A quartet of Roger Dorn Baseball League clubs have expressed serious interest in right-hander Max Scherzer (3/$68) who looks to be the prize of the late trade market for the second consecutive season. The Las Vegas Aristocrats sit more than 200 points out of the Playoffs as of Sunday afternoon, but have posted 290 or more points in each of the last four weeks which has delayed the club's interest in selling.
With two periods remaining before the RDBL Trade Deadline, the Burlingame Blue Ducks, Mission Viejo Maulers, Meinert Hops and Spokane Fightin' Fish have all expressed interest in Scherzer according to sources, while the Maltese Falcons have monitored the market as well.
The Hops appear to be the most aggressive as they look to earn their first Playoff berth in Franchise History. According to sources, GM Garrett Shelley has expressed interest in pairing Scherzer with pending Free Agent Marcus Semien (3/$3) who is averaging 20 points per week over the last three periods.
Around the RDBL
- The Honolulu Hammerheads lost of pair of key players Sunday morning as both Chris Sale and Harold Ramirez suffered broken hands that will sideline them for the foreseeable future. While it certainly dents their Playoff plans, GM Ross Horiuchi has a sizable group of expiring contracts with Jacob deGrom expected back in the next 10 days. The thought of deGrom not making a start (or even just 1-2) for the Heads seems implausible, though he could join Corbin Burnes (3R/$5), Nate Lowe (2FA/$5), Byron Buxton (3/$7) and Carlos Rodon (2FA/$5) as potentially title altering trade candidates before the August 1st deadline.
Horiuchi has already dealt away the club's top two prospects (Josh Lowe and Michael Busch) as well as their 1st and 2nd Round picks for 2023.
Given deGrom's contract (3/$68), a potential Scherzer trade could further limit the amount of teams who could afford to acquire the right-hander with the Alamo Short Stacks and Lunatic Fringe already pushing up against the in-season cap. Likely looking for young assets, the Ducks also stand out as a club that might not be able to match up well for a deal.
- The Fringe have a combined -107.0 points this period from Lance Lynn, Michael Pineda and Josh Hader, making them a prime candidate for help in the rotation.
For rotation help, Guglielmi could immediately look internally with potential activations of Triston McKenzie (Minors) or Josiah Gray (Minors). McKenzie is quietly on pace for 500+ points this season.
Without much cap space following the additions of Freddie Freeman and George Springer, the Fringe could line up nicely with the Honolulu Hammerheads for Burnes, Rodon and Buxton as they could build a package around McKenzie, young and controllable shortstop Jeremy Pena (1/$9) and a 2023 1st Round pick, giving the Heads a pair of immediate Active Roster players for 2023 while replacing their 1st Round pick that was already dealt away. A creative potential buy-low on Lucas Giolito (2/$3) could also lead to a potential fit.
- With GM Mike Friedrich now set to return, the market for LHP Jordan Montgomery (2FA/$5) is expected to move quickly according to sources close to the club. Friedrich is interested in assets that could help their 2023 Active Roster according to those familiar with talks. The Fringe, Ducks, Goutfish and Maulers are among the clubs interested. The Heads could also quickly emerge as a potential landing spot following the injury to Chris Sale.
- The Ducks would love to add before the deadline but a shallow Farm System has prevented them from making key additions so far this season. The emergence and big league promotion of Nolan Jones has peaked the interest of sellers in recent days according to sources while Joey Bart (Minors) looks vastly improved since his return to the big leagues.
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