MLB Trade Rumors: Yankees, Dodgers, and Padres all vying for Chris Archer, per report

We have pretty much past the point where the names we all knew would be traded have new homes. Manny Machado is a Dodger and basically every other rental of note seems to now reside with the Yankees or Red Sox. However, now things get interesting because there will absolutely be teams that decide to sell at the last minute and make players available that none of us thought were even on the table.

Then, we have the case of Chris Archer. Archer is most certainly not a rental, but he has also seemingly been “available” for a long time but the Rays have never pulled the trigger and have been asking for a king’s ransom in return for him. However, lately, there has been more noise around a potential Archer trade than usual.

While many will make the argument that the Rays, with a limited payroll and existing in a window where the Red Sox and Yankees will reign supreme for the next couple of years at least, should have traded Archer a long time ago, he has been a valuable pitcher for Tampa Bay and it is hard to simply let a pitcher like that go. Archer has posted a 4.31 ERA and 3.62 FIP in 2018 and is well on his way towards his fifth straight 3+ WAR season.

The Yankees and Dodgers pursuing Archer is hardly a surprise. Both teams have been actively trying to upgrade their rosters and are among the favorites to make the playoffs this season. The San Diego Padres are a more interesting name because while they have more than enough prospects to make a deal happen, they aren’t going to be competitive this year and its unlikely they will be competitive next year, either. However, Archer is under team control through 2021 potentially and that could be attractive to any number of teams that have a lot of help coming from the minor leagues.