5 teams out to buy starters

THE TEAMS being described by executives as most aggressive for starting pitching going into Monday’s non-waiver trade deadline are the Marlins, Orioles, Blue Jays, Pirates and Giants.

The Marlins and Orioles are possibly the most gung-ho of the group, but also viewed as having the least desirable prospects. The Blue Jays also are not considered to have a strong system, and their new front office is more conservative than under previous GM Alex Anthopoulos, who was the most active trader last season and gave up big pieces of Toronto’s system.

The Giants also are not considered to have a deep system. But in the time Brian Sabean has been a major executive for the club, San Francisco almost has always made pre-deadline deals to upgrade the roster when contending.

The Pirates are the wild card, in part because being eight games out in the NL Central (through Tuesday) means they are playing almost fully for the wild card. However, they have desirable farm talent. But for a team that has to watch every penny, how much of their good talent would they be willing to expend to be involved in a potential oneand-done game for the fourth straight year?

Indications continue that the White Sox are not going to part with Chris Sale or Jose Quintana and the Rays are asking huge prices on Chris Archer, Matt Moore, etc., because all are under control beyond this year and could be shopped again in the offseason, coinciding with one of the worst free-agent starting pitching classes in history.

That leaves a next level of starter available. Kansas City’s Edinson Volquez and San Diego’s Andrew Cashner are the most certain starters to be dealt by the deadline. The Yankees’ Ivan Nova, Philadelphia’s Jeremy Hellickson and Seattle’s Wade Miley are among other potential starters in play.