Folks, it’s deadline day!
That means we’re going to see an absolute frenzy of trades being made before 6 p.m. Eastern Time, which is when trades are no longer allowed for the remainder of the season.
There are plenty of big pieces out on the block right now and a lot of speculation on where they’ll end up going before the official deadline.
One of the main players on the block is Chicago Cubs catcher Willson Contreras, who on Sunday night stated that he was ready for all of this to be over.
Ken Rosenthal tweeted that the Tampa Bay Rays have joined the mix of teams that are in on Contreras, those being the New York Mets and the San Diego Padres.
Rays in mix along with Mets for Cubs’ Willson Contreras, sources tell @TheAthletic. Possible fallback for Padres, too, if SD does not land Soto.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 2, 2022
Rays In The Mix
Rosenthal mentions Contreras as a fallback option for the Padres if they cannot land Juan Soto, as they currently are the overwhelming favorites to land the Washington Nationals slugger, assuming he’s traded.
But it’s quite unlike the Rays to be in the mix for a huge name.
They did acquire Nelson Cruz at last year’s deadline, but a deal for Contreras would be a huge trade, one that we don’t normally see the Rays make.
But it’ll be interesting to see them do that if they are the ones to acquire Contreras.
The Rays would be heavy favorites to land one of the Wild Card spots if they are to acquire him.
The Cubs catcher is hitting .252 with 14 homers and 38 RBI this season.
He’s one of the last holdovers from the Cubs 2016 World Series team and a free agent to be.
Perhaps given his contract status, whoever acquires him may not have to give up too much.
NEXT: Cubs Writer Questions The Scott Effross Trade