If all else fails, teams looking for pop can usually shoehorn a slugger into a first base and/or DH role, and it’s easier to carry such players with the knowledge that rosters will expand in fairly short order. Last year, we saw Mike Napoli and Brandon Moss move at the deadline. But is the demand there this time around?
Truth be told, there aren’t a lot of situations that scream for improvement. John Jaso hasn’t been stellar for the Pirates, though Sean Rodriguez has made for a useful companion and the team has top prospect Josh Bell on hand (if it’s willing to trust him in the field). It’s hard to imagine the Nationals giving up on Ryan Zimmerman — and we haven’t heard any chatter to suggest it — but he is hurt and hasn’t been effective, while lefty bench bat Clint Robinson isn’t matching last year’s productivity. Justin Bour has shown well for the Marlins, but he’s not being trusted to face southpaws and could probably stand to be paired with a better platoon mate than the struggling Chris Johnson (though the return of Dee Gordon will effectively deepen the overall infield mix). The Astros haven’t really landed on a first baseman, but the team may have already made its corner infield move with the signing of Yulieski Gurriel. With the loss of Prince Fielder, and the team’s seeming lack of interest in giving Joey Gallo a shot, perhaps the Rangers shouldn’t be counted out.
If those or any other organizations go hunting for new bats, here are some of the names they might consider:
Rentals
Logan Morrison & Steve Pearce (Rays), Adam Lind & Dae-ho Lee (Mariners), Mark Reynolds (Rockies), Justin Morneau (White Sox), Michael Morse (Free Agent)
- We considered Pearce in the discussion of second basemen, and he’ll probably also appear as a corner outfield option, but perhaps he’s best considered as a somewhat unique, floating, semi-regular slugger. He’s a health risk, but he’s also very affordable and is flat-out raking this year (.324/.393/.553).
- Morrison and Lind haven’t done a whole heck of a lot at the plate in 2016 — at last look, each carried an 88 OPS+ — but they’re rental pieces that could hold some appeal as lefty bench bats. Much the same holds for Reynolds, albeit from the right side. His .277/.345/.438 batting line is obviously propped up by the advantages of altitude, but he could still garner consideration.
- Lee has been hitting, and doing equal damage against pitchers of both kinds, so it’ll be interesting to see if another organization takes a liking to the 34-year-old slugger — who is owed just $1MM this year. It’s not clear from public reports whether he’ll be controllable after the season, but odds are his minor league contract stipulates that he must be put back into the free agent pool.
- Morneau is a mystery — he has taken just 38 professional plate appearances since his offseason elbow surgery — and he’s 35 years old. There’s not much chance that he’ll do anything in the next ten days to prompt a deal, let alone that the White Sox will look to trade him in that time. But if he starts putting up numbers and Chicago falls back in August, the veteran first bagger could conceivably be moved in August.
- It still seems a bit odd that Morse hasn’t signed since his early-season release by the Bucs, but he is 34 years old and may not be interested in taking a minor league deal. It’s tough to see a contender calling with a MLB offer at this stage.
Future Control
Chris Carter (Brewers), Danny Valencia & Yonder Alonso (Athletics), Byung-ho Park & Kennys Vargas (Twins), Brett Wallace (Padres)
- Teams looking for pop could well zero in on Carter, who can also be kept around for two more years via arbitration. He’s producing right at his career rates, which means a borderline OBP and loads of long balls.
- Valencia has barely cracked 100 innings at first, but he’s beginning to see a bit of action there and clubs could consider him in that role (at least on a part-time basis) as a way to get the bat in the lineup. Both he and his teammate, Alonso, have another year of arb eligibility remaining. And they are headed in opposite directions, with Valencia slumping through July while Alonso has posted .800+ OPS figures in each of the last two months.
- The Twins don’t seem particularly likely to discuss either of their two young DH candidates, and other organizations don’t seem particularly likely to come calling. San Diego would surely be willing to listen on Wallace, but he hasn’t followed up on last year’s short-sample success and his two years of future control don’t carry any significant value.
Big Contracts
Billy Butler (Athletics), Joey Votto (Reds), Mark Teixeira & Alex Rodriguez (Yankees), Albert Pujols (Angels), Joe Mauer (Twins), Ryan Howard (Phillies)
- Of the players listed here, Butler might be the likeliest to be traded. He has enjoyed a rebound of sorts over the last two months or so, but overall he has been even less productive this year than last. As a pure DH who is owed $10MM this year and next, it’s far from clear that he’ll be targeted.
- The remaining names are all largely implausible trade pieces for somewhat varied, but somewhat overlapping reasons. All have produced at times since signing their monster contracts, but only Votto (who has emerged from his early-season malaise) is putting up big numbers at present — and he not only has gobs of cash still left on his deal, but possesses a full no-trade clause that he doesn’t seem inclined to waive.
Dream On
Freddie Freeman (Braves), Paul Goldschmidt (Diamondbacks), Wil Myers (Padres), Jose Abreu (White Sox)
- I feel compelled to mention these three players, if only to check all the boxes, but there are really no plausible scenarios where they end up moving. That’s due in some part to the lack of demand, but also their teams’ stances. Braves GM John Coppolella prefers Freeman to his own right arm; Goldschmidt is one of the most valuable assets in the game and plays for a club that hopes to contend again soon; and Myers constitutes the signature addition of Pads GM A.J. Preller’s tenure. There’s probably at least some minute chance of Myers being dealt, but with possible extension talks on the horizon it’s a poor bet.
- That brings us to Abreu, who is in something of his own category. We’ve heard that the White Sox are prepared to listen on most of its roster, and it doesn’t seem that Abreu is being put behind glass with a select few others. He has turned things around after a rough start, and though he no longer looks to be quite the elite asset that he once was, Abreu would still draw significant interest given his affordable control. But I’m still not convinced that Chicago is going to part with the slugger for an equivalent-value package, so I’m shoe-horning him in this category.
Might as well add Encarnacion to this list if we are adding the Goldschmidts of the world into this paradigm
Blue Jays have a good chance of making the playoffs so Edwin’s pretty much there rental player. Then he signs with Boston for a big payday
Should the mets be looking at a first baseman? Who knows what they’re going to get out of Duda when he comes back and while Loney has been more than serviceable I don’t see why the shouldn’t at least take a look at this market
I know Abreu is more of a 1B/DH player but would he hold any value to an NL team that would stick him in left?
Highly doubt it. He won’t come very cheap in terms of prospects. Would you risk a couple good prospects for an unknown like that? I certainly wouldn’t.
If I were Dayton Moore I would dangle Hosmer he’s probably gone after next year anyway and Morales should be available now.
Nobody to replace Hosmer because Dozier or O’hean not ready.
Dozier is ready and so is Fuenmayer . If Hosmer were traded I imagine you could hold onto Morales through the year. Point is this team needs an infusion and their best trade chips are Hosmer, Cain if healthy and Wade Davis and all will be gone after 2017. If you could get say a package including Profar from the Rangers I would jump on it. Doesn’t hurt to listen to offers.
Waiting for Braves4life1 to come in and present a “Braves get: Paul Goldschmidt and Jake Lamb, Diamondbacks get: Julio Teheran.” deal.
You know he’s coming with something like that!
And I thought the Miller deal was highway robbery, if this would actually happen. And no, I’m not saying it will happen.
I know…You’re not him!
And two full time premium first baseman should be good for any NL team. Haha
Lol!!!
I’d add Jaso to the list of tradable assets. Would be a good way to clear a spot for Bell.
2nd paragraph.
I read the article 🙂
All that says is that the Pirates would be looking for an upgrade if it wasn’t for Bell and SeanRod due to Jasos “less than stellar” play, not that Jaso would be a trade candidate himself.
Yeah the if the Pirates would trust Bell in the Field line was a weird one. Josh Bell is a fine defensive player.
Sorry, wasn’t sure if it was an oversight.
Josh Bell isn’t a fine defensive player at first, he’s passable at best. Better in the OF
Indians should try to Include Carter in the possible Lucroy trade. Bradley & Nellie Rodriguez are still 2 years away. Indians may trade Bradley in the Lucroy package, if so Nellie becomes 1B of the future for the & need a stop gap 1B. Napoli is a FA to be & Santana has just an option year left on his contract.
I always hate seeing people like Billy Butler who was a fan favorite of a team when they sucked (Royals), end up regressing really bad. I enjoyed seeing how much love he got when the ASG was in Kansas City a few years back and everyone was chanting his name to get put in. That, to me, is what it is all about. Enjoying the game.
To all the GMs reading this article the numbers on Lind are very misleading I promise. He is really good, heck he hit a walk off homer for us the other day and another one that helped us win another game. Ignore the numbers he is great and you can have him for virtually nothing. Please just take him I promise he will help you win a game.