The 10 Best Trade Chips In MLB For 2023 Season
The 2023 Major League Baseball season only opened on Thursday, so it's a tad early to be thinking about trades. And in this case, "a tad early" translates to "way, way, way too early."
But since there's nothing wrong with a little preparation, we've shined a light on the 10 best trade chips that could potentially be available on the summer market.
Because it seemed silly to separate three star players who are all on the same team, this list actually contains a dozen names. These are guys who have value right now, as opposed to potential value in the future. There's also already been trade buzz surrounding them at various points in recent history and, barring certain outcomes, there may be again.
Let's count 'em down from least desirable to most desirable.
Note: All playoff odds are courtesy of FanGraphs.
10. 1B C.J. Cron, Colorado Rockies
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If a team finds itself in need of a powerful first baseman leading up to the trade deadline, the second call (stay tuned) it should make is to the Colorado Rockies about C.J. Cron.
The 33-year-old has quietly been one of the league's more prolific sluggers in recent years, joining Aaron Judge and nine others as the only players to top 25 home runs in each of the last four full seasons.
And so it went for Cron in the Rockies' opener against the San Diego Padres on Thursday, wherein he cranked two long balls and drove in five runs.
Cron was reportedly a candidate to get traded ahead of last year's trade deadline, only to end up going nowhere even as the Rockies skidded to 94 losses. As Trevor Story and Jon Gray can vouch, that sort of behavior isn't unusual for the franchise.
The difference this year is that Cron is on an expiring contract. So if the Rockies do fall out of the race in the National League West—which is, ahem, quite likely—they'd do well to rent him out.
9. 1B Christian Walker, Arizona Diamondbacks
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As for that first call teams should make should they be in need of a slugging first baseman, it should be the Arizona Diamondbacks about Christian Walker.
Though the Snakes weren't shopping the 32-year-old last summer, they were reportedly open to listening to offers. That nothing ultimately happened was notable, but not surprising.
Walker is a darn good player. Beyond setting a new career high with 36 home runs last year, he also blew away all other first basemen in racking up 14 outs above average on defense. To boot, he has another year of club control left after 2023.
The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, are a team on the cusp from some angles. They went from 110 losses in 2021 to 88 last year. They're certainly not winning the NL West this season, but, hey, any team with an ace like Zac Gallen and a rookie like Corbin Carroll can have wild card hopes.
As for how realistic said hopes can be, well, Arizona's chances of earning a wild card spot stand at just 11.7 percent. If stagnation or a backward slide happen instead, there would be wisdom in doing more than just listening on Walker this time around.
8. LHP Martín Pérez, Texas Rangers
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Even though he looked vaguely like a trade candidate on paper, an actual deal of Martín Pérez was declared as "unlikely" ahead of last year's trade deadline.
The Texas Rangers had been hovering around .500 for most of the first half of last season, in part because Pérez himself was on his way to finishing with a 2.89 ERA over 196.1 innings. There might have been good luck involved, but it was still a fine performance.
What's more, the Rangers didn't need to trade him to recoup value in the event of his departure. They had the option of making him a qualifying offer at the end of the season, which would have resulted in a draft pick if he'd rejected it and signed elsewhere.
That Pérez, who'll turn 32 on Tuesday, chose to accept the offer was also a win for the Rangers, and that much more so after Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney came aboard. A rotation of that magnitude is a big reason why Texas' playoff chances stand at 41.0 percent.
Ah, but even those odds still cast the Rangers as something of a long shot. And should a losing record find them for the seventh time in as many seasons, they'd do well to cut their losses. As the qualifying offer is a one-time thing, that would include a trade of Pérez.
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7. SS Amed Rosario, Cleveland Guardians
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If the question is whether the Cleveland Guardians are likely to trade Amed Rosario this season, the answer would seem to be something like "not at all."
Unlike the Rockies, Diamondbacks and Rangers, the Guardians' contender bona fides are beyond dispute. All they did in 2022 was win 93 games and claim the American League Central title, and neither the Minnesota Twins nor the Chicago White Sox stand firmly in their way of repeating in 2023.
For his part, Rosario is an unspectacular, yet dependable everyday shortstop. Maybe more so than ever before after 2022, in which he achieved career bests with a 106 OPS+ and 4.2 rWAR.
The tricky part, however, is that Rosario is a pending free agent in an organization that has other options for the middle of its infield. Andrés Giménez, who just signed a seven-year extension, is perfectly capable of playing shortstop, in which case infield prospect Brayan Rocchio could take over at second base.
Such things explain why a Rosario trade has oft been speculated on, with MLB.com's Mark Feinsand writing on March 25 that the 27-year-old could be available if the Guardians "feel they need to upgrade elsewhere."
6. LF Ian Happ, Chicago Cubs
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Elsewhere on the topic of pending free agents, that's something Ian Happ was notably not when he was the subject of trade rumors last summer.
Though the same couldn't be said of their decision on Willson Contreras, it therefore wasn't the most surprising development when the Chicago Cubs opted not to trade Happ ahead of last year's deadline. And it's even less so in retrospect.
Though the Cubs went 74-88 overall last season, they finished with a 39-31 record in the second half and were apparently dreaming big about an offseason that ultimately saw them reel in Dansby Swanson, Jameson Taillon and Cody Bellinger.
But are the North Siders a contender? Maybe. Maybe not. They're certainly built for run prevention, but their offense is so suspect that they're only sitting on a 13.7 percent chance to make the playoffs.
Should a contention run fail to develop for the Cubs, their options with Happ will be to extend him, hold him for qualifying offer purposes or to trade him. As he's a 28-year-old coming off an All-Star and Gold Glove-winning season, there could be enough demand for him to make Door No. 3 the most feasible option.
5. 2B Gleyber Torres, New York Yankees
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Gleyber Torres is another trade chip from the same file that contains Rosario in that he's a good player on a team that has its eyes on October.
The "good player" part was in doubt as Torres struggled to hit for power in 2020 and 2021, but he course corrected with 24 long balls last season and he wasted no time collecting his first of 2023 on Opening Day.
What makes the 26-year-old Torres different from Rosario is that he's further away from free agency. He still has another year of club control standing between him and a trip to the open market at the end of the 2024 season.
And yet, there have been so many Torres-related rumors over the last year or so that the man himself had to tune them out during the winter. And for their part, the Yankees are clearly in no rush to extend him for the long haul.
All this doesn't mean Torres is as good as gone via the trade market, but the club's injury woes (especially on the mound) could conceivably result in him being a sacrifice. As for who would take over second base, well, DJ LeMahieu is right there.
4. RHP David Bednar, Pittsburgh Pirates
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Before we get to the Pittsburgh Pirates' most obvious trade chip, let's first talk about the elite closer who other teams would surely love to get their hands on.
David Bednar is more of a household name after making the National League All-Star squad last year and pitching for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic this year, but he's still underrated. To wit, his 176 ERA+ across 2021 and 2022 ranked ahead of even Edwin Díaz.
What's more, Bednar is a Pittsburgh native who would like very much to stay right where he's at. As he told Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in December: "I think you guys know how I feel about Pittsburgh. I love this place more than anything."
Fortunately for him, the 28-year-old Bednar is locked into Pittsburgh through as far as 2026...that is, if the Pirates don't trade him first.
The offers they got for him amid a 100-loss season in 2022 were reportedly "tempting." There are bound to be more such offers this summer if Bednar keeps dominating while the Pirates keep losing, in which case they may come to grips with the notion of cashing in their closer to gain more talent for the long haul.
3. CF Bryan Reynolds, Pittsburgh Pirates
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As to the Pirates' previously mentioned obvious trade chip, Bryan Reynolds' days with the team might not be numbered after all.
There were shockwaves after reports came out in December that the 28-year-old All-Star had requested a trade, but he left the door open to a contract extension. On Thursday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that a deal is close...sort of:
Pretty vague, and that cuts against any potential optimism for a deal to actually get across the finish line. Until something does, Reynolds will remain the subject of trade speculation.
It isn't just his talent that makes him appealing, though it surely is a major consideration given that he's a career .281 hitter with 51 home runs across the last two seasons. There's also his remaining club control, as he's not due for free agency until after 2025 even without an extension.
The Pirates don't have to be in a hurry to trade Reynolds either way. But similar to Bednar, the idea could become that much more tempting if another dismal season develops around them.
2. The Burnes-Woodruff-Adames Trio, Milwaukee Brewers
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At the outset of the 2022-23 offseason, there was speculation that the Milwaukee Brewers could look to trade shortstop Willy Adames or one of their two aces in Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff. But not for long:
And yet, it's still reasonable to look at Adames, Burnes and Woodruff and wonder, "What if?"
The Brewers did miss the playoffs last year, after all, and by way of collapse as they went 29-32 from July 31 through the end of the year. And while they are a contender this year, they're one with just a 57.0 percent chance of playing in October.
Even if things don't go pear-shaped this season, the Brewers could conceivably be amenable to trading Adames, Burnes or Woodruff just to save money, a la last year's trade of Josh Hader. They're earning a total of $29.5 million this year, with more to come via arbitration in 2024.
With Burnes, there's also the added complication of his relationship with the club having been harmed in contentious arbitration negotiations this past winter. The two sides working out a long-term deal seems unlikely, in which case a trade of the 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner may be inevitable anyway.
1. DH/RHP Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels
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If you knew this was coming, then you probably also know that the Los Angeles Angels currently have no intent whatsoever to trade Shohei Ohtani.
They were reportedly "never serious" about the idea even as they were mired in a 46-72 finish to the 2022 season, and team owner Arte Moreno more recently went public with his position on the matter of an Ohtani trade this year.
"I will say it on the record," Moreno told Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated. "We will not trade Ohtani while we are contending for a playoff spot."
Of course, this only raises the question of what will happen with the 2021 American League MVP and free-agent-to-be if the Angels aren't in playoff contention. Which is a semi-realistic possibility. The Angels look better this year than they have in years past, but they still have less than a 50 percent chance of playing in October.
Rental though he would be, what's for sure is that Ohtani coming available would start a bidding war akin to the one for Juan Soto last summer. Because when you have a chance to land the only guy in the world who's an elite slugger and an elite pitcher, you have to go all out.
Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.
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