MLB Trade Rumors: Adam Jones On The Block, Bryce Harper Likely Not Being Dealt

With the 2018 MLB trade deadline quickly approaching, there are plenty of rumors flying around the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. Neither local baseball team has lived up to expectations, leading to speculation that the faces of both the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals could be dealt.

It’s a much more likely scenario in Baltimore’s case, given that they are the league’s worst team and have already traded one star. On pace to win fewer than 50 games, the Orioles dealt Manny Machado to the Los Angeles Dodgers during the All-Star break, and the team is now discussing trades regarding Adam Jones.

Jones has spent a decade in Baltimore and no player has been more important to the team during that time. He’s a five-time All-Star and a consistent performer, though he’s become expendable now that he’s heading into free agency when the Orioles have no chance to make the playoffs.

Bryce Harper is the face of the Nationals and without a contract for the 2019 season. Along with Machado, he’ll be the most sought-after free agent this winter. Machado was the center of trade rumors last offseason, but Harper was expected to remain with the team all season long and compete for a World Series.

But the odds of the Nationals winning a championship are looking slimmer by the day. They are seven games of out first place in the NL East and trail six teams for the second wild-card spot. Washington’s dwindling World Series hopes and the notion that Harper will likely leave the Nationals for a big payday after this season has led to some believing the organization should explore trading their superstar.

Would Washington actually trade Harper like Baltimore dealt Machado? The Orioles received five prospects in return for the shortstop, even though Machado doesn’t appear likely to re-sign with the Dodgers after this season.

“My first response is [Harper] is part of the furniture, a superstar who we drafted, signed, developed and had blossomed into a star with our uniform on,” Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo told The New York Post’s Joel Sherman when asked about the possibility of trading Harper. “Something extreme would have to happen for us to consider moving him.”

Harper is still considered to be among the best players in baseball, though he hasn’t exactly played like one in 2018. Despite leading the NL with 25 home runs and 80 walks, Harper is hitting a career-low .216. Harper doesn’t even have a top-45 OPS in the majors, and he’s on pace to set a career-high in strikeouts by the middle of August.

It wouldn’t be shocking to see Harper and the Nationals quickly turn things around. The 25-year-old was having an MVP-caliber 2017 season before getting hurt, and he won the award just two years prior.

“The fact that we are a veteran team that has been through this before helps,” Rizzo said. “We certainly are not underestimating the two young, talented teams in front of us. But there is a feeling in that clubhouse that we can win this division. We are back-to-back champs and have won four of the last six. We are the team to beat. We are the champs until someone knocks us off.”

The Nationals have won the NL East in four of the last six years with no playoff series victories to show for it. Before the Orioles finished with 75 wins in 2017, both Washington and Baltimore had gone five straight years without having a losing record.