Good morning Mets fans! Today’s trade deadline rumor roundup includes two teams trading for veteran starting pitchers, as contenders are adding depth to the back-end of their rotation.

Boston Red Sox Trade for Andrew Cashner

The Boston Red Sox made the first substantial move of this trade deadline season, when they acquired right-handed starting pitcher Andrew Cashner from the Baltimore Orioles. In exchange for Cashner, the Orioles added a pair of 17-year-old prospects in Elio Prado and Noelberth Romero.

Cashner was pitching to a 3.83 ERA with the Orioles, with 66 strikeouts in 96 1/3 innings pitched. Cashner is having success this year by limited baserunners, as his 1.19 WHIP is the best mark he has had since his career-year back in 2014. Cashner has also been on a roll lately, pitching to a 1.41 ERA over his last five starts.

The Red Sox were happy to add this starting pitching depth well before the deadline, as they are currently 1.5 games back in the Wild Card standings and 9.5 games back in the division. Cashner is slated to make his first start with the Red Sox on Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Oakland Athletics Trade For Homer Bailey

The Oakland Athletics added a starting pitcher of their own on Sunday, when they made a trade to acquire Homer Bailey from the Kansas City Royals. In return for Bailey, the Royals will receive 23-year-old infielder, Kevin Merrell. Merrell is hitting .246/.292/.339 in Double-A this season, but it known for his speed as he has stolen 13 bases this year.

The Athletics needed to add a starter after the performance-enhancing-drug suspension of Frankie Montas last month. Bailey, 33, is having a career resurgence of sorts, after being one of the worst pitchers in baseball over the last four years. This season, Bailey is pitching to a 4.80 ERA, which is marked improvement from the ERA over 6.00 that he had carried in his last three seasons. He is also striking out more batters this year, as he has set down 81 hitters across his 90 innings pitched.

Oakland is in the thick of the Wild Card race, currently slated to have the second spot. Bailey provides the Athletics with another veteran starter, to pitch in front of their excellent defense.

Washington Nationals Interested in Jake Diekman

The Washington Nationals will be in search of bullpen help at the trade deadline and one option could be Kansas City Royals reliever Jake Diekman. Washington has some reported interest in Diekman, despite the fact that the lefty is having an uneven year.

Diekman, 32, is pitching to a 5.06 ERA and has a sub-par walk rate of 5.3 BB/9. Still, Diekman is striking out 13 batters per nine innings and his 3.69 FIP tells us that he is pitching better than his ERA would indicate. With a fastball that still hovers around 95 miles per hour, Diekman continues to be tough on left-handed hitting and could see some improvement in his numbers coming over to the National League.

The Nationals are right up against the luxury tax, making the acquisition of Diekman even more appealing as he is owed just under $1 million for the rest of this season.

San Diego Padres May Not Add a Starting Pitcher

Last week, reports were that the San Diego Padres were checking in with the Mets on the availability of Noah Syndergaard as they have long been enticed by the prospect of adding the flamethrower. There was also some interest in Detroit Tigers left-handed starter Matt Boyd, with the Padres looking to address their pitching for a potential playoff push.

Now it seems like the Padres may stay in-house for their rotation reinforcements instead. San Diego’s rotation has been anchored this year by Eric Lauer, Joey Lucchesi and rookie phenom Chris Paddack. The Padres just recently welcomed the return of Dinelson Lament, after the right-handed strikeout machine recovered from having Tommy John surgery in 2018. They also expect to receive another starting pitcher who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, as Garrett Richards is slated to return in September.

The Padres are just two games back in the NL Wild Card standings, so a push over the coming weeks could make adding another starter more of a priority. But for now, the Padres may just be standing pat when it comes to their rotation at the deadline.

Marlins Bullpen Getting Attention From Rival Scouts

The Miami Marlins could be looking to move some of their relievers at the trade deadline to help continue their rebuild. According to a report from MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro, there were many scouts at Saturday’s game against the New York Mets that were keeping an eye on the Marlins relievers.

It worth noting that Noah Syndergaard was pitching for the Mets on Saturday and rumors about him being moved at the deadline likely brought a lot of attention from rival scouts. Still, the Marlins have some relievers that could be seen as valued commodities on the open market.

Austin Brice, 27, presents an intriguing option for contending teams, as he is in the midst of a career year pitching to a 1.88 ERA. Teams acquiring Brice would have to overlook his 4.39 xFIP, which indicates that his ERA may be more a product of luck than anything else. Another option for teams to look at is left-handed reliever Jarlin Garcia. Garcia is pitching to a 2.96 ERA this season, while holding left-handed batter to a .179 batting average.

Finally, Nick Anderson presents the Marlins with maybe their most valuable trade chip, as the 6-foot-5 righty will be seen as a legitimate late-inning reliever that can help a contender. Anderson has great stuff, with a 95-mph fastball that he pairs with a good curveball. Anderson has a great strikeout rate of 13.85 K/9 and his 2.99 FIP represents him better than his 4.46 ERA.