Red Sox Acquire Chris Sale In Exchange For Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Two Others
In one of the biggest Winter Meeting blockbusters in recent history, the Red Sox and White Sox have announced a trade that will send Chris Sale from Chicago to Boston in exchange for prospects Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Luis Alexander Basabe and Victor Diaz.
In acquiring Sale, the Red Sox will add one of the game’s most dominant pitchers to add to a star-studded rotation that’ll also feature David Price and Rick Porcello, with other options including Eduardo Rodriguez, Steven Wright, Drew Pomeranz and Clay Buchholz. As such, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski should have no shortage of rotation depth from which to deal if he desires to utilize that theoretical surplus to address other areas of need on the roster.
[Related: Updated Chicago White Sox Depth Chart and Boston Red Sox Depth Chart]
Sale will head from Chicago to Boston on the heels of a season in which he posted a 3.34 ERA with 9.3 K/9, 1.8 BB/9 and a 41.2 percent ground-ball rate in 226 2/3 innings. Since cementing himself as a top-of-the-rotation arm, Sale has posted a collective 3.04 ERA with 10.0 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9 in 1015 2/3 innings. He’s set to earn just $12MM next season, and the Red Sox will hold club options valued at $12.5MM and $13.5MM for the 2018 and 2019 seasons, respectively.
While there was concern earlier in his career that centered around Sale’s unorthodox delivery, his arm has held up better than nearly any pitcher in the sport. Since 2012, Sale’s innings total ranks 12th among 227 qualified starting pitchers. His 10.0 K/9 is eighth in that same span, and he ranks fourth in the Majors in fWAR and third in RA9-WAR in that time as well. His average fastball dipped a bit in 2016 but still checked in at a healthy 92.8 mph.
Sale drew heavy interest from a number of teams ranging from the Astros to the Braves to the Nationals, but as of late last night it was the Nats that reportedly had a real chance at pushing a deal across the line. The Red Sox seemingly upped their level of aggression overnight, however, and will emerge from the Sale sweepstakes without having been forced to surrender any member of their expected Opening Day roster. Washington made a last-ditch effort to salvage a deal, but fell shy, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. Given the intense interest, it’s no surprise that the Red Sox ultimately paid a heavy price to add the power lefty.
With three years of club control at a combined total of $38MM and that track record of dominance, Sale was one of the most valuable trade commodities in Major League Baseball, and he commanded an according price. Moncada, 21, looked overmatched in a brief September cameo with the Red Sox in 2016, but he rates as one of the top overall prospects in all of MLB and was listed as the game’s No. 1 prospect on the midseason Top 100 list from Baseball America. He currently rates as the No. 1 prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com.
BA dropped Moncada down to No. 2 on Boston’s list of top 10 prospects this offseason (subscription required and highly recommended) but noted that he possesses the size and strength of a linebacker with elite speed on the basepaths and a left-handed approach that elicits comparisons to Robinson Cano. Add at least average defense at second base to that blend of power and speed, and even if Moncada isn’t a dominant hitter from the right-handed side of the dish, there’s still legitimate star upside. MLB.com’s report on him likens him to “Cano with more speed” and notes that few middle infield prospects come with this type of offensive upside. He should immediately become the White Sox’ second baseman of the future, joining 2017 sophomore Tim Anderson to form an envy-inducing double-play tandem for years to come.
Moncada’s 2016 season was nothing short of brilliant, as he batted .294/.407/.511 with 15 home runs and 45 stolen bases in just 106 games between Class-A Advanced and Double-A before briefly jumping to the Majors late in the year. To this point in his minor league career, he’s stolen 94 bases in 109 tries — a success rate of 86.2 percent.
Signed out of Cuba to a record-shattering $31.5MM signing bonus (which came with a 100 percent luxury tax for the Red Sox), Moncada is a versatile switch-hitter that has spent the bulk of his minor league career at second base but has also been said to be capable of playing shortstop, third base and the outfield. That $31.5MM signing bonus was spread out over three years, but the Red Sox are reportedly picking up the tab on the remainder of the money he’s owed and all of the tax obligations as well.
Kopech, 20, ranks just two spots behind Moncada on that list of top Red Sox prospects over at BA. The former No. 33 overall pick (2014) generated plenty of buzz this year when he reportedly hit 105 mph in a minor league game, though Yahoo’s Jeff Passan tweets that some scouts believe that mark to be an embellishment. Nonetheless, Kopech regularly works in the triple digits with his fastball and reached Class-A Advanced as a 20-year-old in 2016, where he pitched to a dominant 2.25 ERA with 14.2 K/9, 5.0 BB/9 and a 42 percent ground-ball rate.
BA’s scouting report notes that one evaluator called him the best minor league arm he saw all season and likened his combination of elite velocity and a low-90s slider to a younger version of Mets ace Noah Syndergaard. There are some character questions — Kopech was suspended for use of a banned stimulant and later broke his hand in a fight with a teammate — but the talent is clear. MLB.com rates Kopech 67th in baseball at the moment and calls him a potential front-of-the-rotation starter, especially after working to simplify his mechanics in 2016. He’s a bit of a longer-term asset, as it’ll probably be 2018 before Kopech is ready to debut, but the upside the Sox are receiving here is significant.
Sticking on BA’s list of top 10 Red Sox prospects, Basabe checks in at No. 8. The 20-year-old’s twin brother (Luis Alejandro Basabe) was traded from Boston to Arizona in exchange for Brad Ziegler this past summer. Luis Alexander has enough range in center field to have a floor as a fourth outfielder but also has average or better tools across the board, per BA. Basabe, who hit .264/.328/.452 with 12 homers and 25 steals between Class-A and a brief five-game stint in Class-A Advanced, could stand to improve his contact skills (119 strikeouts in 474 plate appearances), but gives the White Sox a potential everyday center fielder down the line if he can find a way to put bat to ball with more regularity.
The 22-year-old Diaz, not to be confused with the former Mets outfielder of the same name, spent the 2016 season pitching for Boston’s Class-A affiliate and worked to a 3.88 ERA with 9.4 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 and a 58 percent ground-ball rate in 60 1/3 innings of relief work. He comes with the least fanfare of the four prospects in this deal but still has an upper 90s heater that has reached triple digits. MLB.com rated Diaz 28th on their midseason list of top Red Sox prospects, noting that in addition to a power fastball has a pair of inconsistent but promising secondary pitches in his slider and splitter. Diaz hasn’t made a start as a pro, so he seems like a pure relief prospect, but if he’s able to harness his control a bit and develop the secondary pitches, it sounds like there’s a potential late-inning relief arm there.
Stepping back and looking at the whole scenario from a bigger-picture perspective, the move certainly signals a move toward a rebuild for which many ChiSox fans have long clamored. Chicago GM Rick Hahn is reportedly open to trading anyone with fewer than four years of service time, which means first baseman Jose Abreu, closer David Robertson, third baseman Todd Frazier and outfielder/DH Melky Cabrera all figure to see their names bandied about in the days, weeks and months to come.
The greater question is whether Hahn & Co. will listen to offers on Sale’s now-former co-ace, Jose Quintana, who is controlled for four more years at a nearly identical total price. The Pale Hose also have one of the game’s most appealing outfield trade candidates in Adam Eaton, who is locked up through at least 2019 and has two club options on his highly affordable deal. If the White Sox want to go for a complete tear-down, the pieces are in place for Hahn to execute an accelerated rebuild given the level of MLB-ready (or near-MLB-ready) talent he can acquire in exchange for the most appealing assets on his top-heavy 25-man roster.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported the agreement and that Moncada and Kopech were in the deal (on Twitter). USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported that Basabe and Diaz were in the trade (on Twitter). Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com (Twitter links) and Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal (on Twitter) added context on the financial component of Moncada’s bonus.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Phillies Designate Michael Mariot For Assignment
The Phillies announced that they’ve designated right-hander Michael Mariot for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Joaquin Benoit, whose one-year deal is now official.
Mariot, 28, pitched 21 2/3 innings with the Phils last year but limped to a 5.82 ERA with a 23-to-14 K/BB ratio and a 31 percent ground-ball rate in that time. Mariot has an ERA just shy of 6.00 in 49 2/3 big league innings over parts of three seasons, but he has a flat 3.00 ERA with 9.3 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9 in parts of five Triple-A seasons over a total of 183 innings. That minor league track record should get Mariot some interest as a depth option elsewhere, but he’s out of minor league options so he’d have to break camp with a team next year or be exposed to waivers before he could be sent to the minors.
Phillies Sign Joaquin Benoit
DEC. 6: The Phillies have announced the signing of Benoit.
DEC. 5: Gelb reports that Benoit will earn $7.5MM on his one-year deal — the same amount he earned in 2016 (Twitter link).
DEC. 4, 11:59pm: Benoit’s deal is a one-year contract and it will be finalized when he passes a physical, Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
10:04pm: The Phillies are close to a deal with veteran reliever Joaquin Benoit, CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury reports. The contract is expected to be announced before the end of the Winter Meetings on Thursday.
Benoit’s 15th big league season was really like two seasons in one, as he struggled with both the long ball and his control over 24 1/3 innings with the Mariners before being traded to the Blue Jays in late July. In Toronto, Benoit turned things around in spectacular fashion, posting an 0.38 ERA, 9.1 K/9, 2.67 K/BB rate and just one home run allowed over 23 2/3 IP as a Blue Jay. He missed out on the Jays’ postseason run due to a torn calf muscle suffered in a bench-clearing brawl with the Yankees in late September.
Assuming a deal is finalized, the Phillies would be the seventh team Benoit has suited up for during his long career. The 39-year-old has somewhat flown under the radar as one of the best relievers in baseball in recent years, posting a 2.40 ERA, 3.56 K/BB rate and an even 10.0 K/9 over 427 bullpen innings since the start of the 2010 season.
As Salisbury notes, Benoit does have some closing experience but for now likely slots in alongside Pat Neshek as the veteran setup options behind Hector Neris and Jeanmar Gomez. Salisbury speculates that Benoit could give the Phils added depth so the team could shop Neris or Gomez; Neris in particular would draw a lot of attention on the open market, though Philadelphia would want a lot in return.
Red Sox Acquire Tyler Thornburg
10:00am: The teams have announced the trade. The Brewers will also receive a player to be named later or cash from the Red Sox.
8:20am: Tuesday morning at the Winter Meetings kicked off with some action, as the Red Sox reportedly agreed to a trade that will net them right-handed setup man Tyler Thornburg from the Brewers in exchange for third baseman Travis Shaw, minor league shortstop Mauricio Dubon and minor league right-hander Josh Pennington.
[Related: Milwaukee Brewers Depth Chart and Boston Red Sox Depth Chart]
Thornburg, 28, gives the Red Sox not only an imposing late-inning force but one that is under club control for the next three seasons, as he won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2019 season. The former starter had a breakout season in the Milwaukee bullpen last year, pitching to a 2.15 ERA with 12.1 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and a 32.4 percent ground-ball rate in 67 innings. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects a $2.2MM salary for Thornburg in his first trip through the arbitration process.
Late-inning relief help has been a priority for the Red Sox, who saw Koji Uehara, Brad Ziegler and Junichi Tazawa all hit free agency at season’s end and also went without 2015 trade acquistion Carson Smith in 2016 due to Tommy John surgery. Thornburg will give manager John Farrell an intriguing setup option to closer Craig Kimbrel. Thornburg figures to slot in alongside converted starter Joe Kelly and Matt Barnes as right-handed options for the time being, though there’s certainly room for Boston president of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski to add another relief arm to the mix.
The Brewers have now traded their three top relief arms in the past five months, sending Jeremy Jeffress to the Rangers, Will Smith to the Giants and Thornburg to Boston. As it stands, right-hander Corey Knebel could be in line to see save opportunities in Milwaukee, though the team could host an open competition there. Alternatively, Milwaukee could lure a second- or third-tier arm to their rebuilding club on an affordable deal with the promise of offering an opportunity to close out games. In addition to providing the Brewers with some needed veteran stability in the ‘pen, that tactic could also yield yet another midseason trade chip if he ultimately performs well in a high-leverage role.
The package that the Red Sox are giving up will be headlined by Shaw, who should slot in as the primary third baseman for his new organization. Shaw struggles against left-handed pitching and may well require a platoon partner, but he’s a controllable addition for Milwaukee GM David Stearns. Shaw hit .257/.325/.437 against right-handed pitching last year and showed potential 20-homer pop by hitting 16 homers in 530 plate appearances. He hit just .187/.235/.364 in 115 PAs against lefties, but he stands out as a solid if not well-above-average defender at the hot corner, depending on one’s preferred metric (+1.1 UZR, +10 DRS).
Most important, when it comes to Shaw, is that he’s controllable for another five years and won’t even be eligible for arbitration until after the 2018 season, making him an eminently affordable long-term piece. His inclusion in the deal opens a number of doors for both teams. In Milwaukee, it seems as though his acquisition definitively pushes Jonathan Villar off third base and over to second base, as has been suggested, thereby making Scooter Gennett either a bench piece or trade fodder himself. The Red Sox, meanwhile, could use Brock Holt and/or Pablo Sandoval at third base until Yoan Moncada proves ready to inherit the position on an everyday basis. Boston could also realistically look to pursue a different upgrade at third base, either via free agency or trade, as they look to field the best Opening Day roster possible in a season where they once again plan to push for a deep postseason run.
Dubon, 22, was a 26th-round pick by Boston back in 2013 but has risen to the point where he’s regarded as one of the organization’s top overall prospects. Baseball America rated him seventh (subscription required and recommended) among Boston farmhands earlier this offseason, writing that he doesn’t have one plus tool but has very good bat-to-ball skills and enough defensive ability to play an average or better shortstop. He’s also plenty versatile, having spent time at second base and in center field, making him a potential utility option in the Majors at the very least. He could open 2017 in either Double-A or Triple-A, depending on how aggressive the Brewers want to be with him. Dubon split the 2016 season between Class-A Advanced and Double-A, where he batted a combined .323/.379/.461 with six homers and 30 steals.
The 21-year-old Pennington was Boston’s 29th-round pick in 2014. While he didn’t crack the top 10 recently penned by BA, he did rank 22nd on MLB.com’s midseason list of Boston’s top 30 prospects. Per their report (via Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis), Pennington boasts a 70-grade fastball (on the 20-80 scale) but doesn’t get great movement on the pitch or command it especially well. They also note that he has the makings of an above-average curveball as well as a work-in-progress changeup. He’s a starter for now but could move to a short-relief role if that doesn’t pan out, and one can envision his velocity ticking upward further if that plays out. Pennington spent 2016, his age-20 season, with Boston’s short-season Class-A affiliate, pitching to a 2.86 ERA with 7.8 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9 in 56 2/3 innings.
Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald first reported that the two teams had agreed to a trade that would send relief help to Boston and Dubon to Milwaukee (Twitter links). Baseball America’s Josh Norris tweeted that Pennington was in the deal, and Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported (on Twitter) that Shaw was expected to be included. FOX’s Ken Rosenthal first tweeted that Thornburg was going to Boston.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Chris Colabello Rejects Outright Assignment, Elects Free Agency
The Blue Jays announced this morning that first baseman/outfielder Chris Colabello has elected free agency after rejecting an outright assignment.
The 34-year-old had a terrific season with the Jays in 2015, hitting .321/.367/.520 with 15 homers in a part-time role that afforded him 360 plate appearances. However, his 2016 campaign was rough on multiple levels, as he was first hit with an 80-game suspension for a failed PED test and then went just 2-for-29 with three walks and no extra-base hits in a total of 32 Major League plate appearances. Colabello broke into the Majors with the Twins in 2013 as a 29-year-old after spending nearly a decade on the independent circuit and has a career .257/.314/.424 batting line in 793 Major League plate appearances.
Reds Outright Tony Renda
The Reds outrighted second baseman/outfielder Tony Renda off their 40-man roster and assigned him to Triple-A, the team announced. The Reds now have 38 players and two open spots on their 40-man roster.
Renda came to Cincinnati last winter as part of the four-player trade package the Yankees sent to the Reds in exchange for Aroldis Chapman. He made his big league debut this season and posted a .463 OPS over his first 67 plate appearances in the Show. Originally a second-round pick for the Nationals in 2012, Renda has a .289/.361/.378 slash line over 2347 career minor league PA in the Cincinnati, New York and Washington farm systems.
Giants Sign Mark Melancon
4:54pm: Melancon will earn $4MM in 2017, $10MM in 2018, and then $14MM in both 2019 and 2020, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Twitter links). Melancon will receive a $20MM signing bonus, $12MM of which will be paid up front and the other $8MM deferred until after the contract is up. The deal contains a full no-trade clause, as per Alex Pavlovic of CSNBayArea.com. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the contract is that Melancon can opt out of the deal after the first two seasons, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports.
2:52pm: The Giants have announced the signing of Melancon, pending a physical, as John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets.
12:48pm: Melancon’s deal is for exactly $62MM over four years, tweets Rosenthal.
11:57am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (on Twitter) that it’s a four-year deal in the $62MM range for Melancon. That contract shatters the previous record by $12MM, though it of course isn’t likely to stand all that long given the other names available in free agency this winter.
11:42am: Melancon has agreed to terms with the Giants, and the deal will be finalized once he passes a physical, reports ESPN’s Buster Olney (on Twitter).
10:45am: The Giants are close to a deal with free agent closer Mark Melancon, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area tweeted recently that there was a belief in the organization had a strong belief that a deal would get done, and Les Shapiro of Mile High Radio first tweeted that Melancon was wrapping up negotiations with San Francisco. Melancon is represented by ISE Baseball.
[Related: Mark Melancon Free Agent Profile]
San Francisco made a run at Melancon prior to the non-waiver trade deadline this summer but came up short to the Nationals, who acquired him for lefties Felipe Rivero and Taylor Hearn. Bullpen struggles wound up being a defining characteristic for the Giants down the stretch, as Santiago Casilla in particular struggled late in the year and lost his hold on closer’s duties. Giants general manager Bobby Evans has implied publicly in the past that perhaps he should’ve made a stronger play to get Melancon into the organization, and it appears now that the Giants made the strongest push of any team to land the highly coveted Melancon in free agency. There are no numbers attached to reports on him just yet, but Melancon reportedly has received four-year offers worth more than $60MM, which would eclipse Jonathan Papelbon‘s four-year, $50MM mark and set a new record for a relief pitcher.
The 31-year-old Melancon (32 in March) has been an All Star in three of the past four seasons and has worked to a cumulative ERA of 1.80 across 290 innings in that time (plus 10 innings in the postseason). He doesn’t flash the extreme velocity and/or strikeout rates as free agent counterparts Aroldis Chapman and Kenley Jansen, but Melancon misses bats at a slightly above-average rate and also boasts tremendous control and ground-ball tendencies. In that four-year run of dominance, he’s averaged 8.3 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 to go along with a 57.4 percent ground-ball rate. Those immaculate ratios have led to 147 saves for Melancon since 2013, including an NL-best 51 in 2015. He also finished a league-high 67 games between the Pirates and Nats last season.
Turnover in the bullpen has long looked possible for the Giants, who saw stalwarts Casilla, Sergio Romo and Javier Lopez all hit the open market this winter. Melancon, of course, would immediately move to the top of the food chain in the San Francisco bullpen, where he’s likely to be joined by Hunter Strickland, Derek Law, Will Smith, George Kontos and Cory Gearrin. Steven Okert and Josh Osich are both present as left-handed options to fill out the ‘pen, while Chris Heston could try to crack the relief corps after a tough go of things in 2016.
Mariners Avoid Arbitration With Jesus Sucre
The Mariners have avoided arbitration with catcher Jesus Sucre by agreeing to a one-year, $630K deal, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports (Twitter link). The contract will pay Sucre $300K if he is sent to the minors.
Sucre was arb-eligible for the first time this winter, and he slightly exceeded MLBTR’s projection of a $600K salary. As a Super Two player, Sucre still has three more arbitration years remaining beyond the 2017 season.
Sucre, 28, appeared in just nine big league games in 2016 after suffering a fractured fibula in winter ball and then spending much of his time in the minors after his return from the disabled list. He’ll likely be the top catching option at Triple-A once again, as Mike Zunino and Carlos Ruiz will handle Seattle’s regular catching duties. Over 264 career plate appearances in the majors, Sucre has a .209/.246/.276 slash line.
Red Sox Exercise Club Option On John Farrell For 2018
The Red Sox have picked up their 2018 club option on manager John Farrell’s contract, president of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski told reporters (including WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford). 2017 was the last guaranteed year of Farrell’s contract, so he avoids any lame-duck status due to the Sox making the early decision to exercise the option year.
Farrell’s four years as Boston’s manager have been something of a roller-coaster, as the club won the World Series in his first season but then stumbled to last-place finishes in the AL East in both 2014 and 2015. That latter season was particularly trying for Farrell both on and off the field, as he took a leave of absence from August to the end of the year in order to get treatment for lymphoma (which thankfully went into remission last fall). Last season, Farrell led the Sox to the AL East title and, despite a rather ignominious sweep at the hands of the Indians in the ALDS, Boston certainly looks well-positioned to contend in 2017 and into the future.
Farrell has a 339-309 record as Boston’s skipper, and a 493-479 career record as a manager, counting his two seasons as the Blue Jays’ manager in 2011-12.
Dodgers Re-Sign Rich Hill
1:48pm: Hill gets a $2MM signing bonus and will earn $12MM in 2017, $16MM in 2018 and $18MM in 2019, according to the Associated Press.
12:02pm: The Dodgers announced today that they’ve officially re-signed left-hander Rich Hill to a new three-year contract. Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reported over the weekend that the two sides were closing in on a deal. Yahoo’s Tim Brown reports that Hill, an ACES client, will receive a $48MM guarantee over the life of the deal (Twitter link).
Hill, 37 next Spring, has had one of the most remarkable late-career renaissances in history, as he’s still just 18 months removed from pitching with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. Hill parlayed a September roll of the dice by the Red Sox in 2015 into a one-year, $6MM deal with the A’s last offseason. For Hill, even last year’s $6MM represented a life-changing number, as he’d never earned more than $1MM in a single MLB season. Prior to this deal, Hill had earned just over $9MM in parts of 12 big league seasons, per Baseball Reference.
Despite a groin strain and a blister issue that limited him to 110 1/3 regular season innings in 2016, he proved to be a steal for Oakland, who traded him to the Dodgers alongside Josh Reddick for three well-regarded young arms (Jharel Cotton, Grant Holmes and Frankie Montas) just before the non-waiver trade deadline.
Over his past 152 1/3 Major League innings (including the postseason), Hill owns a ludicrous 2.13 ERA. He’s racked up 184 strikeouts against just 44 walks in that time while also keeping the ball on the ground at a roughly league-average rate. While the durability concerns that accompany him are very real — Hill has made more than 20 starts just once in his career, back in 2007 — Hill was the only arm on the free-agent market that had the potential to pitch at the top of a Major League rotation. The Dodgers, in need of quality innings behind ace Clayton Kershaw (who missed two months with a back injury in 2016), can afford better than any club to take this level of risk on Hill.
With this re-signing, Hill will join Kershaw, Kenta Maeda and Julio Urias in the team’s Major League rotation next season, and the Dodgers are teeming with options beyond that quartet. Los Angeles has three injury-prone options that have proven to be quality arms when healthy in Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-jin Ryu, but reports have indicated that the Dodgers are shopping Kazmir and McCarthy. Other options for the fifth spot include Alex Wood, Jose De Leon, Ross Stripling and Brock Stewart, giving president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, GM Farhan Zaidi and the rest of the L.A. front office plenty of flexibility as they explore various trade scenarios this winter.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.