Decisions, decisions... trade deadline 2023

[Brock Beauchamp]

I'm curious to get a feel for what people are thinking about the trade deadline and how to approach it. I doubt we're going to see many people going for a hard buy but what level of action do you want to see from Hoyer & Co in the next few weeks?

And if you're punting until just before the deadline, are you willing to accept less-optimal packages for key pieces or do you believe in making the decision early and acquiring the guys you want?

[Rex Buckingham]

I think with the division being so bad this year, you give yourself as much time as possible to make this decision.  Overall though, they need to be looking to probably consolidate some good, B-type prospects for some younger players who might move the needle a little more - not that I have any real idea who might be out there

[Transmogrified Tiger]

They'll be operating as if the team intends to be good in 2024, so while expiring contracts may not be very useful to that end, there's also complicating factors for almost all of them.  Also so few teams are likely to be sellers that I don't think you lose much by waiting a while, no one is doing anything of consequence for another couple weeks anyway with the draft and deadline prep.

 

Fulmer: Gone, hopefully they can follow the pattern from trading Martin and get a 2024 contributor(and, you know, keep them until 2024)

Stroman - Pick a lane, trading him makes the 2024 job harder but so does losing him for nothing.  Really need the right team so a trade return could have immediate impact(Minnesota?)

Bellinger:  Keep, unless the market is much more tilted towards sellers it's better to keep the comp pick and the option open to extend him.

Hendricks/Smyly: Pursue trading one of them if you can get a good deal, I'd probably settle for what I could get in the case of Hendricks but if his value doesn't get close to Smyly's then it's not a super consequential decision anyway.

 

Those are the headlines, but they've been a bit creative at deadlines before and I wonder if depending on the deal if they might consider trading one of these guys:

Alzolay: We've seen what a problem a bad pen can be, but at the same time last year's first half studs(Effross, Thompson) are now both basically dead so no reliever is forever.  Alzolay is sneaky old(28) and sneakily arb eligible, so if a team buys him as a relief ace I wouldn't be stunned if they tried to arbitrage him.

Morel: This basically boils down to the question of if Morel being a zero with everything besides the bat is something you expect to continue.  If it isn't then start gritting through his defense while he works it out, otherwise he's attractive if they're making a big decisive move

Madrigal: Speaking of sneaky, he's playing at a league average level and has shown he's fine defensively in multiple positions.  He doesn't fit a roster that plays Hoerner everyday and needs power from 3B though, so if some team has a similar caliber player that's a better fit then let's do it

Merryweather/Leiter: Leiter would basically be the Effross deal, betting against a lower stuff profile to get an immediate roster upgrade.  Merryweather would be a bet that a guy who will be 32 next year and has no proven MLB consistency isn't going to be fireman caliber again.

[Tryptamine]

Since they have apparently no interest in extending Stroman, he needs to be gone and should fetch a pretty good return, maybe a back end of the top 100 guy. Bellinger, Merryweather and Hendricks probably wont bring a particularly interesting piece individually, but packaged, they might bring a nice piece or two to slot into the top 15 of the farm.

 

 

[cincycub31]

I think they may end up being buyers and sellers both.  There are a lot of good but not great prospects that rule V eligible and not enough spots for them all.  It would be nice to package a few and get a useful ML piece or even a high upside lottery ticket. If you can get anything for Taillon from a desperate team then do it.  I think Smyly is probably gone along with bullpen guys on expiring deals.  Also depends on what offers you can get for Stroman, Hendricks, etc.  I don't think they sell just to sell this year unless things really start to fall apart in the next week or 2.

 

[Tryptamine]

I'd like to go with Stroman to Baltimore. The dream of getting Westburg is probably dead now that he's in the majors, but there's other nice options. If they're looking for the best prospect they can get regardless of proximity to the majors that is probably Samuel Basallo who is putting up a .294/.365/.486 line in A ball as an 18 year old. He's 1B/C right now, but probably more likely 1B in the future. If you're looking a bit closer to the majors then Heston Kjersted is probably the guy. He's a former 1st round pick putting up a .291/.386/.558 line in AAA, and before that a .310/.383/.576 line in AA. 

[Tim]

If we end up selling, my dream trade is Stroman to TBR for Caminero. However, Caminero's probably played his way out of any chance of being available.

[muntjack]

If you can't get a monster return,  Morel needs to stay.  That kind of upside is no where else on the roster.  

Would also prefer to hang on to Alzolay.  Building the pen from scratch every season is rough.  28 isn't young but it isn't old, either.