Report: Astros, Blue Jays, Royals most aggressive in pursuit of Reds' Cueto

After parts of eight seasons with Cincinnati Reds, veteran right-hander Johnny Cueto could spend the final few months of the 2015 campaign chasing a playoff berth with an American League club.

Cueto, an impending free agent, is widely expected to be moved ahead of the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, and, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays, and Kansas City Royals have pursued the 29-year-old most aggressively thus far.

Despite sitting atop the American League West for much of the first half of 2015, the Astros fell to second place in the division last week after dropping eight of their last 10 games. Amid inconsistent starting pitching, the club has been linked to Cueto for weeks, and one person connected to the team recently told Jon Heyman of CBS Sports "they know they need a starter."

"Obviously, there's been a lot of talk about our rotation; we've got some youth in our rotation," manager A.J. Hinch said in June. "We've got different styles. We've certainly had performances at different times. Again, I trust our guys. I like the guys we have, and if there's an upgrade that gives us a push then we'll address it accordingly. But my job is to believe in getting the most out of the players that we have."

Cueto, who owns a 2.73 ERA (140 ERA+) with a 0.90 WHIP over 17 starts this season, would also dramatically improve Toronto's rotation, which owns the third-worst ERA in the American League, and struggled over the last three months to support the league's most prolific offense.

“That’s probably more our priority,” Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos told MLB Network Radio three weeks ago. “We could use both, but if I did have to prioritize it I’d say rotation first, bullpen would be next.”

The Royals, meanwhile, own the best record in the American League thus far in spite of their starting rotation. Amid intermittent injuries to Yordano Ventura, Jason Vargas, and Danny Duffy, the rotation has stumbled to a 4.32 ERA, the fourth-worst mark in the AL, while striking out fewer batters than all but one team.