Sports Time Radio

As we inch closer and closer to the trade deadline in Major League Baseball there is a lot of talk about this player going here and that player going there, but with the exception of Joc Pederson being traded by the Chicago Cubs to the Atlanta Braves no player has gone anywhere just yet.

Now if you’re a contending team r you think you’re a contending team you’d think you would want to make a deal sooner rather than later. Wouldn’t it make sense to have the player that you acquired for as long as possible? Why wait until the last day of the trade deadline unless you think you’re going to get a better deal on a player you think you need.

Of course the other side of that baseball is. With the new wild card format there are more teams that may think they’re contenders and they want to wait as long as possible to see if they’ll be in the playoff race before they deal anybody.

That seems to be the approach the Washington Nationals are taking. General Manager Mike Rizzo suggested that how the Nationals play this week will decide what direction the team will go heading into the trade deadline. You have to think that every team in the National League East with the exception of the Miami Marlins feels the same way as Rizzo does. I’m sure there are plenty of teams that are looking at this week the exact same way as the Nationals are.

Now I mentioned the Marlins, but you have to figure there are some other teams that understand they’re out of it this season and our open to making trades. Of course it takes two to tango and maybe the teams that are interested in making trades don’t quite fit with what a contending team is looking for and that team in contention is willing to wait that extra week to see if a team that has a player who is a better fit falls out of the playoffs race.

You have to figure that teams like the Baltimore Orioles, Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies and possibly the St. Louis Cardinals would be willing to work out a deal with a contender. That’s a lot of quality players that could be available on the trade market; so will have to see who ends up where when it’s all said and done.

Now of course certain names will always come up at this time of the year, but there has also been reports that some teams are asking way to high of a price for their players that still have some controllable years on their contracts. That means a team has to make the decision if that player is the one piece they need to put them over the top and possibly win you a World Series.

Who knows when will start to see some player movement via trade, but you have to think once the first couple are announced we’re going to see a whole lot more deals follow. You would think that if one contender makes a move another contender would want to pick up someone to stay on the level as that first team.

Now remember July 31st is it when it comes to trades. There are no more waiver deals, but there are still a few ways to get players from one team to another, but it’s a lot riskier to try and put a player through waivers and hope that the team that wants him gets him. It would be much easier to just make a trade for that player.

Switching up sports here. Training camps are close to opening in the National Football League and while it still hasn’t been made clear if Aaron Rodgers will show up when the Green Bay Packers open their training camp Rodgers did drop some hints that he’ll report.

Now he had all heard or read that the Packers had offered Rodgers a contract extension this off season, but he turned it down. Now we didn’t get very many details on that contract until yesterday.

The Packers offered Rodgers a two year contract extension that would’ve kept hi with Green Bay for five more seasons. The deal also would’ve made Rodgers the highest paid quarterback as well as player in the NFL.

Now what makes this tough to read into is the fact that in the NFL they have non-guaranteed contracts. If the Packers had offered Rodgers a two year extension at say $50 million dollars a season that was non-guaranteed; yes it would technically be a contract offer, but it wouldn’t mean very much. Especially to a player like Rodgers.

So Green Bay’s training camp opens July 25th in De Pere Wisconsin for Rookies and veterans. What do you think; will Rodgers be at camp on the 25th?

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