Potential MLB Trade Targets Who Could Be True Franchise Game-Changers
Before all the confetti and empties were picked up from the streets of Kansas City after the Royals had their World Series parade, the Major League Baseball hot-stove season had its first blockbuster trade.
When the Los Angeles Angels decided to give up a significant return package to acquire all-world shortstop Andrelton Simmons from the Atlanta Braves, it was the kind of deal that could result in both clubs receiving game-changing players.
The Braves might end up with a pitching gem in prospect Sean Newcomb, but we already know the kind of defensive impact Simmons can have on a team. For the Angels, he could become the kind of player who alters the franchise’s fortunes, especially within an era that better understands and values defensive wizardry.
After all, Ozzie Smith is in the Hall of Fame with similar below-average offensive numbers, and Simmons might end up being a better defensive shortstop when his career comes to a close.
The question now is this: What other trade targets on the market, or potentially off the market, are the kind of franchise game-changers Simmons could become? There does seem to be a group of them to choose from, but, like Simmons, they are going to cost a team potentially great young talent.
This is when organizations have to balance their futures with the need to win now.
Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals
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There was a time when the idea of Stephen Strasburg being involved in trade rumors seemed like an absurd notion, but starting last winter, it became real. According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, the Texas Rangers, among other clubs, had talks with the Nationals about Strasburg that never developed into anything serious. Still, it showed the Nats were willing to part with their former No. 1 overall pick for the right price.
Before this past postseason even ended, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe noted that there is buzz around executives that the Nationals will again listen to offers on Strasburg, who has one more season before free agency.
Strasburg has top-of-the-rotation stuff, but his problems are all related to staying healthy enough to take the ball. He made 23 starts in 2015, but his career 3.09 ERA, 2.83 FIP, 126 ERA+ and 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings, according to Baseball-Reference.com, show that he is an ace. And his stats might be even better had he not pitched with nagging injuries at times.
A team looking for that kind of production, albeit with a gamble he will stay healthy enough to make around 34 starts, plus possible postseason turns, could probably have the 27-year-old for a massive package of prospects. If he is traded, he has an arm that can make a good team a World Series favorite.
Yasiel Puig, Los Angeles Dodgers
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By now, it is no secret the Dodgers would be willing to listen to offers on Yasiel Puig, their headache-inducing but ultra-talented right fielder. The Dodgers were open to offers on Puig before last July’s trade deadline, and they put him on revocable waivers in August, likely as a way to gauge interest.
Clearly, there is some. Puig is cheap at $19.5 million over the next three years, and “the reports have been great” regarding his efforts to trim down, according to president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman (via Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times). And we already know how good Puig can be when healthy by way of his 151 OPS+ in his first two seasons.
The problem for the Dodgers is that other teams see Puig as a gamble based on his health and that he has been a clubhouse problem in the past. So they could try to leverage that into buying low.
Try as they might, the Dodgers front office will not sell at that level. It sees Puig as an elite talent with a beneficial contract and will not part with him for peanuts.
However, if a team can pry the 24-year-old out of Los Angeles, Puig is the kind of player who can produce at a level capable of significantly altering a franchise’s success. Interest in that kind of player will always be high.
Aroldis Chapman, Cincinnati Reds
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Typically, we would easily dismiss the idea that a reliever, even a dominant closer, could be a game-changing piece. However, we are in the age of teams building dominant bullpens to help them win championships (see: the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals), and that has changed the market for such arms.
That makes Aroldis Chapman, the lights-out Cincinnati Reds lefty closer, a potential diamond mine. Any contending team trying to build up its bullpen will have at least mild interest, though the 27-year-old's “blockbuster” price tag is likely to push away some of the suitors.
There is already heavy interest in Chapman, who had a 1.63 ERA, 244 ERA+, 1.94 FIP and 15.7 strikeouts per nine innings last season, according to Baseball Reference. The Boston Red Sox are one of the teams already doing “background work” on Chapman, according to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. And Peter Gammons reported Chapman will likely be traded by the end of this weekend.
Chapman is in his final season of arbitration before free agency, so he is a rental who will likely cost in the $13 million neighborhood. But if he is plugged in with another good-to-great reliever (or two), Chapman can be the kind of difference-maker who brings a ring.
Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado Rockies
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Carlos Gonzalez’s torrid four months completely restored his trade value for the Rockies last season. In his final 424 plate appearances, he hit .294/.337/.629 with a .966 OPS, 36 home runs and 84 RBI to win his second Silver Slugger award. Those plate appearances started on June 2 and went through the end of the season, a strong sample size that makes the numbers legitimate and not just a hot streak.
Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich told Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post that he will listen to offers for Gonzalez, and while interest is already high, the market will have to play out. The 30-year-old’s vast injury history will still work against his value despite him playing in 153 games in 2015.
Also, Gonzalez is owed $37 million over the next two years.
“There are teams that are definitely starting to ask questions,” Bridich told Saunders. “We are still kind of in that feeling out process right now. It’s not like there are eight teams coming after us with offers in hand.”
It will only take one great offer for the Rockies to move on Gonzalez, and that could mean a major transformation for a contending team’s lineup next season.
Chris Sale, Chicago White Sox
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Of any of the names on this list, Chris Sale is easily the least likely to be traded. He is a true ace. He will be entering his age-27 season, and he is owed at least $22.15 million in two seasons, though any trading team would likely pick up his $12.5 million and $13.5 million options for 2018 and 2019, respectively. So, he is also paid well under market value.
The White Sox were not willing to trade Sale last July, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. However, nothing is ever totally definite when it comes to the trade market, especially during the winter.
Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago speculated that if there were ever a time for the White Sox to move Sale, now might be the best. Other executives believe Chicago general manager Rick Hahn might be in a different position than he has been in the past because of the state of the White Sox, who are not expected to contend next season barring drastic offseason moves in that direction and who have the 23rd-rated farm system, according to Bleacher Report's Luke Strickland.
“It’s our job to listen,” Hahn told Hayes. “We are open-minded on all our players. We don’t view anyone as being 'untouchable.’”
Hahn continued:
"So while we’re doing our due diligence and we’re listening and haven’t closed off any avenues, it would certainly take us needing to be overwhelmed to pull the trigger on something like that because you would be in theory trading away not only something special and important to our success over the next couple of years, but also leaving a hole in the wake.
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He is correct. Sale is a premium talent, and an acquiring team would be getting a legitimate No. 1 starter capable of changing the course of the franchise over the next couple of years, at the very least. Of any of the players on this list, Sale might cost the most in terms of players, but he also might have the biggest impact.
