The Toronto Blue Jays could be nearing a trade of left-hander Francisco Liriano, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
Sherman tweets that some teams may be interested in Liriano, who’s started 17 games this season, as a relief option. The 33-year-old pending free agent has issued just one walk in 60 plate appearances to left-handed hitters this season, compared to 41 walks in 291 plate appearances versus righties.
Additionally, Liriano’s holding lefties to a .241 average and .646 OPS, compared to marks of .295 and .907, respectively, against right-handed hitters.
On Wednesday Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that the Kansas City Royals were in talks with the Blue Jays about acquiring Liriano. The club has also been linked to Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada in recent days.
Nationals bow out
The Washington Nationals are not pursuing Sonny Gray or Yu Darvish at the moment, reports Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.
The team had been previously linked to those pitchers, given the uncertainty of Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg. The all-star right-hander was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a right elbow nerve impingement Thursday morning after exiting his outing on Sunday with the ailment.
The Nationals hope the 29-year-old with a history of injuries will miss just one start.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers are apparently confident they will land one of either Gray, Darvish or Detroit Tigers veteran Justin Verlander.
Twin faced
The Minnesota Twins have stayed in contention all season and even made a significant addition when they acquired left-hander Jaime Garcia from the Atlanta Braves on Monday.
But since that deal the team has dropped three straight, as part of a dismal stretch that’s seen Minnesota go 4-10. They entered Thursday 5.5 games back of first in the American League Central, four games behind a wild-card spot and may end up trading Garcia as well as other assets.
The potential availability of right-hander Ervin Santana, as reported by Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, is particularly interesting because it adds another front-of-the rotation arm to the starting pitcher market.
Santana, who’ll make $13.5 million next season and has a $14-million club option in 2019, is having a standout campaign, ranking first among qualified AL starting pitchers in complete games (four), fourth in innings (136.1) and opponents batting average (.217), and seventh in ERA (3.37).
[relatedlinks]
