Moore not too concerned with trade rumors
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ST. PETERSBURG -- Rays lefty Matt Moore's name continues to pop up amid the many trade rumors circulating with less than a month to go before the Aug. 1 non-waiver Trade Deadline.
To date, teams reported to be interested in Moore include the Red Sox, Rangers, Yankees, Orioles, Royals and Astros.
Moore, who returned from Tommy John surgery last season, scuffled earlier this season. After posting a 1-2 record with a 3.66 ERA in April, Moore went 1-1 with a 7.36 ERA in five May starts. Lately, he is trending in the right direction. He's 2-2 with a 3.72 ERA in five June starts and has pitched six-plus innings in each of those starts.
Moore has a club-friendly contract that allows the team to control him for three additional seasons for $26 million.
Sunday morning, Moore was asked if he was in tune to the rumors.
"I think at this point it's kind of hard not to be, with friends and people who are paying attention to things like that a little bit more than I am, obviously," Moore said. "That's external.
"There's things that are are going on in our clubhouse that are on the forefront of my mind right now, and that's just to get us back into a good place, which is winning more games than I'm losing. That other stuff, I still feel very comfortable right now. I'm not really sure what's going on there. I don't feel like anything's going to happen, to be honest with you."
Currently, the Rays' starting rotation includes Moore, Chris Archer, Jake Odorizzi, Drew Smyly and Blake Snell. Residing in the bullpen are two other qualified starters in Erasmo Ramirez and Matt Andriese. And Alex Cobb and Chase Whitley will be returning from Tommy John surgery in August. In addition, pushing from down on the farm system are the likes of Jaime Schultz, Taylor Guerrieri and Jacob Faria.
Given that inventory of starters, coupled with the Rays' recent slide, it's easy to project that some of those in the above-mentioned group could be wearing different uniforms by the time the Trade Deadline expires early next month.