MLB Trade Rumors

With only a couple weeks until opening day, teams are concentrating on finalizing their lineups and rotations. While that usually means that teams are deciding between a few players for a couple positions, it can also mean that players will be traded even though the season is to start soon.

The Hot Stove season has just about cooled off.

There were plenty of high-profile moves: Zack Greinke to Milwaukee, Cliff Lee to Philadelphia, Jayson Werth to Washington.

Only time will tell if those moves were great, lukewarm or horrible.

That has us thinking about the worst acquisitions in the history of each team.

You’ll cringe when remembering these acquisitions, but at least you can take comfort in the fact that the other 29 MLB clubs have made just as depressing moves. 

The trading deadline can make or break a team. The right trade can lift your team to a pennant. A bad move can wreck your franchise for years to come.

Last season, we saw just how dramatic an effect a trade can have. The Cliff Lee-to-Texas trade propelled the Rangers to the World Series.

This year, as is the case every year, there will be players available on July 31, and there will be teams looking for that one missing piece which will land them a spot in the postseason. Here is a list of some of those who could find themselves in trade talks come the deadline.

Now that the initial shock is over from the news that Jason Castro will be out for almost the entire 2011 season with a torn ACL, the Houston Astros need to go into damage control and figure out what they want to do with the catcher situation.

They could head into the season relying on their current catchers, Humberto Quintero and J.R. Towles, but they have hit a combined .221 in their major league careers.

Carmelo Anthony has been one of the most talked-about figures in sports in 2011. The saga that led to his eventual departure from Denver was incredible. As was the New York Knicks' pursuit of him and the package they surrendered to the Nuggets in the resultant 13-piece, three-team trade.

So, could the story repeat itself in the upcoming baseball season? Here, we take a quick look at five candidates for the role of Anthony—players who could give up on their team, demand a trade, or both, before the July 31st trading deadline.

It's been a big offseason for starting pitchers on the move.

After months of speculation, Cliff Lee signed a five-year, $120 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies in the free-agent frenzy of the winter. The Milwaukee Brewers emptied their farm system for trade-market equivalent Zack Greinke and the Chicago Cubs then gave up an arguably better package of prospects for the good-not-great Matt Garza.

MLB Trade Rumors Aren’t Dying Down Yet

MLB trade rumors will keep going strong right up until the start of the new season.

Each team—although some have more than others—has at least one contract on their roster that is virtually impossible to unload.

Whether it was an investment that went wrong, picking up a contract from another club, or a player just aging less than gracefully, each of these players are stuck with their current team.

Though spring training is underway for the 30 MLB teams, general managers will still be pondering potential trades that can either give their team an extra boost or shed some payroll heading into the offseason.

July's MLB trade deadline is months away, but a handful of players already qualify to be on the move before the deadline hits.

The 2012 free agent class will feature some marquee names, many of whom are unlikely to sign with their current teams.

Therefore, these players may be rentals for a late postseason push.

With spring training in full swing, all 30 MLB clubs are getting a good look at the talent they have assembled.  Some will be mostly satisfied with what they have.  Other teams will still be on the lookout for big improvements.

As spring training rolls on and into the regular season, many ball clubs will experience player injuries or find they have needs somewhere they did not expect.  As a result, the trade wheels continues to spin.

Thirty-one-year-old Albert Pujols has already racked up 10 seasons of hitting over .310 with at least 30 home runs and 100 RBI, and has never finished outside the top nine in MVP voting.

A free agent after this season, the St. Louis Cardinals are desperately trying to keep the slugger, but they are reluctant to pay anywhere near the $300 million over 10 years Pujols is reportedly asking for.