After being scratched from his start for the Houston Astros today, right-hander Bud Norris is waiting in limbo to see what his future holds. According to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, the Diamondbacks, Pirates and Orioles are all involved in trying to acquire him.
Hearing that Arizona, Baltimore & Pittsburgh and are three of teams in on #Astros pitcher Bud Norris. More coming at http://t.co/MCrT7Pxynv
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) July 30, 2013
A deal involving Norris to the Pirates was speculated as a strong possibility as of this morning, but the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Bill Brink now says that it is unlikely. The Pirates are relatively content with their current rotation, and have not been big players for Matt Garza or Jake Peavy.
MASN's Roch Kubatko reports that the Orioles are still trying to work out a deal for Norris, but that the Astros' price on Norris remains high. Jason Vargas is another possibility for the O's, and Kubatko says that the pair are two of the most likely targets for Baltimore to pursue. As of this morning, the Orioles had not made an offer for Norris, but were still interested.
The D-Backs are known to be one of the frontrunners in the Jake Peavy sweepstakes, and are also actively shoppingpitcher Ian Kennedy. While Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com reports that he is getting "mixed signals" on the team's interest in Norris, I speculate that the team may view the Astros' hurler as a backup plan in case they are unable to meet the White Sox' high price for Peavy.
As I wrote this morning, the Red Sox, Braves, Phillies, Giants, Dodgers and Blue Jays have also shown interest in Norris over the last few weeks. Atlanta is reportedly no longer involved and the Phillies have resorted to selling, so those teams can be ruled out. San Francisco, Boston, Toronto and Los Angeles may swoop in late and nab Norris if the three leaders are unable to meet Houston's demands.
More from MLB Daily Dish:
- D-Backs shopping Kennedy, Kubel
- Jays shopping Bonifacio, Melky
- Cliff Lee talks heating up
- Tigers acquire Jose Veras from Astros
- Yankees interested in Rios