The trade deadline is fast approaching and with a number of teams in need of starting pitching, some of the top names include White Sox pitcher Jake Peavy as well as names like Josh Johnson, Tim Lincecum and Mark Buehrle and the teams that could go after them include the Pittsburgh Pirates, Red Sox, Cardinals, Dodgers, Yankees and Cleveland Indians.
A number of team are in the market for starting pitching and with some top of the line options on the market, there is a chance some big deals could go down.
According to Fox Sports, the Rangers would love to get their hands on Giancarlo Stanton, but the Marlins are not planning on giving him up this offseason. He is just hitting .201 with 12 home runs, but the team knows what he can do and if they can't snag him they may go after Michael Young to bring him back home as he is hitting .278 and the team could use a bat after it didn't really work out with Manny Ramirez.
The Seattle Mariners have had a tough season and are sitting nine games under .500 as the trade deadline approaches and while the team has played better over the past week, there is a good chance a number of their players will be dealt to contenders, most likely Raul Ibanez, Kendrys Morales, Michael Morse, Hisashi Iwakuma, Oliver Perez and Brendan Ryan.
General manager Jack Zduriencik has been putting together a plan for five years to get the team back to respectability and so far that has not worked, meaning he may try to pry away a prospect or two for some of his veteran players. The trade season has already started with Scott Feldman and Ricky Nolasco being moved and now that the Mariners have young stars like Nick Franklin, Brad Miller and Erasmo Ramirez with the big team, the vets might be on the way out.
The Sox are very interested in Peavy and have some choices to make ahead of the July 31 deadline. Peavy looked strong in his last start against the White Sox, going into the eighth inning with seven strikeouts and he could be the missing piece for the Red Sox. Alex Rios has turned himself into a trade option with the way he has played this year, as he is hitting above .270 with 11 homers, 40 RBI and 19 steals and teams were impressed with what he did lasts season, hitting .304 with 25 home runs, 91 RBI and 23 stolen bases. The Rangers could also be in the market for Rios after Josh Hamilton left last season and he also could go to a team like the Rockies or the Tigers.
Hughes has been mentioned in talks all season and even though his stats of 4-9 record and a 4.57 ERA aren't great, he has pitched better than that at times and could be valuable down the stretch. After his no-hitter, Lincecum has also been targeted by a number of teams, including the Tigers according to Fox Sports.
The Red Sox are dealing with pitching depth issues after an injury to Clay Buchholz as well as mediocre performance from Ryan Dempster, putting Boston at the top of the list of teams that may deal at the deadline. The team already traded for Matt Thornton from the White Sox and they could try and go after other Chicago pitchers, including Jesse Crain and Jake Peavy, as the team is in last place and struggling this season.
Buchholz has been trying to get back on the mound for the Red Sox and after dealing with a few issues with his shoulder injury, the pitcher and the team decided to get a second opinion from renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews. Buchholz has not pitched since June 8 and has barely been on the mound since late May and he is hoping that a visit to the doctor will get him back to pitching sooner rather than later. Buchholz was set to return to the rotation before the All-Star break, but after feeling some discomfort in his shoulder while throwing in the bullpen, he was shut down again.
