The rumor mill is heating up two months into the MLB season, and one name has emerged as the “most likely” to be switching uniforms.
Appearing on “Foul Territory” on Wednesday, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal said Marlins starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo is a virtual lock to be traded between now and July 30.
“Luzardo to me is the single most likely player to be traded,” Rosenthal said. “The Marlins are going to keep going. They traded [Luis Arraez], they are going to trade Luzardo as long as he stays healthy. He had that little flare-up physically earlier but he’s gone.”
This comes a few weeks after The Post’s Jon Heyman reported that Luzardo was one of the most coveted players in the game.
After making the playoffs last season, the Marlins have started a potential bigger sell-off, trading away the two-time batting champion Arraez for reliever Woo-Suk Go and three prospects in early May.
Heading into Thursday’s play, Miami is sitting at 20-37, the worst record in the National League.
Luzardo, who is under team control through the 2026 season, would be an immediate upgrade to almost every rotation across baseball.
The 26-year-old southpaw is 2-4 with a 4.18 ERA with 50 strikeouts over 51 ⅔ innings in nine starts this season.
Luzardo had the best season of his young career in 2023, posting a 3.58 ERA while striking out 208 in just 178 ⅔ innings.
Rosenthal also named Mets first baseman Pete Alonso as a player to watch as the deadline approaches.
An impending free agent, Alonso’s future in Queens has been one of the biggest storylines for the Mets this season.
“[The Mets] have been a pretty extreme disappointment,” Rosenthal said. “He’s a free agent at the end of the season. I would think that if they’re out of contention [and] if they cannot sign him because he’s a Scott Boras client who is unlikely to sign an extension, they have to listen … He would probably be the best slugger available.”
