There is some stiff competition within the American League East division standings, and now that aggressiveness may spill over off the diamond as Johnny Cueto is in the sights of three of the teams.
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The New York Post reported that the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays all scouted the Cincinnati Reds ace's last outing against the Washington Nationals in the nation's capital on Tuesday and all three teams appear to be interested in him.
Cueto didn't make it a wasted trip as the scouts watched him twirl a complete game, two-hit shutout against National League East-leading Washington in a 5-0 win for the Reds.
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The AL East is a tight race right now as the Yankees (45-39) entered play Thursday with a 2.5-game lead over the second place Orioles (43-42) and third place Blue Jays (44-43). The Tampa Bay Rays (43-44) are only 3.5 games out while the Boston Red Sox (41-45) sit just five out in the basement.
#Yankees #Orioles #Bluejays had scouts in to watch Cueto last night #Reds
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) July 8, 2015
All three of these teams are expected to look to shore up their rotations heading into the second half, especially now that the non-waiver MLB trade deadline is just over three weeks away.
Cueto is set to become a free agent at the end of the season and is making $10 million, but he could be worth the risk of being a rental player for a postseason-bound team with the kind of year he's having.
Cueto, 29, is up for the Final Vote competition in the All-Star Game at his current home field of Great American Ball Park and he ranks second in the NL in WHIP (0.87) and batting average allowed (.190, tied). The right-hander is also tied for fourth in the league with 113.2 innings pitched.
The Reds could conceivably trade him instead of risking losing him for nothing, especially since they came into Thursday with a 35-44 record and were 15 games behind the NL Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals. Cincinnati is also seven games out of the second and final wild-card spot in the NL.
Cueto is 6-5 this season with a 2.51 ERA and 111 strikeouts while he is 91-62 with a 3.21 ERA in 210 starts in his career.
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