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Looking for left-handed relief?  Here's a look at the projected trade market.

• Aaron Laffey is doing a nice job against southpaws for the Indians, and he's under team control for the foreseeable future.  Rafael Perez should also be available, but he hasn't been effective in a while.
• The Pirates could move Jack Taschner and Javier Lopez.  Taschner has strong peripherals against lefties, aside from hits allowed.
• Matt Thornton has been dominant and is capable of closing, but the White Sox might want him around for next year.  He has a reasonable $3MM club option.
• The Orioles can offer a pair of veteran southpaws in Will Ohman and Mark Hendrickson.  Ohman sports a 0.00 ERA, but he's walked 5.4 per nine.
• The Dodgers' George Sherrill is a non-tender candidate after the season, as he's earning $4.5MM this year.  He's had a rough year so far, with 12 walks and 15 hits in 13 innings.  The Dodgers have a more appealing lefty in Hong-Chih Kuo, who is superb when healthy.
• Teams would probably line up for the Brewers' Manny Parra, but he's currently in the rotation while Doug Davis is on the DL.

Cubs GM Jim Hendry recently explained to the Chicago Sun-Times that he'd like to add a right-handed reliever, but they're hard to come by on the trade market.  For the Cubs and other interested teams, which righty relievers might be out there soon?

• Kyle Farnsworth has done tolerable work so far this year.  He's being paid $4.5MM, plus a $500K buyout after the season.  The Royals would probably eat a significant portion.  The Indians will have to get creative to move Kerry Wood, who is earning $10.5MM.  The Orioles' Koji Uehara was recently activated from the DL.  At $5MM, the O's would presumably be happy to move a portion of his contract.
• If the White Sox decide to sell, they could potentially blow up their bullpen.  Tony Pena, Bobby Jenks, J.J. Putz, and Scott Linebrink would have varying degrees of trade value.  The Astros could do the same, with Matt Lindstrom the most attractive piece.  The Brewers have inventory, but no one too useful.
• The Mariners have three controlled, quality arms in David Aardsma, Brandon League, and Mark Lowe.  Lowe is currently on the DL with a back injury.  If the Ms start looking to next year, one of the three might be traded.
• The Pirates could look to flip many of their recently-signed free agent relievers, including Octavio Dotel, Brendan Donnelly, and D.J. Carrasco.  Donnelly should return from an oblique strain this week.
• Should the Diamondbacks send up the white flag, Aaron Heilman and Chad Qualls could hit the market.

Some names – Adrian Gonzalez and Roy Oswalt for example – have already surfaced in trade rumors. But some of the players we'll hear about in trade talks this summer have yet to appear. To find out when we should have a good sense of who is available, let's look back to last summer and see when some of the biggest names first appeared in rumors:

• Jake Peavy – Peavy was essentially involved in non-stop trade rumors from the 2008-09 offseason until his near-deal to Chicago in May. Things quieted down for a couple months until the two clubs successfully pulled the deal off in July.
• Victor Martinez – V-Mart first came up in trade rumors around this time last year, when Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports said the Red Sox had inquired on the catcher and exchanged names with the Indians.
• Cliff Lee – The buzz around Lee started early on. Danny Knobler of CBS Sports reported that executives around baseball were chattering about a possible trade on April 24th. That was three weeks after MLBTR's Tim Dierkes wondered aloud if the Indians would deal him.
• Roy Halladay, the player everyone was talking about last summer, wasn't on anyone's radar as an early trade candidate. It wasn't until July that then-GM J.P. Ricciardi told reporters he'd listen to offers for the Blue Jays' ace.

Some of the players we're reading about now will remain in the rumor mill non-stop for a few months, but we haven't necessarily heard all the big names – there could easily be some surprise trade candidates to come.

Free agent reliever Juan Cruz is having season-ending shoulder surgery today, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.  Olney says Cruz has a cyst in his shoulder and should be ready for winter ball.

Cruz, 31, was released by the Royals on April 23rd.  They're on the hook for his $3.25MM salary this season, plus a $500K buyout for his 2011 option.  The injury explains why the Royals gave up on him after five appearances this year and he did not sign elsewhere after his release.

With more and more young players signing long-term extensions that buy out arbitration and free agent years, the amount of talent in future free agent classes isn't as impressive as it could be. Here's a list of players who would have been free agents for the first time after this season (meaning they will accrue their sixth full year of service time in 2010), but instead are still under contract for another year or two (or more)…

• Joe Blanton: The Phils have Blanton under contract for $17.5MM total in 2011 and 2012. There's plenty of value in being a league average workhorse, so he might have been able to find more on the open market.
• Zack Greinke: Kansas City owes the reigning Cy Young Award winner $13.5MM in both 2011 and 2012. He would have been the most sought after free agent in years, and would have been in a position to challenge CC Sabathia's $161MM record deal.
• Dan Haren: Arizona wisely locked up their ace, and will pay him $12.75MM in both 2011 and 2012. They also hold a $15.5MM option for 2013 ($3.5MM buyout). Haren would have been in line for a deal similar to the five year, $82.5MM contracts signed by John Lackey and A.J. Burnett, if not more.
• Maicer Izturis: The Halos control him for the next two seasons at just $6.9MM total.
• Scott Kazmir: He's under contract for $12MM in 2011 with a $13.5MM club option for 2013 that could be bought out for $2.5MM. Could he have done better than one year, $14.5MM guaranteed on the open market? 
• Yadier Molina: The youngest Molina brother will earn $5.25MM in 2011, and St. Louis will presumably pick up his $7MM option for 2012. Given the dearth of quality catchers, he definitely would have found more than $12.25MM on the open market.
• Justin Morneau: He'll earn $14MM each year from 2011-2013. The market for players with Morneau's skill set has dropped off considerably, but his age (still just 29) would have been a help.
• Brandon Phillips: It feels like he's been around forever, but Phillips wouldn't have been eligible for free agency for the first time until after this season. The Reds owe him $11MM in 2011, then have to decide between $12MM option or a $1MM buyout for 2012.
• Alexis Rios: Would Rios have been able to the match the $50MM he's owed through 2014?
• Ramon Santiago: Detroit owes their utility infielder $1.25MM next season. Not bad scratch for a bench player.
• Grady Sizemore: Cleveland locked Sizemore up super early in his career, and still have him under contract for $7.5MM next year with an $8.5MM option for the year after. He would have been one of the most sought after free agents after the season.
• Chris Snyder: He's guaranteed $6.5MM after this season, possibly more if the D'Backs pick up $6.75MM option for 2012.
• Huston Street: He has yet to pitch this year, but Colorado owes their closer $15.3MM over the next two seasons, and there's also a $9MM mutual option for 2013. Considering his shoulder injury, he's probably glad to have the guaranteed money coming to him.
• Nick Swisher: The Yanks owe Swisher $9MM for 2011, then have to decide between a $10MM salary or a $1MM buyout for 2012. He probably would have been able to find more than that as a free agent.
• Kevin Youkilis: The Red Sox control their first baseman for $12MM in both 2011 and 2012, then could retain him for 2013 with a $13MM option or a $1MM buyout. He would have bested that on the open market.
• David Wright: The Mets have their franchise player under contract for two more years at $29MM total. He might have been able to quadruple that as a free agent.

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contract for the info.

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A player with full no-trade rights controls his destiny.  Looking at Cot's Baseball Contracts, here's an attempted list of players with such protection for 2010.  If we missed anyone, contact us.

• Jason Bay
• Carlos Beltran
• Lance Berkman
• Ryan Braun
• Mark Buehrle – gains 10-and-5 rights on July 16th.  If traded, salary for 2010 and '11 increases by $1MM annually, and a guaranteed $15MM for 2012 is added. 
• Chris Carpenter
• Eric Chavez
• Ryan Dempster
• Yovani Gallardo - full through 2012
• Carlos Guillen
• Cristian Guzman
• Roy Halladay
• Todd Helton
• Matt Holliday
• Tim Hudson
• Raul Ibanez
• Derek Jeter
• Chipper Jones
• Paul Konerko
• Carlos Lee
• Derrek Lee
• Kyle Lohse
• Hideki Matsui
• Daisuke Matsuzaka
• Joe Mauer
• Magglio Ordonez
• David Ortiz
• Roy Oswalt
• Jake Peavy
• A.J. Pierzynski – gains 10-and-5 rights on June 14th
• Jorge Posada
• Aramis Ramirez – receives $1MM assignment bonus if traded.  2012 option for $16MM becomes guaranteed if Ramirez is traded and exercises his '11 player option.
• Manny Ramirez
• Mariano Rivera
• Alex Rodriguez
• Scott Rolen
• Jimmy Rollins
• C.C. Sabathia
• Jeff Samardzija
• Johan Santana
• Alfonso Soriano
• Mark Teixeira
• Chase Utley
• Jason Varitek
• Tim Wakefield
• Vernon Wells
• Carlos Zambrano
• Barry Zito

With the trade deadline still off in the distance, and few names remaining on the free agent market, May generally isn't one of the most exciting months for baseball's hot stove. However, as the month progresses, the standings will continue to take shape, and buyers and sellers should begin to emerge. With a look back at May 2009, let's predict the sort of stories we can expect this May….

• Underachieving teams will often show their managers the door around this time of year, with a few weeks of action in the books. Last season, the Diamondbacks fired Bob Melvin and the Rockies parted ways with Clint Hurdle. This year? A recent hot streak eased the pressure on the Mets' Jerry Manuel a little, and the Orioles' Dave Trembley is likely hoping for a similar run. His O's completed a sweep of the Red Sox yesterday, but are still just 7-18.
• A few deals that eventually took place prior to July's trade deadline were foreshadowed in May: the Phillies, reeling from the loss of Brett Myers, were aiming for a high-impact starter and would later land Cliff Lee. The Red Sox were considering moving Brad Penny, and ultimately released the right-hander in August. And, of course, Jake Peavy nixed a blockbuster deal that would've sent him to the White Sox, but eventually ended up in Chicago anyway.
• Speaking of Peavy, he was baseball's most-discussed trade target last May, an honor that this year could go to another Padre: Adrian Gonzalez.
• Occasionally, we'll see an under-the-radar early-season trade that ends up making an impact. On May 9th last year, the Athletics' acquisition of Adam Kennedy didn't turn many heads, but Kennedy enjoyed one of his best seasons, hitting .289/.343/.410 and stealing 20 bases for Oakland.
• We were already speculating last May about what Joe Mauer's next contract might look like, though Mauer didn't sign an extension until the spring of 2010. Cardinals fans hoping to hear good news about an Albert Pujols extension in the near future, take note. Your patience may be tested.
• The case of David Ortiz provides an explicit case of history repeating itself. A year ago, there was speculation that the Red Sox would have to explore other options to replace Ortiz's dwindling production. Big Papi turned things around in 2009, but similar opinions are being expressed this season after the 34-year-old once again started slowly.
• Don't forget that June's First-Year Player Draft is right around the corner. Last May, Stephen Strasburg dominated pre-draft coverage, while this year it's Bryce Harper's name that keeps popping up.

You can't do much with a month's worth of data, but we like to look anyway.  Wins Above Replacement is a good way to boil down any player's contribution to one number.  Pulling data from FanGraphs, these 2011 free agents are potentially raising their stock.  Of course, WAR isn't everything, as Felipe Lopez can attest after signing for a million bucks following a 4.6 win season.

• Carl Crawford – 1.4 WAR
• Paul Konerko – 1.4
• Alex Gonzalez – 1.3 (has a club option)
• Ty Wigginton – 1.2
• Johnny Damon – 1.2
• Brad Penny – 1.1
• Magglio Ordonez – 1.0 (has a vesting option)
• Jorge Cantu – 1.0
• Austin Kearns – 1.0
• Andy Pettitte – 0.9
• Carl Pavano – 0.9
• Miguel Olivo – 0.9 (has a club/mutual option)
• Jayson Werth – 0.8
• Orlando Hudson – 0.8
• Hiroki Kuroda – 0.8
• Andruw Jones – 0.8
• Derek Jeter – 0.7
• Miguel Tejada – 0.7

Sample size be damned, let's take a look at the players who are off to slow starts after being dealt in the offseason:

• Javier Vazquez: Vazquez has struggled mightily so far in his return to New York.  In five starts, the 33-year-old has an ERA of 9.78 with 7.8 K/9 and a ghastly 5.9 BB/9.  Something is definitely off with Vazquez, as the velocity on his fastball has dipped from 91.1 mph last season to 88.9 mph this year.
• Melky Cabrera: How about the Braves' end of the trade?  The Melk Man is hitting .195/.287/.221 so far in 88 plate appearances.  Cabrera has been a great value in years past, but at this rate he won't be worth his reasonable $2.6MM salary for 2010.
• Juan Pierre: It seemed as though the White Sox acquired Pierre from the Dodgers on the cheap this winter, both monetarily and talent-wise.  Los Angeles is on the hook for $10.5MM of the $18MM owed to the speedy outfielder in the next two seasons.  However, after having one of the best offensive seasons of his career in 2009, Pierre has an OPS of .447.
• Curtis Granderson: Somehow, the Yankees have the third highest winning percentage in the majors and two players on this list.  Granderson has a slash line of .225/.311/.375 thus far and will look to boost those numbers when he returns from the DL.  Meanwhile, Austin Jackson is doing quite well in Detroit.
• Julio Lugo: I told y'all we'd see Julio again.  The right-handed batter is OPSing .274 for the O's this season.  However, it should be noted that Lugo has made just 30 plate appearances thus far this season.  That's a rather diminutive sample size, even for a month-old season.
• Kevin Kouzmanoff: The A's picked up Kouzmanoff in a deal with the Padres in January.  The third baseman has started in 24 of Oakland's 26 games this season and is hitting .245/.284/.319.

What other traded players have struggled thus far in 2010?