MLB Trade Speculation: MLB Stars Who Could Be Trade Bait
No team in baseball likes to trade a star-caliber player, whether it be an established veteran or a burgeoning youngster just beginning to blossom.
Heck, these teams spend years trying to acquire players that fit this profile, spending millions in salary and even more in terms of time and effort to develop them.
But sometimes a team realizes that, in order to take the next step forward as a group, it has to part ways with a player that it believed was going to be part of the solution.
That moment of clarity could come due to payroll concerns, a younger, less expensive option emerging from the minor leagues, a personality that doesn't mesh with the rest of the clubhouse or any number of off-field reasons.
At least one of those factors is a reason why each of the players that follows finds himself on this list and could find his name bouncing around the rumor mill this winter.
Johnny Cueto, SP, Cincinnati Reds
1 of 5
Cincinnati has never shied away from big contracts before, handing out lucrative, long-term extensions to Brandon Phillips (six years, $72.5 million) and Joey Votto (10 years, $225 million) in 2012 and Homer Bailey (six years, $105 million) back in February.
But there are only so many of those deals that a mid-market club like the Reds can afford.
Four-fifths of the team's starting rotation—Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos, Mike Leake and Alfredo Simon—will hit free agency after the 2015 season. All four are going to command significant deals, especially Cueto and Latos.
Throw in significant raises through arbitration for the likes of Aroldis Chapman, Todd Frazier and Devin Mesoraco, and Cincinnati will be forced to make some tough choices going forward.
"We've got a lot of very good homegrown players that are either working their way into arbitration or towards free agency," manager Bryan Price told MLB.com's Mark Sheldon. "As much as I think we'd love to be able to keep every single guy and pay them what they deserve, it's impossible to do here."
That's why some, including ESPN's Buster Olney (subscription required), believe that it's in the team's best interest to trade Cueto this winter.
Still under the age of 30, Cueto is coming off the best season of his career. He made his first All-Star appearance, led the NL in innings pitched (243.2), strikeouts (242) and hits per nine innings (6.2) and was among the league leaders in wins (20), ERA (2.25) and WHIP (0.96).
There's an argument to be made that if Bailey is worth $105 million over six years, Cueto's worth twice as much—not that he's necessarily going to land a Justin Verlander-type deal. But Cueto is going to get paid far more next winter than the Reds can feasibly fit under their budget.
Moving Cueto this winter would not only give the team significant payroll flexibility moving forward, but it could provide the Reds with a package of affordable young talent with which to supplement their roster, both in 2015 and beyond.
Cole Hamels, SP, Philadelphia Phillies
2 of 5
Should Philadelphia trade Cole Hamels this winter? You bet. Will they? That's a much harder question to answer.
If we're being brutally honest, the Phillies are years away from actually contending for a playoff spot—at which point Hamels will be in his mid-30s and past the prime years of his career. Translation: The Cole Hamels of 2019 might look a lot like the 2014 model, but he'll be a completely different pitcher.
Both CSNPhilly's Jim Salisbury and MLB.com's Todd Zolecki expect the team to at least listen to offers on the soon-to-be 31-year-old this winter, but neither one expects the team to lower its asking price and actually move him.
If you recall, just as the July 31 trade deadline approached, Philadelphia put Hamels on the block. CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reported then that the Phillies had asked multiple teams for multiple top prospects in exchange for Hamels, who is due at least $100 million through 2018 ($114 million if a team decides to exercise the $20 million club option on him for 2019).
That a lot of money for any team to take on—enough to reduce the cost in prospects to facilitate a trade.
Not only would the Phillies benefit from an influx of young talent coming back in such a deal, but the payroll flexibility that it would provide them would be massive. What general manager wouldn't like to have $20-plus million come off his books just in time for the free-agent shopping extravaganza?
Put your hand down, Ruben.
Trading Hamels is the quickest way for the Phillies to return to relevance, to return to respectability—even if it means having to take another step backward in the short term.
Ian Kennedy, SP, San Diego Padres
3 of 5
As the July 31 trade deadline approached, few players saw their name appear on the rumor mill as frequently as San Diego's Ian Kennedy. While the Padres ultimately decided to keep him around, the former 20-game winner will once again see his name bandied about in trade rumors this winter.
Entering his final year of arbitration, Kennedy is going to get a significant raise from his 2014 salary of $6.1 million.
After finishing tied for fifth (with Zack Greinke) in the National League in strikeouts (207) while pitching to a 3.63 ERA and 1.29 WHIP, he's going to be San Diego's most expensive player, easily eclipsing the $8 million due to Joaquin Benoit and Carlos Quentin.
Kennedy is also a Scott Boras client, which all but guarantees that he'll be taking his talents elsewhere after the season. The Padres desperately need to add a productive bat to their lineup, and trading Kennedy could be the quickest way for them to obtain one.
.png?w=256)
Yasiel Puig, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers
4 of 5
It's no longer a question of if the Los Angeles Dodgers are going to trade one of their outfielders, it's now a question of who will be wearing a different uniform in 2015.
Bleacher Report's Scott Miller believes that Andre Ethier is the most likely to be traded this offseason, but notes that you can't rule out the possibility of Yasiel Puig's name popping up on the rumor mill.
Nobody questions Puig's talent—he might be the most naturally gifted position player on the Dodgers—but talent alone can only take a player so far. There's more to being a professional athlete and a good teammate than putting up numbers.
As Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal writes, that's something Puig continues to struggle with:
"Puig can be polarizing, a player who draws 'haters' among opponents and rival fans with his flashy style of play. A number of Dodgers veterans, including first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and third baseman Juan Uribe, have tried to counsel him. Still, Puig sometimes displays a sense of entitlement, sources say, showing up late, refusing to listen.
"
On a team full of veterans who are under intense pressure to win, that act is going to grow old real quick, especially when it's part of a larger pattern.
Signed to an incredibly team-friendly contract, one that pays him $24 million through 2018*, his value on the trade market would be immense—as would the package of talent the Dodgers could ask for in return. For all his faults, teams would line up for a chance to add him to their outfield.
*Puig's contract allows for him to opt-in to the arbitration process after he accumulates three years of major league service time. The earliest he'd be able to do that would be after the 2017 season, when he was entering the final year of his deal.
Jeff Samardzija, SP, Oakland Athletics
5 of 5
Oakland finds itself heading into 2015 with nothing to show for the Yoenis Cespedes-for-Jon Lester deal other than a stunning late-season collapse and disappointing (yet predictable) end to the 2014 season.
It's fair to think that the A's won't make the same mistake twice.
That's why some, including The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo, believe Oakland will look to move its other big in-season acquisition, Jeff Samardzija, this winter.
"Samardzija is going to get a big spike in pay in arbitration. Oakland GM Billy Beane could hold on to him until midseason and then deal him, or deal him this offseason. The feeling is he’ll listen to offers on Samardzija this offseason.
"
Samardzija isn't the only key member of the A's looking at a big spike in compensation this winter. Nearly half of Oakland's 25-man roster—13 players—are heading for arbitration, a list that includes Josh Donaldson and Brandon Moss.
I projected those three alone to account for a roughly $13 million increase in Oakland's payroll next year—$3 million of which would go to Samardizja—earlier this month.
With an increasing payroll and little chance of keeping Samardzija long-term, Oakland should seriously consider dealing him before the 2015 season begins. A full year of Samardzija is going to be a more valuable trade chip to play than than the one that comes with only two months of production.
Unless otherwise linked/noted, all statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs.
Want to talk trades for your favorite team? Hit me up on Twitter: @RickWeinerBR
.png?w=480)
