3 Players I Think Will Be Traded This Season
MLB Insider Matt's debut blog takes us through his likely trade candidates
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Trout!
Let’s face it, we’re 20 games into the season and already itching for trades. After the massive let down of the off-season that Scott Boras gave us, I need trading to start happening like Bobby Dalbec needs to continue to strikeout every AB. As an MLB Insider, it’s my obligation to you, the readers, to provide you insight nobody else has. There’s no sense in covering guys who are likely to get traded: anyone on the Marlins, anyone on the Athletics, Pete Alonso and anyone else on a 1 year contract. Unfortunately, I don’t actually believe that Mike Trout will get traded, as much as the baseball world wants to see it. He has publicly played the “loyalty to the org that drafted him card” and the Angels have stated they have no intentions of trading him. Despite him being the best player in baseball this year and worth a very handsome return (no not like Jared Jones handsome), the Angels will continue their cycle of mediocrity.
Brandon Lowe
It’s no secret that the Rays don’t love to pay top dollar for their players. Brandon Lowe has a $10.5M club option this upcoming season and $11.5M club option next year. An organization stuffed to the brim with infield prospect talent looking for playing time and ABs (Mead, Caminero, Aranda), Lowe doesn’t seem to fit into the team’s long-term plan. Lowe plays the strong side platoon starting almost every day against right-handed pitchers, but almost always sits on pine against lefties. Lowe being a career .219/.284/.436 hitter against LHP, it really is no surprise he doesn’t face them often. Lowe has battled injuries for the past few years since his breakout season in 2019 where he hit 39 home runs. Lowe has gotten off to a rather slow start, but still sports strong avg exit velos and a solid barrel %. Brandon is slow, doesn’t field all that well, but when he’s hot, he can be one of the most lethal hitters in baseball.
Potential suitors: Mariners, Mets, Pirates, Padres
Devin Williams
What do you mean!? The Brewers are in first place! Yeah, no thanks to Devin Williams. Williams coming off an incredible season winning the Trevor Hoffman Award for the National League’s best reliever. His 2023 line was quite impressive: 1.53 ERA, 37% strikeout rate and 25% K-BB – all of which put him top 7 across all relievers in baseball. Everyone was expecting big things for Williams in 2024 but, unfortunately, he picked up 2 stress fractures in his lower back with an expected recovery timeline of 12 weeks. This would mean we may not see Williams until late June or July. The Brewers are stuffed with solid bullpen talent with the likes of Uribe, Payamps and Megill set to be leaders. The Brewers starting rotation still leaves a lot to be left desired but young talent like Gasser and Misiorowski could help anchor the rotation with Peralta and Woodruff. The Brewers have traded elite closers before with Josh Hader being sent to the Padres despite the Brewers having a winning record at the time. This situation feels similar with Williams set to earn $10.5M next year if the Brewers pick up his club option.
Potential suitors: Padres (why not again), Yankees, Rangers
Lane Thomas
2023 was an overall weird year for Lane Thomas. Despite hitting 28 home runs and earning a bid to the All-Star game, he had a bleak slash line of .213/.274/.431 in the second half compared to his .302/.347/.497 first half. So which Lane Thomas is the real Lane Thomas? When Nationals GM Mike Rizzo was asked about why the Nationals didn’t trade Thomas at the deadline last season he said, “Lane is a 27-year-old player, I think that he's a late-bloomer, he's just starting to come into his own”. I can understand where he’s coming from. If your organization is continuously trading away talent for prospects, it’s rare that you’ll find success, especially in a division with the Braves who are set to be loaded with talent into the 2030s. With James Wood and Dylan Crews on the rise, it feels inevitable that the Nationals may go back on their word and trade Thomas off for additional pieces that will support their rebuild efforts. Thomas has 1 more year of arb after this season, so there should be many teams looking to add a RH bat with speed and upside.
Potential suitors: Mariners, Cardinals (is Jordan Walker a bust?), Padres, Astros
Honorable Mentions
- George Springer: Blue Jays need to take a step back and retool for the future. The AL East is only getting tougher and they’re not exceeding expectations like they once were thought to. Can’t expect the Jays will get much of a haul for Springer with 2 more years after this season at $22.5M per.
- Chas McCormick: I am a full-blown hater of his game. He got hot last year and was able to ride it for a while, but he has plummeted back to Earth this year. All of his bat to ball metrics are bottom 25th percentile and quite frankly I don’t think he’s in the Astros future plans.
- Thairo Estrada: Seems weird to think an organization would want to trade away a guy who is coming off 2 really solid previous seasons. The Giants haven’t built a team that can withstand the might of the Dodgers, the recent rise of the Diamondbacks, or the pockets of what the Padres are willing to spend. The Giants find themselves in a sticky situation, not like Reese McGuire, where there’s no end in sight. Trade away a piece here and there and try to build a youth movement around the likes of Kyle Harrison and Jung Hoo Lee.
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- Matt “the MLB Insider” Rosen