MLB Players Most Likely to be Traded

Which Players Are The Most Likely to be Traded?

With Opening Day less than three weeks away, several would-be contenders still have holes to fill in their rosters. Yet, the flurry of minor open-market signings that occur annually just after the opening of Spring Training are over, and only the dregs of the free-agent class remain. For those teams who still want to add a meaningful piece, then, the only avenue may be to pay for that commodity by buying what another team is selling.

Of course, no team needs to make the bold gamble of trading for a big-name player right now. Most high-profile deals will take place at or around the July 31 deadline. Still, there is value and entertainment in musing upon which key Major Leaguers will change teams at some point this season.

Here, then, are nine intriguing players whose teams could send them packing in some sort of deal this season, especially if the respective clubs are poorly positioned to compete in mid-summer.

9. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, San Diego Padres: This is the most obvious choice, so let us dispense with it first. Gonzalez has one year and a club option remaining on his current contract, and would cost the Friars $10.35 million over that span. The consensus is that Gonzalez will not stay in San Diego after 2011, though, and so it falls to new Padres GM Jed Hoyer to get peak value for Gonzalez before it’s too late. Hoyer may not get a better chance to do so, and so when the Red Sox call with a sweetened offer sometime this summer, it would come as no surprise if Hoyer pulled the trigger.

8. Carl Crawford, OF, Tampa Bay Rays: Crawford, the speed demon who swiped six bases in one game last season, is a perfect candidate to be traded. He is in the last year of his current contract, plays on a small-market team and can add elite leadoff production and the league’s best defensive left fielder’s glove to a team that could desperately need it.

7. Lance Berkman, 1B, Houston Astros: The Astros’ problems run far too deep for new manager Brad Mills to fix them, and they will probably flounder toward the bottom half of a weak National League Central this season. Berkman, 34, is in the last year of a six-year contract and will make $14.5 million. His option, a $15-million albatross of a salary for his 35-year-old season in 2011, will not be picked up by anyone. If and when Houston falls from contention, Gm Ed Wade may look to unload Berkman on a contender bent on adding a bat. That is a tall task, because of Berkman’s growing injury history (he may miss Opening Day with a knee injury), his age and his no-trade clause. Assuming Berkman agrees to waive his no-trade provision, however, he could lead a parade of aging stars with bloated contracts who will exit Houston this season.

6. Ted Lilly, SP, Chicago Cubs: Lilly could be another veteran leading an exodus from a big-market NL Central club. Chicago has a lot of money coming off its books after 2010 in the persons of Lilly and first baseman Derrek Lee. Both have no-trade protection, but could choose to waive those rights if the Cubs fall far enough behind St. Louis to consider trading them. Lilly had a tremendous season in 2009, and would fetch a strong return for Cubs GM Jim Hendry if the time to deal him did arrive.

5. Adam Dunn, 1B/OF, Washington Nationals: Dunn had to wait half a decade for baseball to truly embrace the on-base percentage revolution, but now that it has, teams can genuinely understand what the towering slugger and his 224 home runs since 2004 add to a team. In the second and final year of his Washington deal, Dunn will be a very attractive left-handed bat for some team needing punch during the stretch run.

4. Ben Sheets, SP, Oakland Athletics: Sheets is this year’s Matt Holliday, for A’s GM Billy Beane. Although ostensibly gambling on Sheets’ repeated injuries subsiding long enough for him to regain his dominant form, Beane probably signed the right-handed hurler strictly for the purposes of getting great value for him around the trade deadline. If the A’s surprise everyone by battling for supremacy in a suddenly very weak American League West, Beane can hold on to Sheets and ride him into October. If not, however, Sheets could well end up joining any number of teams with playoff potential but shallow rotations.

3. Brandon Inge, 3B, Detroit Tigers: Inge strikes out too much and walks not enough to be an especially valuable offensive player, although he does have six straight double-digit home run seasons and swatted 27 last year. More pertinent is his defensive prowess and versatility. He is a truly exceptional defensive third baseman, and as recently as 2008 he caught 60 games very effectively. He also played 13 games in center field that year, further illustrating his athleticism. Inge’s contract is up after 2010, and Detroit could well find value for Inge on the trade market at the deadline.

2. Mike Lowell, 3B, Boston Red Sox: Lowell is slated to make $12 million in the last year of his current contract, and with both Kevin Youkilis and Adrian Beltre on board, he does not have a job in Boston. The Sox would love to move him, and might even eat some of that salary, but they would need to find a team willing to take him on. The Florida Marlins have a reported interest in re-acquiring him, but finding the right price on both sides of the deal could be tricky.

1. Roy Oswalt, SP, Houston Astros: Oswalt is a one-time superstar, but given his persistent problems with back injuries over the past few seasons, he will not fetch Houston the same value as Berkman. Still, if Wade gets a chance and Oswalt waives his no-trade clause, the Astros could look to ship their long-time ace to a contender and begin to rebuild a fairly miserable farm system.

Matt Trueblood

Which Players Are The Most Likely to be Traded? March 21, 2010 – Matt Trueblood With Opening Day less than three weeks away, several would-be contenders still have holes to fill in their rosters. Yet, the flurry of minor open-market signings that occur annually just after the opening of Spring Training are over, and only [...]