The MLB trade deadline is here for baseball and the MLB Network and Twitter have live updates on trades and wall to wall coverage until the deadline is up at 4 pm ET and this comes as names lie Jon Lester and John Lackey were traded and players like David Price, Cliff Lee, Alex Rios, Ben Zobrist and Marlon Byrd also could be moving.
Check here for trade updates and live coverage from MLB Network and ESPN and also coverage on Twitter.
According to Hardball Talk, Price is a main target for the Seattle Mariners and St. Louis Cardinals and those teams could consider giving up top prospects in a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays are known for being stingy when it comes to deals and they do not give up players without getting top prospects and they could want Taijuan Walker, Nick Franklin, DJ Peterson, Carlos Martinez or Oscar Taveras between the Mariners and Cardinals.
Update: The Cardinals traded for Justin Masterson and John Lackey, so forget about their interest in the deals. The Giants are a team that has also been interested in Ben Zobrist and they could battle with the Mariners to get a deal done. Zobrist is a target for teams because of his versatility and he could be a huge factor in playoff races down the stretch for the AL and NL.
The Mariners are in the second wild card position in the AL and they are rumored to be in talks with the Rays about Price and Zobrist. According to the Seattle Times, the Mariners could look at trading some top prospects to get one or both of those players, as the A's and Angels have each already made deals this season, acquiring Huston Street, Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. The Mariners need another pitcher and are in desperate need of a right handed bat in their lineup if they are hoping to make the playoffs.
The Cardinals have been dealing with injuries this season in the pitching rotation with Michael Wacha out and even if they have to give up Martinez, they at least would get Price back in the deal. The biggest sticking point with Price is the fact that he is not signed long term, as the Boston Globe reports that the Cardinals would want to get Price with a long term deal agreed to eventually and if his price is too high it may not work. The Cards don't want to give up a top prospect just to lose Price in a couple years, but the Mariners are not as concerned about that.
The Mariners don't like giving up a prospect for Price and the losing him as a free agent, but they also see this next two year window as a time to strike and they would at least have control of Price into next season. The following year the team would get a draft pick if he signs with another team and that could be worth it for the Mariners if they make it to the playoffs for the first time in a decade. The Cardinals are hanging in on the playoff standings in the NL and they are right there in the central division as well and a trade for Price could put them over the top.
