MLB Trade Rumors: Wade Davis, Jake Peavy and Francisco Liriano

During his Sunday Baseball Notes column, Nick Carfado of the Boston Globe touched on a trio of starting pitchers that he believes could be available this summer.  Carfado named White Sox starter Jake Peavy, left-hander Francisco Liriano of the Twins and Rays long man Wade Davis as arms that are likely to be on teams’ trade radars this July.

Carfado said that Jake Peavy is back on teams’ radars this year following his solid start to the 2012 season.  The former Cy Young winner is 2-0 over his first three starts with an ERA and WHIP of 2.75 and 0.814.  Peavy’s strikeout numbers are back up over 9.0/9 while he’s walked less than a batter per nine innings.

The right-hander finds himself in the last guaranteed year of his contract as he’s owed $17 million this season.  Whoever Peavy’s pitching for at the end of the year will hold a $22 million club option for 2013 that includes a $4 million buyout.

Entering 2012, Wade Davis had been a starter for the Tampa Bay Rays for the past two seasons, compiling 58 starts and 352 innings pitched.  However, because of the Rays bevy of young and talented arms, Davis started the season as Tampa Bay’s long man.  The right-hander has pitched well in this role (2.35 ERA, 1.174 WHIP, 7 2/3 IP) and Carfado thinks teams will be calling the Rays this summer to inquire about his services.

Francisco Liriano is the third player Carfado expects to garner interest this summer, but after his rocky start to the season, it’s unknown how much longer he’ll be starting for the Twins.  Over his first four starts, Liriano has allowed 20 earned runs over his 16 1/3 innings of work.  This has resulted in a record of 0-3, an 11.02 ERA and 2.327 WHIP with a disastrous SO/BB ratio of 0.92.

Entering the year, it was expected that the Twins would be shopping Liriano this summer with the hopes of obtaining a prospect or two.  Minnesota isn’t likely to re-sign him following the 2012 season, but interest in the left-hander will be slim if he’s unable to get back on track.

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