Carlos Gomez trade rumors: Brewers center fielder not just drawing interest from contenders

The Brewers have a lot of decisions to make as the trade deadline nears. Among them is whether they will trade Carlos Gomez now or play out the rest of the season and re-evaluate before 2016.

To trade Gomez, Milwaukee will, of course, need someone willing to part with what's necessary to acquire him. According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, teams looking into Gomez include those that are not immediately contending right now.

That's great news for the Brewers as it opens up their options significantly. Right now, Gomez is among the most valuable commodities on the market as an excellent hitter who plays great defense in center field and is signed to a reasonable contract through 2016. Having more teams asking about him creates more of a demand creates a greater likelihood that Milwaukee is able to get a substantial return for Gomez.

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Among those who have reached out to the Brewers, according to Rosenthal, are the Rangers, Indians, Giants and Astros. Also known to have shown interest from past reports are the Orioles, the Mets and the Twins.

The Rangers are in this weird state of buying and selling -- they are looking at dealing Yovani Gallardo and Wandy Rodriguez, but are also looking at buying Cole Hamels and Carlos Gomez. Basically, looking to acquire players who will be around into 2016 when they could contend again (Texas is currently 7.5 games back of the division lead). The Indians are in a similar spot where they're last in the AL Central but are not a bad team and could look to restock and compete next year.

The Twins, Mets, Astros and Giants are all teams with strong hopes of making the playoffs this year and all could use a nice offensive upgrade in the outfield. The Orioles are hovering around .500 and could end up being light sellers instead, with Chris Davis among those that could be dealt.

According to Rosenthal, the Astos and Giants don't have especially strong interest, though they have been sniffing around. The Giants farm system may not be strong enough to bring in someone of Gomez's caliber while the Astros are a surprise candidate that may prefer to just keep their young prospects in hopes that they'll be a perennial contender.

Gomez hasn't quite hit as well this year as he has the past two seasons, but a .266/.334/.431 line is nothing to scoff at from a Gold Glove center fielder. And a down year doesn't diminish the fact that he had a combined .284/.347/.491 line from 2013-14. And though Gomez hasn't been stealing many bags this year, he's still well-capable of 20-30 steals.

Gomez truly is a five-tool player, and the Brewers will rightfully be asking for a ton in return for dealing him. With so many teams showing at least some interest, Milwaukee might part with their center fielder sooner than later. There's less than a week to go until the deadline, so interested parties will have to make their moves quickly.