Possible Trade Partners, Packages If Red Sox Trade Yoenis Cespedes

It appears as if Yoenis Cespedes' time in Boston may last only two months.

Ever since he was traded from the Oakland Athletics to the Red Sox in exchange for Jon Lester, rumors have persisted that he could be on the move after the season. Developments since the left fielder's acquisition have done nothing to dispel the thought that Cespedes could be traded to his third team in less than six months.

Bill Madden of the New York Daily News says Cespedes is not happy with playing in Boston and has proven so uncoachable that all Red Sox coaches "hate" him.

Madden also adds that the Red Sox originally planned to attempt to ink the Cuban to a four- or five-year deal and had already opened negotiations with Cespedes' agent, Andy Katz. However, Cespedes then switched over to Roc Nation, which is expected to advise Cespedes to go to free agency and pursue a massive deal. It's exactly what Roc Nation did a year ago with their signature client, Robinson Cano.

Add in the 29-year-old's resistance to the idea of moving to right field in order for the Red Sox to leverage his arm and free up left field for Allen Craig, as The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo writes, and it's easy to see why general manager Ben Cherington and Co. might have had enough of Cespedes.

If Cespedes is to be traded, where could he go? What could Boston receive in return? Here are five realistic trade packages for Cespedes.

(One caveat first. We are talking realistic trade packages, so you won't find a package for Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins on here. Not only have the Marlins indicated they plan to offer him a long-term extension this winter, according to The Associated Press, but Cespedes' value just isn't that high. He only has one year left on his contract, will not be eligible to be tendered a qualifying offer and will be looking for a major deal in free agency. All of these add up to an unlikely Stanton/Cespedes deal—not impossible, but not realistic.)

Replacing Taveras in St. Louis

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Oscar Taveras' untimely death robbed baseball of a star.

In the wake of Oscar Taveras' shocking death, the attention should rightly be focused on mourning the passing of a 22-year-old who had a promising future ahead of him.

At some point, however, the Cardinals will need to get to work and figure out how to replace him, just like they had to figure out how to replace Josh Hancock in 2007 and Darryl Kile in 2002 following their untimely deaths.

As Paul White and Jorge L. Ortiz wrote for USA Today, the Cardinals were planning on having Taveras compete with Randal Grichuk for the job in right field in 2015. The Cardinals can't just give the job to Grichuk outright in the wake of Taveras' death; he hit .245/.278/.400 in 116 plate appearances at the major-league level in 2014. The 23-year-old may benefit from more minor-league seasoning.

Further, the Cardinals could benefit from adding some power to the lineup, especially in the wake of trading Allen Craig to the Red Sox at the trade deadline. Cespedes offers power in spades along with strong defense, which could make him a good fit for St. Louis.

In exchange for Cespedes, the Cardinals could entertain sending Carlos Martinez to Boston. Martinez originally signed with the Red Sox before seeing the deal voided due to his signing under a false name, as Alex Speier of WEEI noted. While Martinez has pitched out of the bullpen the last two seasons, he'd still be considered a front-line starting pitcher if he could only get a chance in a rotation somewhere.

While Boston has a plethora of top pitching prospects who all project to be in the middle or back of the rotation, Martinez would give Boston a still-young (23 years old) player who could emerge as an ace.

Of course, Cespedes' market is depressed by the inability to tender a qualifying offer at the end of the year, so to get anyone truly notable, the Red Sox would have to add to Cespedes. Looking a couple years down the line, the Cardinals will be in need of infielders, particularly at shortstop and third base. Adding in Sean Coyle, who hit .295/.371/.512 in Double-A this past season, would likely encourage the Cardinals to do a deal. 

Trade: OF Yoenis Cespedes, 2B/3B Sean Coyle to St. Louis for SP/RP Carlos Martinez.

Finding a New Closer by Way of Kansas City

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Could Wade Davis close for Boston in 2015?

Could Boston wrest one of Kansas City's vaunted relievers in exchange for Cespedes?

As Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes, the Royals are looking at paying north of $15 million for two relievers. Admittedly, they're strong relievers, but can the Royals really allocate that kind of money to two players who will be lucky to combine for 130 total innings pitched in 2015? GM Dayton Moore says "in the immediate, it works." However, he goes on to say that he has to "analyze our roster from an economic standpoint every year."

That sure sounds like someone who is aware that the current iteration cannot last.

Davis is a valuable trade target to teams in need of a closer. While the Royals already have one in Holland, other teams would be willing to pay Davis what his salary calls for, especially since Davis' contract is essentially three one-year deals.

The former Ray signed a contract with Tampa Bay before the 2011 season that was structured for a starter. Thus, his price tag over the years of his deal is climbing higher than it should for a reliever, but deep-pocketed teams won't mind. Davis has three straight club options attached to his deal for $7 million, $8 million and $10 million, respectively.

Those are salaries you pay for closers. But for setup men?

Moore could leverage Davis' scorching season and introduction to the national stage this October and turn him into Cespedes, who could replace Nori Aoki in the lineup and add an injection of power that Kansas City is missing. Clearly, it didn't need that power all season in order to get to the World Series, but don't forget that the Royals had to fight until the final day to get into the playoffs, and no one gave the team a chance in October.

Adding a cleanup man who can drive the ball over the fence would be a big boon to Kansas City's chances of getting back to the playoffs in 2015.

Trade: OF Yoenis Cespedes to Kansas City for RP Wade Davis.

Out of Cincinnati, Could Latos Rebound in Boston?

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Could Mat Latos rebound in Boston?

This offseason, the Reds are expected to entertain offers for Johnny Cueto and Mat Latos, with the latter the most likely to be moved, according to Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal.

The Red Sox would be wise to jump on a 26-year-old with a career 3.34 ERA and 3.41 FIP in 153 career starts. While he took a step back in 2014 by posting a career-low 6.5 strikeouts per nine innings, no other indicators suggest he's incapable of emerging into a front-line ace.

Latos' strikeout rate issues were likely due to a drop of his average fastball velocity from 92.5 mph in 2013 to 90.7 in 2014, but how much of that is a change in his talent and how much due to an elbow injury that caused Latos to miss half the season?

Further, the Reds have to watch their payroll. With Cueto and Latos likely to command deals higher than Homer Bailey's six-year, $105 million pact inked with Cincinnati prior to the 2014 season, the Reds are almost forced to deal one of the two.

As Jayson Stark of ESPN tweeted at the time, the Reds dangled Latos at the trade deadline, so he's certainly available.

While Latos is set to become a free agent after the 2015 season, the Red Sox have the financial resources to sign him to a long-term deal, the first two years of which would come when the right-hander is still in his 20s. That's an attractive proposition for Boston.

Meanwhile, the Reds sorely need offense and will be in need of an outfielder to put into the lineup every day. Cespedes seems like a logical fit there, but due to both Latos' quality and the inability to offer Cespedes a qualifying offer, the Red Sox will have to add to Cespedes in order to get Latos. 

The Red Sox are not likely to make Henry Owens or Eduardo Rodriguez available in this type of trade, but 2014 breakout Brian Johnson, who ranks No. 6 in the organization on SoxProspects.com's top prospects list, might just do it for Cincinnati. In addition, the Red Sox would pick up outfielder Chris Heisey, who could slide into a backup outfield role in Boston, primarily in center field.

Trade: OF Yoenis Cespedes, SP Brian Johnson to Cincinnati for SP Mat Latos, OF Chris Heisey

Mets Could Give Up Wheeler for Power

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ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 19: Zack Wheeler #45 of the New York Mets pitches in the first inning to the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field on September 19, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

The Mets are flush in young pitching and are willing to trade some of their arms to get some offense into New York, as The Star Ledger's Dave Hutchinson wrote back in July. Meanwhile, the Mets need power hitting and fast, as Mark Simon of ESPNNewYork.com wrote. Who better than Cespedes to fill that void?

Sounds like a great fit for Boston.

The Red Sox could ask for young pitcher Zack Wheeler in a deal. While Wheeler is a quality pitcher, he's not up to par with the likes of Matt Harvey. Further, Noah Syndergaard is marinating in Triple-A and is currently projected to be better than Wheeler, so GM Sandy Alderson would likely be willing to move Wheeler in exchange for the right power bat.

Cespedes could be a perfect fit in New York, which also has big holes in the outfield.

The Mets tend to be fairly conservative financially, so re-signing Cespedes is not a given. Particularly because New York won't have the ability to tack on a qualifying offer to Cespedes should the team be unable to entice Cespedes back in free agency, they would need more than Cespedes from Boston to move Wheeler.

Moving a replacement starting pitching prospect, albeit one with a lesser ceiling, could help assuage New York's concerns. Barnes could step in the rotation right now as a backend starter, although the Mets would likely send him to Triple-A and sign a veteran to create depth and give Barnes more experience in the rotation.

Rounding out the projected deal is reliever German Taveras, a hard-throwing reliever in the Boston system who could emerge to be a viable reliever in a few seasons.

If this deal was pulled off, the Red Sox would have a viable No. 3 starter in Wheeler who has already proven his experience in the major leagues. The team would still have to go after an elite ace to front the rotation, but Wheeler would immediately become the best and most major-league ready young pitcher the Red Sox have.

Trade: OF Yoenis Cespedes, SP Matt Barnes, RP German Taveras to New York for SP Zack Wheeler.

Mariners Send Top Prospect to Red Sox

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The Red Sox wouldn't mind adding Peterson to their stable of prospects.

Prior to the 2014 season, Jason Parks of Baseball Prospectus (subscription required) ranked D.J. Peterson as the second-best prospect in the Mariners' farm system (and No. 65 overall in baseball).

While the Red Sox would likely prefer to address their pitching woes in a Cespedes deal, that may not be possible. Absent a deal for a pitcher, the Red Sox could go after a top prospect close to the major leagues who could make an impact sooner, not later.

As Larry Stone of The Seattle Times noted, the Mariners are looking to add hitters to their lineup. In particular, the team sorely needs power, which Cespedes provides in spades. If Boston added on on a relief prospect in the minor leagues just to get the deal done, it could result in a match between the two teams.

Could the Mariners be desperate enough to trade one of their top prospects, who could debut in 2015, for Cespedes? Absolutely. If Seattle strikes out in free agency and gets desperate, the team will opt to add Cespedes to further contend. If the Mariners don't start winning, and quickly, after signing Robinson Cano, their window for contention will close, and GM Jack Zduriencik will be in the unemployment line.

Peterson can play third base, as Parks wrote, which makes him a natural fit for Boston since the Red Sox have an open-ended question there. However, he best profiles as a first baseman, and his hitting prowess should outweigh the value hit he takes from moving from third to first base. However, questions still remain on Peterson's overall power production.

Peterson may be one of Seattle's top prospects but could easily end up a middle-of-the-road hitter. That might be good enough for Boston to stick with at first base for a few years, but the Mariners can't afford to pass up on Cespedes if the cost is Peterson. Of course, Peterson could easily grow into his power potential and make All-Star Games for years to come. Such is the risk-reward scenario Zduriencik will have to consider.

Trade: OF Yoenis Cespedes, RP Noe Ramirez for 1B D.J. Peterson.