MLB trade rumors: Yankees, Red Sox chasing Rays’ Chris Archer in ‘weak’ trade market?

The MLB non-waiver trade deadline is July 31, 2018 (7/31/18). Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and Boston Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski will be shopping for starting pitching. That could lead both of them to Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Chris Archer.

With just five weeks to go until MLB’s July 31st non-waiver trade deadline, the market is slowly taking shape.

Both the Yankees and Red Sox figure to be in the hunt for starting pitching before the deadline.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is shopping for arms, with injuries to Masahiro Tanaka and Jordan Montgomery (we also know Cashman isn’t inclined to trade Gleyber Torres or Clint Frazier for a starter).

Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is also down a pair of starters, after Steven Wright joined Drew Pomeranz on the disabled list Tuesday.

The two names getting the most attention on the market are Toronto Blue Jays lefty J.A. Happ and Texas Rangers southpaw Cole Hamels.

But MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports another name on the radar:

With a trade market for starting pitchers termed “weak” by two executives, one name is consistently mentioned in virtually every conversation on the subject: Chris Archer

The Rays right-hander is nearing a return from the disabled list, having been sidelined since early June with an abdominal strain. Archer may have a pedestrian 4.24 ERA this season, though he had been having a solid stretch when he landed on the DL, with a 2.47 ERA over a seven-start run beginning May 1. 

One general manager wonders why the Rays would be in a rush to move their pitcher, noting that the 29-year-old Archer is under control through 2021 at a team-friendly price of roughly $31 million.

…

Rays senior vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom doesn’t disagree. He understands why Tampa Bay constantly gets asked about Archer, but Bloom said it’s no foregone conclusion that the starter gets dealt this summer.

9 hot and 9 cold Yankees

The trade deadline is one of many plots which will come into focus on Friday, when the Yankees host the Red Sox for three games in the Bronx. New York has the best record in baseball (52-25), but just a half-game lead over Boston in the American League East.

Mike Rosenstein may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @rosenstein73. Find NJ.com on Facebook.