Cincinnati Reds trade rumors - Yankees, A’s, Braves interested in Tanner Roark

Tanner Roark has been exactly what the Cincinnati Reds hoped he’d be since coming to them from the Washington Nationals last winter in a Tanner-swap including fireballing reliever Tanner Rainey. The burly righty has pitched to a solid 3.95 ERA and 115 ERA+, the latter number right in-line with the 32 year old’s career mark.

But with Roark set to reach free agency at season’s end and the Reds stuck in 4th place in the National League Central, that makes him quite the obvious piece for other teams to want to pluck by tomorrow’s trade deadline. And as MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reported earlier today, each of the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, and Oakland Athletics have eyes on potentially acquiring Roark.

Considering the Reds have had a rather rock-solid rotation all season long, it’s also not odd to envision them being willing to trade from their greatest source of depth. Now that they’ve welcomed Alex Wood back to the rotation and with the likes of Lucas Sims, Sal Romano, and an eventually healthy Tyler Mahle all around, flipping Roark wouldn’t even necessarily mean the Reds were punting on this season, either.

The pitching market has been moving at a rather glacial pace thus far, with Marcus Stroman, Homer Bailey (!!), and Andrew Cashner the highest-profile movers to date. So far, the returns for them have been incredibly underwhelming, meaning the Reds might not choose to budge unless bowled over by an offer. Of course, all it takes is one team to do the bowling, and voila!