Who’s Next on the Trade Block?
Now that the best player in the trade market has been shipped off to the Los Angeles Dodgers, teams who were interested in Manny Machado must now turn their attention elsewhere to improve their playoff odds.
With 17 teams currently within six games of a playoff spot, we should see quite a bit of activity before the non-waiver Trade Deadline less than two weeks away. Only 10 of those teams will win the division or get a Wild Card spot. The Dodgers have thrown down the gauntlet and other playoff contenders must now make improvements or risk being left out of the playoffs.
As there always is at this time of year, there should be a lot of relief pitchers traded. A couple years back the Yankees did this to perfection and turned Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman into Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier—two young, financially controllable top prospects.
Let’s take a look at some players who should be traded to help a contender and stock up the farm system:
Zach Britton – Orioles closer
Maybe the most surprising thing about the Machado trade, besides the fact that the Orioles got a solid return (which is very un-Orioles), is that they didn’t also ship Britton to the Dodgers—who are in the market for an additional reliever. The team made a point of separating the two players in trade talks to maximize the return for each (again, very un-Orioles). Britton returned from the disabled list on June 12th and has started to look more and more like his old dominant self. They won’t get a Torres or Frazier for him, but a solid prospect and a lottery ticket low minors guy would be a nice return.
Nathan Eovaldi – Rays starting pitcher
Here’s another guy who has been solid since his return from injury. In nine starts since returning from Tommy John surgery, Eovaldi’s performances have varied from excellent to brutal. He allowed eight runs in a start before the All-Star break, but before that, he’d allowed two earned runs in 19 innings. The Rays have a winning record, but they’re in the American League and it’s going to take more than a winning record to get in the playoffs. If he can stay healthy, Eovaldi would be a nice fourth starter for a contender and the Rays would be smart to move him before he gets injured again.
Mike Moustakas – Royals third baseman
The Royals have already begun the long and winding road of rebuilding. While they do have some nice young players, Moustakas is not one of them. He’s on a one-year deal with Kansas City because no one else wanted him last off-season, but he has kept up his solid offense and solid defense. The price shouldn’t be very high, but he’s the kind of player that be a sneaky good improvement. The Red Sox’s Rafael Devers is struggling a bit (and injured) and Moustakas could slot in there and then do some DH work. Also a nice fit for the Atlanta Braves.
J.A. Happ – Blue Jays starting pitcher
Happ is in the final year of his contract and is possibly the best available starting pitcher. That’s not saying much, because obviously teams don’t want to trade away good pitchers, even if they are out of the playoff hunt. But there’s always a demand for starting pitching at least just to eat up innings. The Blue Jays also have Josh Donaldson lingering. If he can get healthy, the team could get a solid return and he would easily be the best player (hitting and defense) on the market.
Brad Hand – Padres closer
GM A.J. Preller holds a few nice pieces in a pitching-starved market. Relievers will be traded and the Padres are in a position to trade as many as three. Hand is signed through 2021 and has been excellent, so the price will not be cheap. Now we’re talking Torres/Frazier, top 20 prospect stuff. The Padres also have Kirby Yates and Craig Stammen who aren’t the ace closer that Hand is, but who could improve any bullpen they join.
[Editor’s Note: Brad Hand was traded on Thursday to the Cleveland Indians for top 10 prospect Francisco Mejia.]
