As the July 31st trade deadline approaches, there will be many teams looking to upgrade their pitching rotation for a post-season run. We have already seen a couple trades as the Kansas City Royals acquired Johnny Cueto from the Cincinnati Reds and the Houston Astros trading with the Oakland Athletics for Scott Kazmir. Here are other starting pitchers that will likely be on new teams before the trade deadline ends.
Mike Leake
Talks for the Cincinnati Reds right-hander have heated up in the last few weeks. He will not provide the same excitement as the other pitchers on this list, but he is a solid third of fourth starter. Leake currently owns a record of 8-5 with a 3.78 ERA and a 6.09 K/9. He is more of a groundball pitcher and his contract is up at the end of this season. The 27 year old Leake has been pitching extremely well lately. In his last four starts he is 3-1 while allowing only five earned runs in 28 innings pitched.
Jeff Samardzija
The Chicago White Sox acquired pitcher Jeff Samardzija from the Oakland Athletics just this past off-season. Both the White Sox and Samardzija could benefit from a trade before the deadline. On the year he has a 7-5 record with a 3.91 ERA and an unusually low 6.93 strikeouts per 9 innings. But, he is another pitcher playing well at the right time to be traded. So far in July he is 3-1 with a 1.71 ERA. Samardzija, 30 years old, his contract is also up at the end of the season and he has been on record saying he will test the free agent market for his top value.
Cole Hamels
The Philadelphia Phillies have been listening to offers for starter Cole Hamels for some time now. But, now might be the perfect time to send him off after throwing a no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs this past Saturday. Overall, this season he still has a losing record of 6-7 to go along with his 3.64 ERA and an impressive 9.58 K/9 ratio. The 31 year old Hamels is signed through the 2018 season with a one year option. Whoever trades for Hamels will be getting an instant ace for the next few seasons.
