The Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Angels entered Monday's games leading their respective divisions in the American League.
Which makes them teams to watch as Major League Baseball's nonwaiver trade deadline, the last chance for teams to acquire players without needing them to clear waivers, approaches at 3 p.m. Friday.
Class AA affiliates Northwest Arkansas (Royals) and Arkansas (Angels) are bracing themselves for an unpredictable week.
"I try to use it as motivation," Arkansas Manager Bill Richardson said, before his Travelers defeated the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 4-3 in the first of a three-game series Monday night at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock. "Like, hey, even though we're in Little Rock, there's some people watching you every day."
Richardson and Naturals Manager Vance Wilson said they approach the uncertainty as another opportunity to teach. Both will guide their teams through a week in which some players could hear their names connected to trade rumors and then end up packing their bags.
The Naturals' clubhouse has already been affected. Wilson learned at about 1 p.m. Sunday that his starting pitcher for that day, left-hander Cody Reed, was being sent to the Cincinnati Reds along with Class AAA players Brandon Finnegan and John Lamb for Reds ace Johnny Cueto.
"You have to realize what we have to do at the major-league level, and that's what we're here for," Wilson said. "On the business side, it was an unbelievable pickup for us."
The Angels made a move Monday afternoon when they traded infielder Josh Rutledge, who was at Class AAA Salt Lake, to the Boston Red Sox for outfielder Shane Victorino.
Various media reports had the Angels interested in more outfield help. Possible trade pieces on the Travs roster include starting pitchers Chris Ellis and Nate Smith or shortstop Eric Stamets, ranked by Baseball America as the Angels' No. 5, 14 and 23 prospects, respectively.
Stamets, who went 1 for 2 and scored a run in Monday's victory, the fifth in a row for the Travelers, said he and his teammates block out the chatter as best they can.
"It's on TV and it's on social media, but when we go out and play, it's the same game," he said. "It's always in the back of your mind and you're always thinking about it. But it's something you can't really put too much [thought] on."
Richardson said it's difficult to predict what the big-league team is going to do because of the Angels' recent front-office change. General Manager Jerry Dipoto, who orchestrated previous trades, resigned last month, and this year's moves will be made by interim General Manager Bill Stoneman.
"I don't have a good feel for what's going to happen now," Richardson said. "I know that they have a pretty good pulse on their weaknesses so, why wouldn't they. Especially if you don't know the future. You might as well go for now."
Wilson's sixth season as a manager in the Royals' system is different because of the big-league club's newfound position as contenders. The Royals reached the World Series for the first time in 29 years last season and this year have baseball's second-best record.
"The culture has changed," Wilson said. "The expectation is that we're going to win all year."
Media reports had the Royals interested in Oakland utility player Ben Zobrist and Miami infielder Martin Prado after trading for Cueto on Sunday. The Naturals possess attractive trade bait, with four of the Royals' top five prospects on the roster: shortstop Raul Mondesi (No. 1 according to Baseball America), pitcher Sean Manaea (No. 3), pitcher Kyle Zimmer (No. 4) and third baseman Hunter Dozier (No. 5).
Wilson said he can only keep doing the job he was hired to do.
"I think we control and tell them what to do enough in their development," he said. "So, we just leave it to the game and get them ready to play. You see a guy get called in and he gets traded, he gets traded like Reed did yesterday."
Sports on 07/28/2015