(Chicago) Shohei Ohtani will not be traded at the deadline and Max Scherzer has already changed his address.
The Texas Rangers have bet it all, the St. Louis Cardinals have started their fire sale, and the New York Mets are dismantling at least part of one of the most expensive rosters in sports history.
A few hours before the fateful hour, at 6 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, several questions remain unanswered.
After taking about $35 million to trade Scherzer, will Mets owner Steve Cohen take even more money from Justin Verlander’s contract to get a bigger crop of prospects?
And what about the New York Yankees, who sit last in the AFL East Division even though they find themselves four games above the .500 mark?
The Baltimore Orioles lead this section by a game and a half and they have one of the deepest prospect pools in baseball. They are in a good position to use their youth to add an impact player.
In the National, the section leaders, the Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers, have already acquired a few players and they could add more to increase their expectations in October.
Verlander will likely be the primary target, assuming the Mets are truly ready to part ways with him. After trading Scherzer to Rangers on Sunday, general manager Billy Eppler insisted he would not dismantle his underperforming team, which at one point had a projected salary bill of 365 million.
Still, there is a real possibility that Verlander will be traded. He’s under contract for next season, with a potential option for 2025. The Mets soaked up part of Scherzer’s salary to acquire top prospect Luisangel Acuna and they could do the same in a trade involving Verlander.
Meanwhile, the Chicago White Sox could also keep moving. Having already traded pitchers Lucas Giolito, Kendall Graveman and Lance Lynn, the club could also ship star player Tim Anderson, who struggled in his final season before becoming eligible for free agency.
