We're nearly two months into the MLB season, and the rumor mill is already churning. It's still early enough for struggling teams to have hopes of turning their season around, while surprisingly successful teams are looking to the missing piece that can help them make the playoffs. Here's all the latest news and rumors surrounding the MLB:
Flurry of trades for pitchers coming before deadline?
This winter's free agency class will be incredibly weak, and with Steven Strasburg off the market after signing a seven-year extension, teams in need of pitching help, ESPN's Jim Bowden expects to see a lot of trades before the deadline.
With Stephen Strasburg signed to a seven-year deal, an already-thin market for starting pitching this offseason suddenly got a lot thinner. In fact, with Rich Hill, Clay Buchholz, Andrew Cashner, Bartolo Colon, Mat Latos, Jorge De La Rosa and Jered Weaver expected to head up the available options, it might be the weakest starting pitching class we’ve seen in quite some time; there's not a single top-of-rotation starter among the lot. Teams that are light on starting pitching will now have to rely on either their own farm systems or trades to improve their rotations.
Bowden names the Tigers, Royals and Yankees as the top three teams most likely to make a deal with Miami's Jose Fernandez, Oakland's Sonny Gray and Atlanta's Julio Teheran as the three pitchers most likely to be dealt.
Tim Lincecum to sign one-year deal with Angels
Free agent pitcher Tim Lincecum is expected to sign with the Los Angeles Angels in the next few days, according to MLB Network's Jon Heyman:
sources: 2-time cy young winner tim lincecum is leaning toward the angels. could happen today.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 16, 2016
lincecum deals being discussed generally have been MLB deals for 1 year (allows him to hit free agent market at year's end)
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 16, 2016
The Giants and White Sox were also interested in signing Lincecum, but it appears that the Angels have won the war for his services. San Diego and Seattle were also interested in Lincecum, but they have since backed off.
Lincecum had an impressive 41-pitch session Friday at Scottsdale Stadium. Lincecum maintained velocity in the low-90s in front of a collection of scouts and front office members from over 20 ball clubs. He is recovering from hip surgery in September.
He finished last season with a 7-4 record and a 4.13 ERA in 15 starts before the injury.
Tigers to fire Brad Ausmus soon?
Detroit has been one of the biggest disappointments of the 2016 MLB season, posting just a 15-20 recrod to this point in the season.
Manager Brad Ausmus knows he's "in the crosshairs" and on the hot seat given the team's poor start, telling MLive.com's Aaron McCann that he knows he'll get fired if they can't turn the season around.
“I knew when I took this job, I was probably going to get fired before I walked away from it. Not this job in particular, but just managing in general. How many managers walk away from a job?”
Many thought Ausmus might be fired after the Tigers missed the playoffs last season, but the team decided to bring him back for the 2016 season. This is the last year of his contract, and it's hard to imagine that he'll be back next season (if he lasts that long) if Detroit doesn't turn it around.
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