MLB Teams Still Stacked with Assets for Spring, in-Season Trades
A general manager's job during the MLB offseason isn't an easy one, with a lengthy list of tasks that need to be accomplished before the start of spring training.
Perhaps the most difficult of those tasks is finding the right balance between filling immediate needs while leaving a team with enough depth to address new needs as they pop up by way of injury or ineffectiveness, whether it be during spring training or after the regular season has begun.
Here's a look at five teams that, thanks to the work of their talented front offices, are in a better position to address those yet-to-be-determined needs than their competition.
Boston Red Sox
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How stacked is Boston? You could field a starting nine (and a potentially good one at that) with the pieces the Red Sox could part with.
No team in baseball has as much outfield depth as Boston, which has a former All-Star (Allen Craig), a capable reserve (Daniel Nava) and a slew of young talent (Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Bryce Brentz) all without a regular place to play in the big leagues.
I include Betts because of manager John Farrell's spring training declaration to reporters, including MLB.com's Ian Browne, that Shane Victorino, so long as he's capable and healthy, will be the team's starting right fielder in 2015.
Betts, whose 128 OPS+ was the third highest among rookies with at least 100 plate appearances in 2014, has nothing left to prove at Triple-A and is a big part of the team's future plans. It's not crazy to think that a healthy Victorino could be traded before Opening Day despite Farrell's remarks.
Superutility man Brock Holt would be an intriguing addition for any team, while Christian Vazquez, Boston's starting catcher, might become expendable if the club decides prospect Blake Swihart is ready.
Other prospects could factor into trades as well, including: third basemen Garin Cecchini and Rafael Devers, shortstop Deven Marrero and outfielder Manuel Margot, young arms such as southpaws Eduardo Rodriguez and Henry Owens and right-hander Matt Barnes.
Boston has been hesitant to include any of its prospects (particularly Swihart) in trade talks with Philadelphia for ace Cole Hamels, according to the USA Today's Bob Nightengale, but given the unsettled state of the team's starting rotation, things could change quickly.
Chicago Cubs
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While it's unlikely Chicago would dip into its impressive stockpile of young positional players to facilitate a trade, it's something that could happen if the right deal came along.
Let's operate under the assumption that those youngsters already on the major league roster will stick around. That means Javier Baez, Starlin Castro and Jorge Soler—along with Kris Bryant, who may or may not break camp with the club—will not be dealt.
That still leaves the Cubs with shortstop Addison Russell, one of the five best prospects in baseball (Baseball America ranks him No. 3 overall, while MLB.com has him at No. 5) and a player whose bat could make him the centerpiece of a potential deal.
Outfielders Albert Almora, Billy McKinney and Kyle Schwarber,a catcher who likely needs to move out from behind the plate, aren't on the same level as Russell in terms of being a potential franchise player.
All three offer an advanced approach at the plate and varying degrees of pop in their bats, but with Soler entrenched in one corner outfield spot and Dexter Fowler perhaps the team's answer in center field, it's entirely possible that the Cubs would look to move some of this young outfield talent for help elsewhere.
Los Angeles Dodgers
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Over the past year or so, one constant with the Los Angeles Dodgers when it comes to trade rumors has been how the team has been unwilling to even discuss top prospects Joc Pederson, Corey Seager and Julio Urias with other teams. There's no reason to believe that's changed.
But that doesn't mean the Dodgers don't have a number of assets that would get a potential trade partner's attention. It starts on the mound, where the team has a ton of intriguing young arms scattered throughout the minor leagues.
Right-handed starters Chris Anderson, Carlos Frias, Zach Lee and Joe Wieland—along with southpaw Chris Reed—are among the club's more notable starters in the upper levels of the farm system, while the lower levels feature the likes of righties Jose De Leon and Grant Holmes.
Cuban infielder Alex Guerrero, who signed a four-year, $28 million deal with the Dodgers heading into last season, is a man without a spot on the team's active roster and would surely be available in the right deal.
Even after the Dodgers traded Matt Kemp, veteran outfielder Andre Ethier's situation, which has been discussed ad nauseam for more than a year, hasn't improved.
His value is limited even if the Dodgers pick up a substantial portion of the more than $50 million he's due through 2017. But he'd be of interest to a handful of teams, particularly to American League clubs that could use him as a designated hitter.
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San Diego Padres
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One of the more overlooked aspects of San Diego's remarkable offseason rebuild is the cost the Padres paid to acquire the likes of Matt Kemp, Wil Myers and Justin Upton. As Matt Eddy of Baseball America reminds us, that cost was substantial.
"The Padres traded 12 prospect-eligible players (plus catcher Yasmani Grandal and right-hander Jesse Hahn) in less than two weeks. Eight of the traded prospects had ranked among San Diego’s top 20," Eddy writes.
Yet madman GM A.J. Preller somehow managed to hang onto enough talent to make another substantial addition if the mood should strike him.
The upper levels of San Diego's minor league system remain stocked with high-upside talent, starting on the mound with right-handed starters Casey Kelly, Zech LeMond and Matt Wisler, reliever Tayron Guerrero and southpaw Robbie Erlin.
Austin Hedges remains one of the better catching prospects around, while second baseman Taylor Lindsey, versatile infielder/outfielder Cory Spangenberg and outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Rymer Liriano are sure to be of interest to teams looking for a relatively quick payoff on a potential trade.
San Diego also has a pair of high-priced, oft-injured outfielders in Cameron Maybin and Carlos Quentin, along with the more moderately priced Will Venable who could all be expendable as the team ushers in a new era of Padres baseball.
Before signing James Shields, the Padres reportedly offered a package built around Hedges and Renfroe to Philadelphia for Cole Hamels that was deemed insufficient, per Nightengale. Clearly, Preller is willing to move his top young talent if he believes the return would improve the team's chances of contending.
St. Louis Cardinals
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St. Louis' pool of talent isn't quite as deep as it was a few years ago, but the Cardinals still have a handful of prospects and youngsters on the major league roster who would certainly draw interest on the trade market.
Discussions about anything substantial would start with a pair of 23-year-old arms: southpaw Marco Gonzales and right-hander Carlos Martinez. While the Cardinals consider both starters, whichever pitcher loses the battle for the No. 5 starter role figures to break camp with the team as a reliever.
Outfielder Randal Grichuk's place on the roster is pretty much set in stone, but with Jason Heyward and Matt Holliday blocking him (and prospect Stephen Piscotty) in the outfield corners, his playing time figures to be limited. One, if not both of them, could have more value to the team as a trade chip at this point.
The lower levels of the Cardinals farm system are well stocked with high-upside arms, including right-handed starter Luke Weaver, the team's first-round pick in the 2014 draft, but they're all at least another year away from making an impact and carry far less value than Gonzales and Martinez.
Unless otherwise noted, all statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs. All contract information courtesy of Cot's Contracts.
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