Mound Musings: The Phones Are Ringing

Every season at about this time, the phones begin to ring in the offices of baseball general managers. I think this season, with so many teams struggling to overcome injuries, they may be ringing with a bit more urgency. The toughest challenge may be a thinner crop of high end starting pitchers than normal.

First, we have to sort through the teams to try and identify the sellers – teams most likely to be looking for prospects to rebuild for the future and therefore most likely to be offering experienced pitching to the highest bidder. I like this scenario quite a bit, because in my experience, there's a good chance that a quality pitcher changing teams could see a distinct spike in performance. Case in point, consider Justin Verlander and his season last year after moving from Detroit to Houston. I call it the, "changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes" angle, and now is a great time to explore some possibilities for this season.

Some selected pitchers that might be candidates to move:

Cole Hamels (Rangers) – Hamels makes the top of the list as perhaps the most likely to move on prior to the trade deadline. The Rangers are at least marginally entering a rebuild mode with the need to surround a few young stars like Nomar Mazara with some high upside kids. He's been a workhorse, logging more than 200 innings in seven consecutive seasons before last year, and he's a winner, with a 151-108 career record. He's 34, and he has never been as effective in the homerun haven that is Texas (this year a 1.41 WHIP and a 5.14 ERA at home vs. 1.14 and 2.05 on the road) with 14 of his 20 dingers coming at home. At 4-6, 1.27, 3.61, his pedestrian numbers could have his current fantasy owner yawning, and I think a potential move to a contender, hopefully in a more pitcher-friendly home park, could be just what Hamels needs to shine once more. That might prompt me to see if I could acquire Hamels on the cheap.

Matt Boyd (Tigers) – I'm including Boyd here because his name was popping up in speculation pretty regularly, but I have to believe the interest, if there was much, could be waning given his recent performance. At the end of May, he was sitting on an impressive 1.07 WHIP and a 3.00 ERA, despite a disturbing drop of nearly three miles per hour on his just average fastball. Since then, his ERA has jumped more than a run per game (4.15), and he has become increasingly hittable. He relies heavily on keeping hitters off balance with his secondary pitches, and commanding the strike zone is paramount to any success, especially against right-handed hitters. It just hasn't been there of late. Boyd has something of a history of being streaky, so if he does move, and lands in a location that benefits southpaws, while perhaps minimizing the damage from his flyball tendencies, he could provide a boost at the back of a contender's rotation, but I believe his potential contribution to a fantasy staff is limited.

J.A. Happ (Blue Jays) – Happ might be the true gem in what appears to be a rather thin market for impact starting pitchers this year. Most of the top teams would love to add an experienced left-handed starter, especially one capable of virtually neutralizing opposing lefty swingers, and Happ fits the bill. The 35-year-old has allowed just one homerun to lefty hitters, while holding them to a .167 batting average. Keep in mind, just two years ago, he was 20-4 with a 3.18 ERA, so he knows what winning tastes like. While pitching in a very hitter-friendly home park, Happ has become more of a strikeout pitcher (with a career high 9.84 K/9), and he has the breaking stuff to exploit the "swing hard and hope you hit it" approach of today's batters. If there's a knock on Happ, it might be his durability (he has never logged 200 innings in a season), and a tendency to nibble a bit, which can lead to elevated pitch counts and shorter outings. However, this season, he's been very sharp, and he could land the Blue Jays an attractive package of kids to complement their stars of the future like Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Kevin Gausman and/or Dylan Bundy (Orioles) – This pair might be a bit of a surprise. They aren't commonly mentioned prominently as trade chips, but I think there's a chance that one or both could be moved. Let's look at the reasons. The Orioles are awful, and they will probably become more awful in the next month if they peddle their few good players like Manny Machado and Adam Jones. By the time the prospects acquired in those potential deals are ready to contribute, the team control years over their top pitchers will be coming to an end. Why not clean out the cupboard now, and restock it with talent on the same train schedule? It might be a little bit of a stretch. Okay, at least in Gausman's case, there could be some wishful thinking involved, but it makes some sense, and with some control left, the value of Gausman and Bundy should be at a premium. Keep your ear to the tracks and see if the talk heats up in the coming weeks.

Julio Teheran (Braves), Chris Archer (Rays), Matt Harvey (Reds) – Just for fun, I'll close this segment with a handful of highly speculative potential movers. With the infusion of young talent in Atlanta, including a lot of high upside arms either already there or on the way, Teheran could be ticketed for a fifth starter role. If the surprising Braves weren't fully engaged in a pennant race, he would be much higher on this list. Given their competitive status, they may feel the need to keep him for now, but there are likely teams out there that believe they could get Teheran to the next level. Archer would undoubtedly have been a target of contending teams, but an abdominal strain earlier this month sent him to the disabled list, and probably put trade talks on hold. Archer has a huge arm, and offers a very high ceiling if a team can get him on track. His rehab is progressing, so if he can prove he's healthy, expect the trade winds to blow again. So, how about Harvey? The Reds took a flyer on him when the Mets decided to part ways with the former top prospect. Harvey still isn't back to where he once was, but he is showing steady progress, and he's better than most back-of-the-rotation arms today. The Reds might try to re-sign him, but I think it's a bit more likely they will attempt to flip him for a couple of prospects. And finally, speaking of the Mets, they also qualify as an awful team, but an awful team loaded with extremely talented, albeit rarely healthy starting pitching. Would they consider dealing any of those arms?

Some Notable Rotation Ramblings:

• I finally had a chance to have a look at the Twins' Jake Odorizzi in his last start against Texas this past weekend. It didn't last long, and I was disappointed. His splitter showed some movement, but he was inconsistent with location, and his four-seam fastball that always had nice arm-side run was too straight, too often.

• The Reds (and many fantasy owners) were hoping Luis Castillo would take a step forward this season. I checked in on him, but I pretty much saw the same things that made me push away from the table in the spring. He has a big arm, but his off-speed pitches are still fringy, and his command is still spotty.

• As disappointed as I was in Odorizzi, I was at least as impressed with the Jays' Marcus Stroman in his return from the disabled list with a fatigued shoulder. He allowed a few hits, but they were pretty much all ground balls, and that's what he's all about. If he can build on that performance, he could be very useful.

• Not too surprisingly, Shelby Miller's return from over a year (Tommy John surgery) was a mixed bag. He lasted into the fourth inning and was charged with five earned runs, but he did hit 95 to 97 mph with his fastball, and his breaking pitches were fairly sharp, albeit inconsistent. He's worth monitoring.

• Charlie Morton continues to build more velocity on his blazing fastball and now averages 96 mph on the pitch. Morton is 34 years old, and six years ago he averaged a pedestrian 90 mph. To my recollection, this is unprecedented, but teams have to be analyzing changes in his mechanics to uncover the secret.

• Atlanta moving Mike Soroka to the 60-day disabled list certainly raises some concerns. Reports indicated that there was no structural damage to his ailing shoulder, and even though it's understandable that the Braves would exercise caution, this move takes him out of the picture until late August.

  Endgame Odyssey:

  With Hunter Strickland out six to eight weeks, the Giants would undoubtedly prefer to turn the closer duties over to Mark Melancon, however, he has yet to be cleared to pitch on consecutive days. Until that happens, he will likely share the role with Sam Dyson, and, to a lesser extent, lefty Tony Watson. With Kelvin Herrera now in Washington, it looks like the Royals are conducting open auditions. I think Brandon Maurer might have been the early leader, but Wily Peralta could get a look, and if it turns into a committee (a real possibility), lefty Tim Hill could be a part of the plan. Just be aware, none of these profile as the long term solution. The White Sox continue to showcase Joakim Soria, and he's been extremely successful of late. He would seem to be a likely candidate to relocate with so many teams in need of late inning bullpen help. The back of the Jays bullpen has been pretty erratic, but it looks like Ryan Tepera will continue to fill in until early August when Roberto Osuna is eligible to return from his suspension. The Mets aren't exactly piling up save chances, but Jeurys Familia is hopefully healthy and should get the lion's share of opportunities. Arodys Vizcaino is on the disabled list with a balky shoulder, but there is a chance he'll be back as early as this weekend, so the window of opportunity for A.J. Minter could be a small one.