Early trade candidates

[Seattle or Bust]

Pete Alonso 1B NYM - The Mets are riding a little high but it's likely for not. They're getting lucky contributions thus far from a pitching staff built by duct tape. Alonso is in the last year of his deal and while he's never transformed into the truly elite bat he showed promise as a rookie, he's generally good for 40 homers and decent K/BB rates. Because the Mets aren't likely to be competitive, they'll likely try to get something decent back for Alonso to continue their mini rebuild. The M's should be looking to move on from Ty France and Alonso would be a nice addition in the middle of the lineup.

Christian Walker 1B AZ - Was the '23 WS run a fluke? Not sure. The DBacks have been marred by injuries, mostly to their pitching staff. Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez are out for an extended period of time, Zac Gallen is dealing with a hamstring problem. Does the lack of pitching hurt them moving forward? Guess we'll find out. We all saw what Walker did at T-Mobile. Dude stings the ball. He's currently slashing .283/.394/.496/.890 with 7 dingers in the final year of his contract. He'd be a welcome addition for the same reasons Alonso would. They're similar hitters... Alonso with a little more power... Walker the better defender.

Jurickson Profar OF SD - San Diego again appears to be falling well short of expectations. While you would be right to be weary of Profar given his career averages, he's been a different player starting from the latter part of last season into this season. He's currently slashing .301/.402/.485/.887 with 4 homers. He has 17 walks to 20 K's... the thought of rolling with Raley moving forward is giving me a headache so adding outfield depth might be a priority.

Isaac Parades 3B TB - Tampa appears to have finally lost its magic. Too many pitching injuries and not enough usuals performing with the bat to compete. Lets be clear, Parades is a stud. It would likely take something like Woo + a top prospect to lure him away from Tampa... Seattle needs a long-term solution at 3B moving forward and a trade like this might free them up to move Rojas back into more of a utility role + OF option. Parades is going to start getting expensive and a cash-strapped team like Tampa with limited starting pitching options could be lured by the control they might have over a Bryan Woo.

Randy Arozarena OF TB - For the same reasons as Parades. However, Arozarena is off to a horrid start. Does that diminish his value? Who knows. When right, he's a welcome addition to any OF in baseball.

Taylor Ward OF LAA - Ward flys a little bit under the radar, but he's been a 120-130 OPS+ guy when healthy over the better part of the last 3 seasons. The Angels are going to be really bad for a while... Trout is out with and injury again and they need to replenish pitching in the worst of ways. Not sure they'd trade with their rival, but Ward is kind of like 2017-2019 Haniger. Thus far, he's producing similar results.

Michael Conforto OF SFG - Conforto maybe isn't the elite player he once was. But when healthy he's likely a .250/.330/.400+ hitter at worst with the capability of hanging 20ish homers. He's an improvement over Luke Raley and it appears the Giants experiment in purchasing a competitive team failing will cause them to trade off some of the pieces with less control. Conforto is also in the final year of his deal and would come cheap.

Paul Goldschmidt 1B STL - The Cards are bad. The pitching staff is also held together by duct tap and their plan of buying a bunch of mediocre veterans isn't likely to work out. Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson are pitching well above their talent level and Sonny Gray is pitching out of his mind. Those things will level out... however, Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz are dreadful yet again. I think it will hit a point where STL finally parts with some veteran talent and goes through a mini rebuild. Goldschmidt is off to a slow start, but he's 10 for his last 24 with 3 doubles. He's also in the last year of his deal and is likely trade candidate if STL has a sell off.

[D-train]

I like most of those guys but rentals fly in the face of Jerry's 54% for decade goal.

[seattlefan-daBronx]

I see a lot of firstbasemen types on that list.

Take it you don't have any faith in Ty France to turn it around?!?!!?!

[Seattle or Bust]

I see a lot of firstbasemen types on that list.

Take it you don't have any faith in Ty France to turn it around?!?!!?!

I have more faith that Ty France will be heading to SDSU to coach by the end of the season than him sticking at 1B with that wet noodle of a bat.

[Donn Beach]

So he's actually gotten worse since all the Driveline fanfare

[Big_Maple]

I like Parades. A lot. But you're right that we would be diluting our starting pitching to land him, especially since he has about 3 more years before he is a UFA.

That would make Rojas an IF utility guy which is fine. He's everything I was hoping Toro would be, but was not.

I don't think we have enough in the farm to get 2 guys off that list. I'd rather get a long term stud at 3B, hope that France pulls it together and focus on a 1B FA in the offseason which is totally stacked. Cody Bellinger and Rhys Hoskins have opt outs, and then there's Goldshmidt, Alonso, Walker, Rizzo and Bell.

[Donn Beach]

Seattle needs a long-term solution at 3B moving forward and a trade like this might free them up to move Rojas back into more of a utility role + OF option.

That's superutility isn't it, a guy that can play both the infield and outfield

[D-train]

[D-train]

So he's actually gotten worse since all the Driveline fanfare

Between him and JP, Driveline stock is tanking.

[Coeurd’Alene J]

Mike Ford might be available

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/05/ ... hours.html