Impact MLB Prospects Who Could Be Traded This Winter

Baseball’s offseason has only just begun, but with the winter meetings roughly a month away, speculation regarding this year’s trade market is already heating up.

In recent years, we’ve seen more and more teams willing to trade their top prospects, like when the Royals dealt Wil Myers and Jake Odorizzi to the Rays prior to the 2013 season, which was also the same offseason that the Blue Jays sent Noah Syndergaard and Travis d’Arnaud to the Mets.

And even though the deals that transpired last offseason didn’t involve as many big-name prospects, we still saw numerous highly regarded young talents, such as Matt Davidson, Michael Choice, Jesse Hahn and Robbie Ray, get moved in exchange for veteran players.

With that being said, here’s an early look at four potential impact prospects who could be wearing a different uniform at the start of the 2014 season.

Josh Bell, OF/1B, Pittsburgh Pirates

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Josh Bell’s career started slowly as a result of the season-ending knee injury he suffered just 15 games into his 2012 professional debut, but he’s since made up for the lost time and progressed quickly, moving at nearly a level-per-year pace through the Pirates’ system.

The 22-year-old switch-hitter projects to hit for both average and power at maturity, and he’s coming off a breakout campaign in which he batted .325/.375/.459 with 35 extra-base hits (nine home runs) in 108 games between High-A Bradenton and Double-A Altoona.

The Pirates aren’t known for making blockbuster trades involving prospects, nor are they known for being big spenders on the free-agent market. However, the club should have one of baseball’s best outfields for years to come with Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco, which means Bell, who projects as a left fielder at the highest level, could potentially be made available, at least in theory, if the club is presented with the right deal.

At the same time, it’s important to keep in mind that Pittsburgh lured Bell away from a strong college commitment back in 2011 with a monster $5 million signing bonus, so there’s also some pride at stake with his future. Therefore, if they do decide to trade him this offseason, expect it to be for nothing less than a big leaguer with impact potential, perhaps a shortstop or catcher (depending on how Russell Martin’s free agency plays out in the coming months).

Kyle Crick, RHP, San Francisco Giants

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Kyle Crick, the Giants’ first-round draft pick in 2011, entered the 2014 season as the organization’s top prospect even after an impressive (but injury-shortened) campaign in the hitter-friendly California League the previous year. However, the hard-throwing right-hander took a step back this season at Double-A Richmond, as his ability to consistently throw strikes with his fastball was challenged by more advanced hitters.

That being said, I thought that the Giants should have explored trading Crick last offseason, when his stock was high coming off a strong showing in High-A. Don’t get me wrong, the stuff is still promising, but his ability to repeat his delivery and arm slot hasn’t progressed as hoped. Crick is still young, and the Giants seem intent on giving him ample time to figure things out, but given his current state, it’s hard to envision anything but a future bullpen role for the right-hander.

Crick still is arguably the Giants’ most intriguing prospect trade chip given his combination of raw talent and untapped potential, but they’d be selling low if they decided to move him this offseason. At the same time, the Giants have a host of other promising young arms spread throughout their system, so if there’s another team that’s optimistic about Crick’s long-term upside as a starter and willing to give up quality big-league talent in return, then it might make sense for the club to consider dealing him this offseason.

Garin Cecchini, 3B/LF, Boston Red Sox

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It almost goes without saying that third base was a glaring weak spot for the Red Sox in 2014. Will Middlebrooks once again struggled to stay on the field and provided minimal production even when he was healthy, which in turn forced the club to sign veteran Stephen Drew in mid-June and shift rookie Xander Bogaerts back to the hot corner (even if only temporarily).

Looking ahead at the 2015 season, the Red Sox do have an internal option to consider in Garin Cecchini, who received his first taste of the major leagues this past year. Beyond that, however, the 23-year-old turned in his worst minor league campaign to date, as his production fell off across the board at the Triple-A level.

While Cecchini is a well-rounded ballplayer and capable of posting better numbers than he did this year, he doesn’t represent a clear upgrade at the hot corner for the Red Sox in 2015, which likely is why the club has already been linked to free agents such as Pablo Sandoval and Chase Headley.

If the Red Sox fail to land one of those two players this offseason, then it wouldn’t come as a surprise if they included Cecchini in a deal for an impact third baseman. Meanwhile, if they were to sign Sandoval or Headley, then Cecchini immediately becomes expendable and could be used to address the team’s other needs.

Albert Almora, OF, Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs’ farm system took a hit this season with the graduations of Javier Baez and Arismendy Alcantara to the major leagues, but it’s still loaded with high-end offensive prospects such as Kris Bryant, Jorge Soler and Addison Russell. However, it’s long been assumed that, at some point, the Cubs would part with some of their promising young talents in order to improve their on-field product at the highest level, especially on the mound.

That being said, the recent signing of manager Joe Maddon to a five-year deal suggests that Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer believe the Cubs’ window for success is officially open. And with plenty of money left to spend this offseason on free-agent arms, all signs point to the team deviating from its conservative approach in recent years.

While they are expected to be major players in the sweepstakes for Jon Lester, it’s also rumored that the Cubs, according to a recent report from CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman, could attempt to trade for Cole Hamels this offseason, which surely would require them to part with multiple prospects.

One player that could be involved in such a deal is center fielder Albert Almora, the Cubs’ first-round draft pick in 2012, who had an overall up-and-down season but finished his age-20 campaign at the Double-A level. Though his numbers were slightly disappointing—mostly in terms of his approach and on-base skills—Almora still projects as at least an above-average hitter capable of holding down center field long term, thus making him a highly attractive trade chip.

The Cubs haven’t expressed a desire to move Almora, but given the other impressive prospects in their system, he’s one guy they might have to be willing to include in a blockbuster deal.