MLB Trade Rumors

The MLB All-Star break came and went, and now the 30 major league franchises have no choice but to stare down the rest of the season and decide whether they are in the buyers or sellers camp in 2014.

July 31 is the trade deadline, and teams would be loathe to linger on the deals that can either set them up for future success or bring in the high-caliber talent that will put them over the top in their respective divisions. 

The July 31 MLB trade deadline is less than two weeks away.

Let me begin by assuring you all I am not totally crazy. Partially crazy, perhaps, but not totally. But what I am about to suggest may actually be a reasonable and logical step for the New York Mets to take in order to hep get them to (and keep them in) relevancy once again in the National League.

As MLB teams head out of the All-Star break, the trade deadline will serve as the make-or-break point for plenty of clubs on the fringes of playoff contention.  The two weeks before the July 31 deadline should bring lots of intrigue and action as teams vacillate between buying and selling on a seemingly daily basis.

With the NBA and NHL free-agency periods slowing down considerably, sports fans with a hunger for transactions need a new source of entertainment.

Enter the MLB trade deadline. 

With the All-Star break behind us, the trade market should start to really heat up. Below, we'll take a look at some of the most recent rumors.

The San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Angels Might Be Making a Deal

While Major League Baseball's All-Stars take the field on Tuesday night to celebrate the game, there are a lot of players anxiously waiting to find out where they will be after the July 31 trade deadline.

This is the time of year where fans and players are in perfect sync, pulling their hair out and biting their nails trying to determine if the latest rumor being floated out there is true or just due diligence by the team.

It has become redundant to say, but the Oakland A’s made the biggest assault on a possible 2014 World Series title when they added Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel to their already-dominant pitching staff on the Fourth of July.

Most of Major League Baseball's best players were on hand as Yoenis Cespedes won the 2014 Home Run Derby, but team executives likely spent the night working the phones and trying to work whatever deals they're pursuing before the July 31 non-waiver deadline.

It makes for a strange rumor mill when the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox have a ton in common.

Both franchises are floundering around near the bottom of their respective divisions and are very much sellers at this point with the trade deadline approaching at the end of July.

The home stretch is always the most difficult.

In this instance, that refers to the complex machine that is the MLB trade rumor mill as the deadline looms at the end of July. It can also refer to the fact that the Midsummer Classic is upon us, meaning franchises are more willing to wheel and deal for the postseason push after the break.