Michael Bourn Trade Rumors

After Saturday’s whirlwind of trade action, we are all reminded that there is another 16 hours left of this madness.  One player who is yet to have found a new home is Astros’ center fielder Michael Bourn.  With several other outfielders coming off the board, the interest in Bourn has greatly increased.

Saturday it was reported that the Nationals, Braves, Giants, Reds and Indians all have varying levels of interest in Bourn.

Friday night the Astros completed one of the larger deals of the summer when they shipped out fan favorite and two time All-Star Hunter Pence to the Phillies for a bevy of prospects.

Now, only hours away from the deadline, reports are surfacing that Houston is pressing hard to trade their remaining valuable pieces.  And as the market for outfielders continues to dry up, the Astros find themselves holding one of the more coveted players across the league in Bourn.

Bourn is having a career year for the Astros, posting a line of .303/.363/.403 on the season with 34 extra base hits, 64 runs scored and 39 stolen bases.

Over his 6 seasons in the majors, the 28 year old has been an above average fielder and has gotten on base at a clip of .338.  Bourn has also been a terror on the base paths, averaging over 50 steals a season from 2008-10.

Cincinnati showed interest in both Bourn and Pence Friday.  The club eventually was reported to have focused in on Bourn, only to find the Astros asking price was astronomically high for their center fielder.  They’ve since seemed to cool on the idea of acquiring the 28 year old, at least for the time being.

Washington was another team who’s been tied to the speedster, as the Nationals have been searching for a young center fielder.  But, it’s looking like the Nationals have honed in on Denard Span of the Twins instead.

Even after they acquired Kosuke Fukudome from the Cubs on Thursday, Cleveland has continued its search for outfield help.  The Indians were reported to be one of Bourn’s primary suitors early Saturday, but instead turned their attention to starter Ubaldo Jimenez who they were able to acquire from Colorado.

The Giants were confirmed to have interest in Bourn, but most of the trade talk ended up occurring between the Braves and Astros.  Atlanta has been looking to acquire a bat for some time now, and has missed out on Carlos Beltran and recently watched their rival Philadelphia obtain Pence.

Negotiations have gotten to the point where the teams have exchanged names, as the Braves are reportedly unwilling to include both Randall Delgado and Arodys Vizcaino in a deal for Bourn.  But still sources are saying that Atlanta is working hard to bring in the outfielder.

Meanwhile, Houston has said that it prefers prospects that are major league ready in return for Bourn.  This comes as no surprise as the Astros sent Pence to the Phillies for much younger talent and probably hope to obtain more of a ‘sure’ return for Bourn.

For more on the Astros, be sure to check out Climbing Tal’s Hill.