MLB Rumors: Astros a suitor for Lucas Giolito?
The Houston Astros starting rotation has been riddled with injuries in the 2023 campaign. Luis Garcia, Lance McCullers and Jose Urquidy are all out due to injury, placed on the 60-day IL. While those injuries have varying degrees of severity, the Astros rotation is being held together by little more than tape and spare parts.
Thankfully, Houston general manager Dana Brown is not stranger to making moves at the MLB Trade Deadline. Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Lucas Giolito is expected to be one of the best starting pitchers moved prior to August. He is on the Astros radar, per Josh Criswell of Chron.
"Lucas Giolito is the most high-profile name of the bunch—he's a former All-Star with two top-10 Cy Young finishes on his resume, and he has a 3.45 ERA through 19 starts in 2023," writes Criswell. "Giolito would undoubtedly help solidify an Astros rotation in need of another high-end arm."
Chicago will sell come the trade deadline, and for good reason. Many members of their current core are in contract years, and haven't lived up to the hype. Giolito, for what it's worth, has pitched quite well this season — but he's due to be a free agent this winter. That's enough for the White Sox to at least explore a trade, and see what they can get for Giolito now.
MLB Rumors: Will the Red Sox DFA Kiké Hernandez?
It's been a rough season for Kiké Hernandez, who may very well be in his final days with the Boston Red Sox. Hernandez can play multiple positions, and thus has a spot coming off the bench for a viable contender. However, his bat is usually more of a weapon than its proven to be this season.
Chris Cotillo, Red Sox beat writer for Mass Live, theorized that Boston could decide on Hernandez's future sooner rather than later.
"Red Sox have not been afraid to shake up the roster coming out of the break before. In 2021, Duran and Houck were called up on the first day of the second half. Have to wonder if Kiké Hernández is DFA by the time they get to Wrigley," Cotillo wrote on Twitter.
For what it's worth, Hernandez has been catching heat all season on Boston sports radio. As recently as last week, 98.5 The Sports Hub's Tyler Milliken highlighted just how poor Hernandez has been playing of late:
"Because how bad of a look would it be? They got Pablo Reyes coming back after the All-Star break. Yu Chang is your starting shortstop because he can actually play the position, he's never going to hit, but he can play the position. And Christian Arroyo. When his roster spot was on the line. What has he done? He's hit .315 over his last seven games and had big hits. There's one guy you look at, the guy they gave a reset and when he came back, what does he do? He makes another throwing error at shortstop. 15 on the year, 14 throwing," Milliken said.
So, yes, Boston's other options at shortstop without Tyler Story aren't great, but they could surely produce more than Kiké has this season, and that's what counts. If the Red Sox are serious about contending for the AL Wild Card, something must be done.
MLB Rumors: Where will the Cardinals trade Jordan Montgomery?
The St. Louis Cardinals are likely to sell at the trade deadline, but rather cautiously. Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt are off-limits. Players like Jordan Montgomery, who is in the final season of his contract, make more sense to trade away.
Montgomery is having a decent season by his standards, pitching to a 3.23 ERA in 18 starts. He's been arguably the Cardinals best pitcher this year, though that's not saying much in a rotation which has routinely struggled to live up to expectations.
If St. Louis were to trade Montgomery, they would be right to demand some prospect capital in return. Per most experts, the pitching market is expected to be relatively weak this July. Montgomery could be one of the best players available at his position. Per Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat, the Phillies and Blue Jays are two teams already interested in Montgomery.
Toronto is in better standing in the American League to make such a trade, and if Alek Manoah can return to form, the Blue Jays could essentially gain two pitchers in a few short weeks. Manoah, the team's former ace, has looked anything but his usual self so far this year. Yet, a promising start against the Detroit Tigers prior to the All-Star Break could help change the narrative. Adding Montgomery, who is familiar with the AL East from his time with the Yankees, would be a smart move by Ross Atkins.
As for Dave Dombrowski's Phillies, they are seven games over .500, but sit 12 games out of the NL East race. The Wild Card is their best chance at making the postseason, and adding Montgomery to a rotation which already features Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler could create a devastating trio.