MLB Rumors: Royals biggest trade assets proving problematic

All signs are pointing to the Kansas City Royals being one of the most aggressive sellers at the forthcoming MLB Trade Deadline. And it doesn't take anyone breaking the wheels in their head to figure out who their two most coveted commodities (and the biggest return hauls) on the roster are.

Veteran closer Aroldis Chapman and fellow reliever Scott Barlow have been thrown out ad nauseam as trade targets for teams looking to upgrade their bullpens at the trade deadline. And it seems almost inevitable that they could be moved.

But maybe there should be more buyer beware than we're realizing.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required) broke down the viability of both Chapman and Barlow, more importantly breaking down the potential pitfalls with each. For the former, it's the second-highest walk rate of his career along with the lack of consistent usage day-to-day, partially due to the Royals' woes as a club. Even still, that lack of high-leverage usage married with his still-present lapses is a bit of a concern that teams will have to monitor.

In the case of Barlow, it's even more interesting. He's been dominant against righties this season but lefties have posted a 1.002 OPS against him, which was not a problem in each of the past two years when he posted a sub-3.00 ERA in each.

Will either of those things preclude trade deadline buyers from shopping in Kansas City? Absolutely not. However, it could ultimately result in the Royals not quite getting the return for the future that they might be hoping for.

MLB Rumors: Braves trade for Cardinals LHP Jordan Montgomery could be exactly what they need

Some people have cooled off on the idea that the Atlanta Braves need to target a starting pitcher or the middle of the rotation when looking at the club's trade deadline needs. With Michael Soroka coming back up, Kolby Allard flashing in his lone start, and even guys like Jared Shuster and AJ Smith-Shawver having had moments too, the reasoning there makes sense — especially with Max Fried's return inching closer.

I have not wavered from that, however. And neither has ESPN Senior Writer David Schoenfield.

Schoenfield broke down one trade that every MLB team should make before the deadline this season (subscription required) and surmised that the Braves should be after Cardinals starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery in a deal.

The caveat for this trade was "if Fried and [Kyle] Wright can't get healthy", but I'm less inclined to even include that. Fried is going to come back based on his current trajectory, but that still leaves a bit of a question mark in the Atlanta rotation, especially with Wright's recovery timetable still looking far less certain at the moment.

Put simply, going into the home stretch of the regular season and, more importantly, the playoffs with a rotation of Fried, Spencer Strider, Bryce Elder, Charlie Morton and someone from the Soroka/Shuster/Smith-Shawver/Allard group in the fifth spot is far less enticing than inserting the Cardinals lefty into the mix.

Montgomery leads St. Louis starters this season with a 3.52 ERA and 1.27 WHIP this season. He's also a free agent after the 2023 campaign, hence the potential for the Cardinals to deal him. That's also favorable for the Braves in a possible trade as they hope to be able to find help in cost-effective manners, a staple of the Alex Anthopoulos era.

Of the options that fit that bill for the Braves, Montgomery might be at the top of the list.

MLB Rumors: Could Mets actually trade Pete Alonso to hit big red reset button?

Tommy Pham, Brooks Raley, and several other New York Mets are surely going to be dealt at the trade deadline, perhaps no matter if the club starts to turn around a disappointing 2023 season or not. But there are some bigger questions looming about the futures of Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.

What about Pete Alonso, though?

Alonso has been one of the best power-hitters in baseball since winning NL Rookie of the Year in 2019, continuing that trend this season while hitting 24 home runs with 55 RBI on the season with an .826 OPS. He also has just one year of arbitration left of club control in New York before he's set to become a free agent in 2025 at 30 years old.

Make no mistake, the Mets shouldn't be actively searching for a Pete Alonso trade. But while exploring the trade deadline options for Steve Cohen, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required) noted that Alonso could net the biggest return and that it'd be hard to imagine the club competing — or being a serious contender to sign Shohei Ohtani — in the coming years without him.

Rosenthal did call the chances of trading Alonso "exceedingly slim". At the same time, though, if the Mets continue to fall out of contention and teams are calling and offering MLB-ready talent to shake up the roster in New York, you have to imagine that Cohen might at least give it adequate consideration.

In the end, as Rosenthal noted, an extension is far, far more likely than a trade when it comes to Alonso. Nothing has turned out as expected for the Mets this season, though. So perhaps a trade might be a wild possibility to monitor leading up to the Aug. 1 deadline.