Several contenders could use a boost in the slugging department, especially the Padres and A's. Let's take a look at potentially available power bats for the trade deadline.
- Prince Fielder, Brewers. Fielder has shown less power than the others on this list, with a slugging percentage of just .437. Still, he gets on base and has slugged over .600 in multiple seasons. He has $6.7MM left on this year's contract and will get a raise in arbitration after the season. Fielder obviously won't come cheap, if he's even made available.
- Lance Berkman, Astros. He's not showing power yet this year and has $11.2MM left on his contract. And that's if he backs down from the idea of demanding his option be exercised upon a trade.
- Paul Konerko, White Sox. Konerko's .610 SLG ranks fourth in the American League, so in that regard he's the best available power bat. Obstacles: he's owed $7.6MM and has a full no-trade clause. With a surprising .583 SLG, Konerko's teammate Alex Rios is another consideration. Rios is having a fine year, even if U.S. Cellular is giving his bat a boost. His contract still has over $56MM through 2014, and he can block trades to six teams. Andruw Jones should be widely available, though he's fared poorly since May 1st.
- Corey Hart, Brewers. Hart somehow leads the NL with 15 home runs. Like Fielder, the Brewers might prefer to keep the arbitration-eligible outfielder around for 2011 if they want to contend.
- Kelly Johnson, Diamondbacks. Arizona's second baseman is also arbitration-eligible after the season. He's plenty valuable, but keep in mind he's hitting a more reasonable .254/.361/.429 since May 1st. Johnson's teammate Adam LaRoche should be attainable, though he's down to .250/.344/.443.
- Luke Scott and Ty Wigginton, Orioles. Both players are slugging over .500 and should be available. Scott is under team control through 2012, but he's already earning $4.05MM. Wiggy is owed $2.2MM through the rest of this season.
- Jose Guillen, Royals. He's hitting just .213/.322/.394 since May 1st. Guillen is owed the same amount as Konerko, but could probably be had for just a slight amount of salary relief. More interesting is Guillen's teammate David DeJesus, who's hitting .306/.378/.461 on the season. He can be controlled through next year, so the Royals should get something useful in return.
- Austin Kearns, Indians. Kearns is a cheap rental with less than $500K remaining, and he's hitting .306/.380/.482. Kearns' teammate Russell Branyan has a .463 SLG, if you prefer 1B/DH power.
- Ryan Doumit, Pirates. The Bucs' backstop is at .281/.366/.461 on the season. He's got about $7.8MM left through 2011.
- Others with pop: Jim Edmonds, Hunter Pence, Rickie Weeks, Garrett Jones, Ryan Raburn, Carlos Lee, Mike Lowell, Travis Hafner, Lyle Overbay, Jose Lopez, and Miguel Tejada. For now we've left the Blue Jays, Nationals, and Cubs off the list, but that could change.
If the Jays start to slip in the near future, might be smart to open up shop early – encarnacion, bautista, buck, overbay, gonzalez have all shown good power and all play different positions to fill any team’s short-term needs. or if any team is looking long-term, there’s this guy named vernon wells…;)
correct me if I’m wrong but Pence won’t be a free agent until after the 2012 season!? Or is it even 2013? Why would they be willing to move him when they’re not even 100 percent on board with moving their expensive veterans?
Makes zero sense for the Sox to move Rios. They’ve been waiting 5-6 years for a real CF and now that they have one and he’s producing unlike the rest of the offense, they’re just going to deal him? Besides, reloading should start with good players up the middle.
He’d be the last of the $4M+ salaried players on the team I’d move and then only for a top-10 prospect.
If and when Kenny starts dealing people away, if he can find someone to take on his contract and can get anything in return, rios will be dealt. I doubt Kenny would think too long on that one. But it’s not going to happen. His contract is too large.
I don’t think that’s true. I think Rios is in the long-term plan. If he wasn’t, Kenny wouldn’t have taken on that large contract when he claimed Rios off waivers. He knew that contract would be difficult to trade no matter what kind of production Rios has.
How many HR’s could Luke Scott hit in NY? They could clearly afford him and never seem to mind moving prospects, could even tolerate the hot/cold streaks that he is prone to go into over the course of his career.
Next question.. Would Angelos & Co. move him to the Yankees? He would be far cheaper than any other reliable bat prospect wise that has a decent track record and actually performs and is better (IMO) than Glass Man Johnson they already have even if he does get back this year.
I doubt they’ll deal him in division, and the Yankees don’t match up real well with them in terms of prospects.
I fail to see how kelly johnson is considered a power bat…he had 2 good power months this year and now hes a power bat -_-
So Tim, you mentioned the A’s and Padres…which of these players do you see either of those teams pursuing? The A’s only really have LF open unless Sweeney and Raj Davis start platooning in CF and they only use Cust (who’s heating up) at DH against RHP only. Even still they arent moving Barton from 1B anytime soon, so really only Corey Hart is the only non-1B position player they could even find a place for. Ty Wigginton too, but its not a very good list for a defensive-first team.
The Orioles need a Prince Fielder type bat and the Brewers need pitching. Sounds like a perfect match to me…
Your team really needs José Guillén. Not only is he a steady, productive bat, but he has also played right field. He’s a clubhouse leader, a good example for younger players. Call up Dayton Moore right now and offer him two – no, three – of your best prospects for Hosey (as the Royals fans have lovingly nicknamed him), because that’s what it’ll take to get a deal done. So get on the phone to your team’s GM right now and threaten to cancel your season tickets if he blows the chance to pick up a player who can solve your team’s problems for a moderate price.