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If you asked anyone in baseball who would be one of the top starting pitching targets at the MLB trade deadline before this season, I doubt any would have said Kyle Gibson. Yet, here we are in late July and the Kyle Gibson trade rumors are swirling.
The right-handed veteran of the Texas Rangers is having a career year, with a 6-3 record and a 2.67 ERA. The 33-year old has one year left on his contract, with a cap hit of just $7 million next year.
Any team looking to not just contend this season, but have an arm in their rotation next season should be after Gibson. The Rangers should sell high, with Gibson’s value at its highest.
Gibson trade rumors
Like most contending teams at the trade deadline, starting pitching is a hot commodity. There are many teams to be rumored to be in search of acquiring an arm to boost their rotation.
Here are some of the those teams that should certainly be picking up the phone and trying to trade for Kyle Gibson.
Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are still without ace Jack Flaherty, who had sported a glistening 8-1 record with a 2.90 ERA in 11 starts before going down with an oblique injury. He’s expected to have a rehab start soon, but the Cardinals are in a dogfight in the NL for a wild card spot and need help with their pitching staff now.
Leading the way in his place has been Kwang Hyun Kim, with a 6-5 record and 2.88 ERA. Adam Wainwright has been reliable with a 3.56 ERA and a 9-4 record. But after that?
There’s Carlos Martinez and his 6.32 ERA and then Johan Oviedo and his 0-5 record. The Cardinals are in desperate need of another starter, even with Flaherty coming back.
Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox have had quite the turn around season. One reason for that has been their pitching.
Nathan Eovaldi has had an All-Star season, Martin Perez has once again been above average and Nick Pivetta has emerged as a great No. 3 or 4 option in the rotation.
They are expected to get Chris Sale back at some point, but with the Sox fighting for the top spot in the AL East, they could use another arm in the rotation.
Gibson has better numbers than any of the starting pitchers, which includes Eovaldi. With Garrett Richards struggling mightily since the substance crackdown, the Red Sox need a fifth starter while they wait for Sale’s return and Gibson could be that guy.
Dodgers
Sporting the best pitching staff in baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers leads the league in team ERA with a 3.24. Julio Urias has the highest ERA out out of any starter with a 3.63 ERA. How unacceptable!
The problem is they don’t have a fifth starter. And with Trevor Bauer out on administrative leave for an unknown period of time, that gives them one less arm.
They already lost Dustin May for the year earlier in the season. Tony Gonsolin has actually come in and pitched well in his eight starts (2-1, 2.38 ERA). But they are at the point where they’re using David Price as a starter. The Dodgers should be in on any and all available starting pitchers at the deadline, including Gibson.
Giants
What team also has dominant pitching and actually is ahead of the Dodgers? The San Francisco Giants.
With a 3.31 team ERA, only the Dodgers have a better team ERA than the Giants. And with the Dodgers and San Diego Padres at their heels for the NL West, adding a guy like Gibson not only bolsters their rotation, but it prohibits a team like the Dodgers getting that kind of arm.
Kevin Gausman and Anthony DeSclafani, both on one-year deals with the Giants, have stepped up in the Bay. Each has a sub-3.00 ERA, Gausman with the fourth-best ERA among starters with a 2.21. Alex Wood, another one-year signing, has flourished in his role in San Francisco.
Johnny Cueto and Logan Webb haven’t been bad either as the back end of the rotation. But adding Gibson would allow the Giants to have a mega three-headed monster come playoff time in Gausman, DeSclafani and Gibson and push Webb, or even Cueto, back to that long reliever role in the playoffs that every team needs.
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