COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. − There are less than 10 shopping days remaining before the trade deadline with no one having any idea what’s actually available to buy.
Are All-Star first baseman and the ' veteran starters available, or are they staying put? Are the Rangers playing Texas Hold ‘Em or can you really bid on starters with glossy playoff resumes like Max Scherzer and Nathan Eovaldi? Will the Chicago Cubs be begging for offers for center fielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger or telling their loyal fanbase they’re all in? Never has there been seen so much uncertainty this close to the trade deadline, several executives say, with teams literally waiting until the final few hours before the July 30 deadline whether they plan to be buyers or sellers. “With just very few exceptions right now, almost everybody is in a hold," Jerry Dipoto, Mariners president of baseball operations, . “Because what you see when you pick up the paper and look at the standings, or flip on a site and check out where teams stand, almost everybody in baseball is within three games of a playoff spot it seems.
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“There are a lot of teams that have a chance at the halfway mark, and that’s going to make the trade deadline a little more complicated than it usually is.” Indeed, there are only five teams who are really out of playoff contention right now: the Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies, Miami Marlins, Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels. So how can you really buy when there’s no i.