The market for Moustakas seems to be heating up, but is there an obvious landing spot?

Mike Moustakas may have played in his last home game on Wednesday, as the Royals embark on a roadtrip that will take them through the July 31 trade deadline. He slammed his 20th home run of the year this week, which puts him sixth among all third basemen. And according to at least one source, he could be generating some new interest on the trade market.

We had previously looked a who was reported to be interested in Moustakas and what they might be willing to give up. One such team was the Atlanta Braves.

But not long after that.

Which makes sense, considering that going into Wednesday’s games, incumbent Braves third baseman Johan Camargo was out-hitting Moustakas, with a wRC+ of 117 to Moose’s 107. A potential Moustakas trade could allow Camargo to be a super-sub, playing all over the infield, but that would still cut into playing time for Moose, making him a semi-regular. And it doesn’t seem to be worth giving up a decent prospect for a semi-regular.

This seems to be the case for all the rumored destinations for Moustakas so far this summer. Boston already has Rafael Devers. Philadelphia has Maikel Franco. The Yankees even considered Moustakas for first base, but already have Greg Bird there. Moose may be an upgrade over these players, but not a major upgrade.

In fact, if you look at all the teams in contention, most have gotten pretty good prediction at third base. The two exception seem to be the Arizona Diamondbacks - who were missing Jake Lamb much of the year - and the Boston Red Sox.

Could we see Moustakas headed to Beantown soon? Well, maybe. The Red Sox are also looking for bullpen help, and could make that a higher priority.

Perhaps teams will have to be creative to fit Moustakas - who won’t cost much in terms of salary and offers good post-season experience - into their roster.

The Royals will have to hope teams want Moustakas badly enough to move other pieces around, because the third base market still seems small to me. But who knows, all it takes is one injury to create an opportunity.

The Royals may want to stand their ground publicly to give themselves leverage, but honestly, they need to take what they can get. We have less than a week before we find out what that might be. Stay tuned.