and Giants might not object to paying most of the $5M salary although it's owed for is it two more seasons?

Laureano would cost them $5M but only one year

Cade Smith, SP, Yankees
Not to be confused with Cade Smith of the Guardians, Smith looks to be another late-round steal for the Yankees, with a very exciting profile.

and for an update on another half of a namesake pair:
Logan Alllen the other is in the majors with Arizona pitching relief, he has one save, ERA 4.61 1.17 WHIP only 7 strikeouts in 14 innings.

Twins Looking Into Rental Starters
July 18th, 2024 at 10:43am CST • By Steve Adams

The 54-42 Twins enter the second half of the 2024 season sitting a dozen games over .500 and in possession of the second Wild Card spot in the American League. After falling behind both the Guardians and Royals early in the year, they’ve leapfrogged Kansas City (54-45) and sit a manageable four and a half games back of Cleveland (58-37) for the division lead. They’re lining up to act as clear buyers at the deadline, and Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that Minnesota would like to add another arm in the rotation — likely a rental.

The Twins announced this afternoon that they’ve placed shortstop Carlos Correa and right-hander Chris Paddack on the injured list. Correa heads to the 10-day IL due to right plantar fasciitis, retroactive to July 16. Paddack, meanwhile is heading to the 15-day IL (retroactive to July 17) with a right forearm strain. In corresponding moves, second baseman Edouard Julien has been recalled from Triple-A, while utility bat Austin Martin has been activated from the IL.

Can't hurt our cause. Twins have lost the first 2 after the break and are 5 behind. Royals won 2 and are 6 behind; KC has consistently beaten up on the WhiteSox which lets them stay close.

mlb.com story on trade rumors has nothing about the Guaridans other than including them on list of teams who want starting pitching.

As for our divsion rivals:

July 18: Twins reportedly considering rental starters
Count the Twins among the many teams in the market for a starting pitcher at this year’s Trade Deadline.
According to The Athletic's Dan Hayes (subscription required), Minnesota appears to have a particular interest in acquiring a rental starting pitcher.
There’s a limited market for such pitchers in 2024, but Hayes specifically mentions Blue Jays left-hander Yusei Kikuchi as a potential option. The Tigers’ Jack Flaherty, another pending free agent, could also be available.
With Sonny Gray departing as a free agent and Pablo López taking a step back from last year, the Twins’ rotation is tied for 23rd in MLB with a 4.49 ERA this season, up from 3.82 (second best in MLB) in 2023.
Minnesota could use some more stability at the back of its rotation heading into the second half, with Chris Paddack having an inconsistent campaign (4.88 ERA) in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery and rookie Simeon Woods Richardson poised to blow past last year’s total of 118 2/3 innings.
All of the Twins’ current starters are signed or controllable beyond 2024, so it makes sense why the team would go after a rental arm as opposed to a controllable one who is likely to cost more via trade.

July 13: Royals appear to be buyers, Nats sellers -- what's next?
The Royals and Nationals swung a trade on Saturday that sent right-handed reliever Hunter Harvey to Kansas City in exchange for the Royals' No. 2 prospect, third baseman Cayden Wallace, as well as their Competitive Balance A pick (No. 39 overall) in this year's MLB Draft, which begins Sunday.

The deal seems to cement the Royals (52-44, one game out of an AL Wild Card spot) as buyers and the Nats (44-52, six games out of an NL Wild Card spot) as sellers.

It's clear that if Kansas City is going to compete for the postseason down the stretch, it will need better relief pitching -- the Royals' relief corps entered the day with a 22nd-ranked 4.30 ERA this season -- and it began to address that with the Harvey acquisition. What might the Royals focus on between now and the July 30 Trade Deadline to further improve the club?

In addition to potentially adding more relief pitching, Kansas City may pursue an outfield upgrade -- entering Saturday, Royals outfielders had produced the lowest wRC+ (76) in the Majors this season. Some outfield names who appear to be on the trade market include Luis Robert Jr. of the White Sox, Brent Rooker of the A's, Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the Marlins, Taylor Ward and Kevin Pillar of the Angels, and others.

Is it time for struggling Phillies to press panic button?
By Mike Santa Barbara | Last updated 7/28/24
The Philadelphia Phillies have hit a bump in the road as July nears its close. But is this merely a slump or a reason to panic for the best team in baseball?

On the surface, it doesn't look great. The Phillies fell 4-3 on Sunday after blowing an early three-run lead against the Cleveland Guardians, leaving Philly with its fourth consecutive series defeat.

Since completing an impressive sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 11, the Phillies are just 4-8, losing two of three to the Oakland A's, Pittsburgh Pirates, Minnesota Twins and now Guardians. Over that stretch, they've struggled with consistency on the mound and at the plate.

The Phillies may not be playing well, but talk of a monumental collapse is a bit premature. For instance, they've had the lead in seven of their last eight losses and, while being outscored 60-51, a big chunk of those runs came in an 18-3 bashing at the hands of the A's.

In short, the Phillies simply aren't finishing. Whether the offense goes quiet after a hot start or the bullpen flounders, recently, nothing has gone right.

All-Star first baseman Bryce Harper didn't sound worried about the team's play, telling reporters on Sunday that "it's just part of the game."

"You know, as the season goes, you're going to have your ups and downs, obviously," Harper said, via NBC Sports Philadelphia. "We've had chances to win games, and we've been in leads and haven't been able to get the job done — just got to turn the page and understand we've got a long season to go."

Despite their recent downtrend, there's no reason for concern. Not yet, anyway.

The Phillies still own MLB's best record at 65-40. Likewise, they've lost little, if any, ground in the National League East, leading by 8.5 games over the second-place Atlanta Braves (56-48).

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What's quite clear is that there is no super dominant team in baseball this year.

Mariners Acquire Justin Turner

Cardinals Acquire Fedde, Pham; Dodgers Acquire Edman, Kopech In Three-Team Deal With White Sox

Pirates, Red Sox Swap Quinn Priester For Nick Yorke

Braves Interested In Garrett Crochet

Yankees Discussing Nestor Cortes In Trade Talks

Reds Acquire Ty France

Rangers Trade Michael Lorenzen To Royals

Cubs Acquire Isaac Paredes For Christopher Morel, Two Prospects

Rangers Acquire Carson Kelly

Padres To Acquire Jason Adam From Rays

Kodai Senga Likely To Miss Rest Of Regular Season Due To “High Grade” Calf Strain

Cardinals Designate Giovanny Gallegos For Assignment

Brewers Reinstate Devin Williams From 60-Day Injured List

Mets Acquire Jesse Winker

Yankees Acquire Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Phillies Acquire Carlos Estevez

Red Sox Acquire Danny Jansen

Mike Clevinger To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery

Brewers Acquire Nick Mears From Rockies

A’s Reluctant To Trade Brent Rooker

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Apparently NYY is hot after Flaherty. We may need to look elsewhere, although we have more to offer n prospects than they do. Tigers will want talent not cash.

Dayvision DeLosSantos swapped by AZ to FLA

1 hour 5 minutes to go
Neither Flaherty nor Quantrill has been traded. Yet

Dodgers got Flaherty.

Rockies didn't deal Quantrill. why not?