MLB Trade Rumor Mill

Once July hits the calendar, the baseball rumor mill heats up. In that month leading up to the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline every name in baseball has been mentioned at one time or another. This year? There are some huge names out there as well: Halladay, Haren, Oswalt, Peavy, Davis, Lee, Vazquez, Dunn, Johnson, Atkins, Holliday, Martinez, Rios, etc.

Let's take a look at the latest rumors:

• First, Baseball America just came out with their updated Top 25 prospects list (with "The Next 25" as well). This is good to determine who has the best prospects to deal. Of course, some of those top prospects that teams have (Matt Wieters, David Price, Tommy Hanson, etc.) have already been called up to the majors so they won't make this list.
• The Braves and Marlins have two of the top 11 (including the #1 and #2 prospects). The Rangers have two of the top 13
• The Yankees make it on this list at #3 with Jesus Montero and also have Austin Jackson in "The Next 25".
• The Giants have #5 and #6 and one of the Next 25
• The NL Central candidates: The Brewers have #14, the Reds have #15, the Cardinals have #21 and the Cubs have one guy in the top 50.
• The Phillies have a really good farm system showing here with 3 of the top 24 prospects and one more in The Next 25
• The Mets and Red Sox, on the other hand, both have no prospects in the top 25, but both have two in the top 50
• The Dodgers better hope that everyone stays healthy because they have no prospects in the top 50, though they do have most of their better young pitchers (Billingsly and Kershaw, especially) in the majors. The White Sox and Angels also don't have any prospects in the top 50.
• Baseball Prospectus looks at who they think need Halladay the most from a statistical standpoint. They list the Phillies, Rangers, Brewers, Angels and Cardinals as the frontrunners. They think that the Mets, White Sox, Twins, Giants, and Dodgers are unlikely.
• Buster Olney also weighs in on Halladay with this interesting quote: "Asked about the price tag for Halladay, a club source said: 'Give Ricciardi all our minor-league rosters and let him circle any 5 names.'" Wow. Olney mentions the Phillies, Brewers, Rangers, and Red Sox as trade partners.
• Ken Rosenthal runs through a few rumors including a shot down Garrett Atkins-for-Takashi Saito trade between the Red Sox and Rockies (they always seem to be negotiating but never seem to be able to deal in the end). The Cardinals and Reds have shown interest in Atkins as well though I wonder, with DeRosa and Encarnacion (even with the injury) already manning those spots, whether those teams would actually take on Atkins' salary.
• Rosenthal also says that Alex Rios and Scott Rolen are available and that the Diamondbacks are mulling whether to send Doug Davis to the Brewers.
• Rosenthal says the Phillies tried to get Scott Hairston and may be in on Ryan Spilborghs as well. Both would be nice bench players for the Phillies who seriously need some bench hitting.
• Rosenthal also doesn't think that Javier Vazquez will get moved because the Braves won't get enough hitting value back to help out their 2009 club. I wonder if the Braves do try to trade him though for a younger pitcher (a la Clay Bucholz) who they can control for more years considering that they may not have the pieces to win this year anyways.
• Jon Heyman thinks that if Victor Martinez does go on the market, that the Red Sox are the likely suitor for him. Martinez or his current Indians teammate, Cliff Lee, would require quite a haul back in return. The Giants could also be a player in the Martinez sweepstakes (and they should be with their lack of pop).  
• Heyman says that a more likely trade target for the BoSox may be Nick Johnson, though the Nationals' demands are still too high.
• Heyman also likes Doug Davis to the Brewers and says that Dan Haren will stay in Arizona
• Heyman does not see either Matt Holliday or Adam Dunn going to the Mets and puts Felix Pie on the trading block again.
• MLBTradeRumors has the Pirates with Freddy Sanchez on the block with the Twins and Giants interested and the Rockies as maybes. Also, MLBTradeRumors has Adam LaRoche on the block by the wheelin'-and-dealin' Pirates (the Giants make some sense here).
• MLBTradeRumors has the Phils in "serious talks" with Pedro. I think this would be a good addition for them with or without Doc Halladay, though I worry about a lesser Pedro in that ballpark.