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Report: Royals' Davis could be trade chip

John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

There's a dark horse in the arms race for a closer.

As it stands, the top three closers available on the free-agent market are Aroldis Chapman, Mark Melancon, and Kenley Jansen.

But with Chapman likely returning to the New York Yankees, Melancon on the verge of signing with the San Francisco Giants, and Jansen also reportedly near a deal, the Kansas City Royals have a trade chip that's drawing some attention in the heated market for a closer.

Right-hander Wade Davis is being made available through trade, according to Yahoo's Jeff Passan.

An obvious candidate to work something out for Davis would be the Washington Nationals, though Jon Morosi of FOX Sports indicates the Chicago Cubs are among the teams checking in on Davis.

After losing Melancon, the Nationals are poised to make a World Series run, but need a back-end guy. Here's Davis, an eight-year veteran with the ability to close out games in Washington.

The 31-year-old has been an All-Star the past two seasons, and last year pitched to a 1.87 ERA over 43 1/3 innings of work, striking out 47 batters in the process.

It's unclear what the Royals are asking for in return, though the Nationals have a bevy of pitching prospects.

The Cubs would also make sense for Davis, as he played for current Cubs manager Joe Maddon in his Tampa Bay Rays days.

Davis would also represent an upgrade on current Cubs closer Hector Rondon, so assuming Chicago can't land Chapman or Jansen, Davis could be next on its list.

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