MLB Stars Most Likely to Be Traded During the 2020 Season

The start of the 2020 MLB season has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and after the federal government suggested limiting events to fewer than 50 people for the next eight weeks, Opening Day has officially been pushed back to mid-May at the earliest.

Still, hope remains that we can eventually return to some level of normalcy and that baseball and other sports can once again serve as a welcome distraction.

As such, we will continue to look ahead, this time with a rundown of some of the notable players who could be changing uniforms during the upcoming season.

First, a quick list of impact players who were traded during the 2019 campaign:

• RP Nick Anderson (MIA to TB)
• SP Trevor Bauer (CLE to CIN)
• RF Nick Castellanos (DET to CHC)
• DH Edwin Encarnacion (SEA to NYY)
• RP Shane Greene (DET to ATL)
• SP Zack Greinke (ARI to HOU)
• RP Daniel Hudson (TOR to WAS)
• RP Drew Pomeranz (SF to MIL)
• RF Yasiel Puig (CIN to CLE)
• DH Franmil Reyes (SD to CLE)
• SP Tanner Roark (CIN to OAK)
• SP Marcus Stroman (TOR to NYM)

So who could be on the move in 2020?

Here's a look at seven notable players most likely to be traded during the upcoming season.     

SP Jeff Samardzija, San Francisco Giants

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Jeff Samardzija is entering the final season of a five-year, $90 million deal and coming off a strong 2019 campaign with the San Francisco Giants.

The 35-year-old ranked among the NL leaders in ERA (3.52, 12th), WHIP (1.11, ninth) and innings pitched (181.1, 15th), turning in a bounce-back performance on the heels of a disastrous campaign.

A pectoral strain and shoulder inflammation limited him to just 44.2 innings in 2018, and when he was healthy enough to take the mound, he struggled to a 6.25 ERA and 1.63 WHIP in 10 starts.

Now, coming off the sixth season of his career in which he topped 180 innings, he has a chance to pitch his way into being an attractive trade chip as a veteran innings-eater.

He's owed a staggering $19.8 million in 2020, so even if he's traded at midseason, San Francisco might need to chip in some money to facilitate a deal. However, a performance similar to last year would make him a viable trade target and could net the rebuilding Giants another prospect.

CF Jonathan Villar, Miami Marlins

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Jonathan Villar put together the best season of his career in 2019, hitting .274/.339/.453 for a 109 OPS+ while stealing 40 bases and slugging a career-high 24 home runs among his 62 extra-base hits.

Despite those strong numbers, which added up to a 3.9 WAR season, he found himself designated for assignment during the 2019 offseason.

Rather than pay for his final year of arbitration, the rebuilding Orioles traded him to the Miami Marlins in exchange for left-hander Easton Lucas. The 23-year-old does not rank among the team's top 30 prospects, according to MLB.com.

Villar, 28, will now transition to center field after playing primarily second base and shortstop over the course of his seven-year MLB career.

If he proves to be capable at his new position, that added versatility along with his unique mix of power and speed should appeal to more than a few contenders.    

RP Ken Giles, Toronto Blue Jays

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Ken Giles likely would have been on the move last summer if not for an ill-timed bout of elbow inflammation that sidelined him leading up to the July 31 trade deadline.

A strong finish to the season erased any potential lingering concerns about the health of his arm, and he ended up with some of the most dominant numbers of any reliever in 2019.

Along with converting 23 of 24 save chances, he posted a 1.87 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 14.1 K/9 in 53 appearances while holding opposing hitters to a stingy .188 batting average and .574 OPS.

His salary jumps to $9.6 million in his final year of arbitration, but that's still a relative bargain compared to some of the game's other elite late-inning relievers.

Despite assembling an improved pitching staff, the Toronto Blue Jays figure to be on the outside looking in as far as the battle for American League East supremacy is concerned.

He won't fetch as handsome a return as he might have last season since he's now a rental, but there is always a robust market for quality bullpen help.

SP Chris Archer, Pittsburgh Pirates

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The 2019 season was an ugly one for Chris Archer.

In his first full campaign with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he posted a 5.19 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and a career-high 4.1 BB/9 in 119.2 innings over 23 starts.

However, he still showed his usual swing-and-miss stuff with 143 punchouts for a 10.8 K/9 strikeout rate.

The biggest issue for Archer seemed to be his inability to keep the ball on the ground when batters did make contact. His ground-ball rate plummeted (-8.3%) and his fly-ball rate soared (+7.1%), resulting in 25 home runs allowed for a career-high 1.9 HR/9 rate.

If he can do a better job of keeping the ball in the ballpark in 2020, he could be in for a bounce-back season, and the Depth Chart projections from FanGraphs are predicting just that:

• 31 GS, 4.17 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 64 BB, 199 K, 179 IP, 3.1 WAR

The Depth Chart projections are a combination of the ZiPS and Steamer projection systems, with expected playing time taken into account.

While those might not be ace-caliber numbers, they would be plenty attractive to teams in search of starting pitching help.

The fact that Archer carries a reasonable $11 million club option for the 2021 season also increases his trade value, and the rebuilding Pirates should be motivated to deal.      

SP Robbie Ray, Arizona Diamondbacks

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Despite an ongoing push to remain competitive, the Arizona Diamondbacks have traded away Paul Goldschmidt and Zack Greinke since the start of last offseason.

It's reasonable to expect they might do the same with Robbie Ray.

The 28-year-old has been frequently mentioned in trade rumors over the past two seasons, and now he's set to enter his final year of team control.

Ray has posted some of the best strikeout numbers in baseball over the last three seasons.

His 12.1 K/9 rate trails only Chris Sale (13.2) and Max Scherzer (12.3) among players with at least 400 innings pitched during that span.

The left-hander is set to earn a reasonable $9.4 million in his final year of arbitration, which will only broaden his list of potential suitors if Arizona does in fact make him available.   

3B Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies

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It was a strange offseason for Nolan Arenado and the Colorado Rockies.

The 28-year-old inked an eight-year, $260 million extension last February after the Rockies made back-to-back postseason appearances, but the team struggled to a 71-91 record in 2019.

After an offseason of inactivity from the front office, Arenado was placed on the trade block as the offseason was winding to a close. No deal was made, but a rift seemed to form between the face of the franchise and general manager Jeff Bridich.

"There's a lot of disrespect from people there that I don't want to be a part of," Arenado told MLB.com's Thomas Harding of the situation. "... I'm not mad at the trade rumors. There's more to it."

The two never sat down to mend fences during spring training, and now that the season is delayed, that cloud continues to hang over the organization.

The massive extension that Arenado signed includes a player opt-out after the 2021 season, and given the state of things, it would appear that's where things are headed.

Trading him at some point in 2020 might be the best way to maximize his value as the Rockies look to reset and rebuild.

The 28-year-old has posted a 129 OPS+ while averaging 40 home runs and 124 RBI over the past five seasons, winning a Gold Glove in each year.

Even with the uncertainty that his opt-out creates, there will still be considerable interest if he is legitimately available.     

SS Francisco Lindor, Cleveland Indians

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The Cleveland Indians and superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor discussed a possible extension during spring training, but nothing came of the talks. And Lindor himself halted things at the beginning of March.

Jason Lloyd of The Athletic offered up the pertinent details:

"Lindor is under the Indians' control for two more years. This day was inevitable, but the timing now is important. If the Indians and Lindor aren't talking anymore, then the window to sign him to an extension is officially closing. He has made it clear his priority is to remain in Cleveland, but he will not take a deal below his market value. That value is expected to soar past $300 million by the time he reaches free agency.

With negotiations on a long-term extension suspended, and the reality that Lindor's trade value will drop the closer he gets to free agency, the Indians will again have to consider trading him ahead of July's deadline if they fall out of contention this season. That would give a potential trade partner two postseasons with Lindor rather than just one. Should he survive the year, he will most certainly be shopped again next winter just as he was during this offseason."

The Indians check in 24th in the majors with a payroll of roughly $84 million for the upcoming season, according to Spotrac. Simply put, the cost-conscious front office would be entering uncharted territory if it were to extend Lindor.

The 26-year-old has been worth 27.6 WAR over the course of his five-year career, and he has posted a 122 OPS+ while averaging 42 doubles, 34 home runs and 21 steals the past three years.

One way or another, trading him would be a franchise-altering move for the Indians.

All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.