season and is under control until 2020 and while losing Zack Wheeler in a deal would hurt, the team has enough players like Jacob deGrom and Rafael Montero as well as Matt Harvey to survive making the move.
Castro has a seven-year, $60-million contract and is just 24 years old and he would be a major upgrade over Ruben Tejada. This season Castro has been better defensively and he is hitting over .285 with 11 home runs and 51 RBIs. The Mets need some star power and some offense after the way David Wright has played and adding Castro could finally bring more fans to the seats and gives the team a solid player to build around.
The Cardinals have been connected to Jake Peavy as well this season and while they do not need starting pitching, he could be an option to help with injuries. The team has been connected to Tulo and that makes two All-Star shortstops mentioned in trade rumors. This year the Mets are falling out of contention and the Rockies are way down in the standings and both teams could make moves for the future depending on how the next few weeks and the trade market develops.