MLB Rumors: Red Sox and Yankees fight over CJ Abrams, Brewers up for Peralta return

The MLB trade deadline is less than a week away. While only one major trade has taken place to date — that's the Red Sox acquiring Curtis Mead from the Nationals for Connelly Early — the stove is starting to heat up. Whether it be the latest Tarik Skubal rumblings, in that the Rays are interested and the Tigers could consider keeping him based on limited returns, or a possible CJ Abrams trade to the Red sox or Yankees, there is no shortage of discussion topics in Tuesday's MLB trade rumors roundup.

Could the Brewers trade for familiar face Freddy Peralta?

Last winter, the New York Mets traded for then-Milwaukee Brewers ace Freddy Peralta. In return, the Brewers landed Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat. The early returns on that trade from both sides leaves a lot to be desired. The Mets are nowhere near the postseason, while Williams and Sproat, both top-100 prospects at one point or another, haven't achieved their potential.

Per ESPN's Jeff Passan, a Peralta reunion could be on the horizon. No team is more familiar with what makes Peralta tick than the Brewers, and they are in desperate need of rotation depth behind Jacob Misiorowski, as Quinn Priester and Brandon Woodruff are out long term. Peralta has a 4.99 ERA on the season, well above his career average of 3.74.

The Brewers starting rotation is the best in baseball per fWAR. They also have a combined 3.42 ERA. Again, they do not need to add Peralta. But, as they found at last postseason, they can ill-afford to run into an offensive juggernaut without a backup plan. The Dodgers, Braves and Phillies are lurking.

The Tigers may not be able to trade Tarik Skubal

Make no mistake about it, the Tigers can trade Tarik Skubal if they want. Unfortunately, Detroit has lost three straight games and in the process has forfeited their leverage. At seven games under .500 as of this writing, contenders know the writing is on the wall for Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris. He can either trade Skubal, or watch the two-time AL Cy Young winner leave this coming winter.

Detroit's asking price for Skubal is said to be somewhere in the vicinity or one young, controllable starting pitcher, along with significant prospect capital. Yet, with just a few days left until the trade deadline, Harris has been unable to stir up the kind of bidding war he was hoping for. These days, Detroit is left negotiating against itself, which is what Passan was getting at when he made this comment.

What the Tigers can do is keep Skubal in hopes of making a run in August and September. If that run happens, great. If not, the Tigers can still extend Skubal a qualifying offer. Then, should Skubal leave in free agency, Detroit will at the very least receive some form of draft compensation in return. It is not the return Harris has in mind, but it might be better than some of the offers he receives by Aug. 3.

Red Sox and Yankees fighting over a CJ Abrams trade

No hitter is as scorching hot as CJ Abrams in all of baseball. Abrams has 27 home runs through July to pair with a 156 OPS+. While the Washington Nationals already traded Curtis Mead to the Boston Red Sox, they may not be done yet, as Abrams value is at an all-time high. I would advise against that given Abrams has a few years left on his contract and the Nationals aren't far from postseason contention, but what do I know?

As far as possible suitors for Abrams, the Yankees and Red Sox have emerged as looming favorites, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The Red Sox are all in after going on a 15-game winning streak in July. Boston has a hole at shortstop thanks to Trevor Story's injury. The Yankees, which feature the lackluster Anthony Volpe at short, could very well try and upgrade at the position as well.

Abrams is the type of player who could be the difference between winning a postseason series and losing it, especially with both Boston and New York poised to play in a Wild Card series. Should they match up against each other once again, whichever team acquires Abrams, who is among the frontrunners for NL MVP alongside Shohei Ohtani and Pete Crow-Armstrong, may indeed have the edge.

More MLB news and analysis:

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow