Major League Baseball's trade deadline, scheduled for Aug. 31, is now less than 10 days away. We've spent the early portion of this week highlighting 25 players who could be on the move, as well as determining which teams are likeliest to buy and which are likeliest to sell.
This deadline figures to be different from the norm. You're unlikely to see blockbuster deals, or trades where significant amounts of money changes hands because of the financial uncertainty facing clubs in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Teams don't have the same access to how prospects are performing at the alternate sites, either, which will complicate doing business. Still, it's a trade deadline and some deals will be made before it passes.
Part of the fun of the deadline is pretending to be a general manager. That means thinking strategically and identifying potential targets and returns. Because we could all use a distraction, we decided to propose four fake trades that we'd like to see go down.
Do note that this exercise is intended for entertainment purposes only and nothing more (though possibly less). Now, on to the fake trades.
1. The Cubs acquire RHP Ken Giles from the Blue Jays
The Cubs' rotation has been dominant in the early going, and has fueled their hot start. Chicago's bullpen, on the other hand, has been ineffective. Obviously Jed Hoyer and crew are going to address the bullpen in some way or another. Here's a suggestion that is entirely too clever for its own good: take a gamble on Ken Giles.
Giles, who is a free agent at season's end, has been limited by a strained forearm to two appearances this season. He's said to be making progress toward a return, but it's notable that his velocity was down a couple of ticks (from 96.9 mph to 94.5 mph) in those outings. In other words, there's a chance he isn't as good as he used to be, even if he's hearty and hale.
The Cubs could leverage that possibility by structuring a trade for Giles around his availability. If Giles makes a certain number of appearances, the Blue Jays receive a player to be named later; if he's limited, then the Blue Jays receive cash considerations.
There's precedent for conditional deals at the deadline. Diehards might remember the Rays trading for Jesse Crain, only for Crain to never make another big-league appearance afterward. More recently, Cleveland traded for Josh Donaldson days after he started a rehab assignment.
The Cubs would likely prefer a sure thing, but if the cost isn't prohibitive, then why not get both?
2. The Athletics acquire RHP Kevin Gausman from the Giants
Oakland has a top-10 offense and the second-best performing bullpen, but David Forst might want to add another starter if he's serious about holding off the Astros for the division title. Mike Fiers has shown reason for concern over six starts, and it wouldn't hurt to have another option in case Chris Bassitt, Frankie Montas, Jesus Luzardo, or Sean Manaea get hurt.
Gausman is off to a quality start this season, recording seven strikeouts per walk over his first 31 innings thanks in part to altered mechanics. Is he going to keep up that pace? Probably not. He does have a history of being a fine mid-to-back-end starter, however, so it's not out of the question that he could regress and still be deemed worthy of a spot in a playoff rotation.
3. Cleveland acquires OF Alex Dickerson from the Giants
Cleveland needs to get more offense from its outfield. Coming into Wednesday, Domingo Santana had the highest OPS+ (73) among the three primary outfielders; the other two (Jordan Luplow and the demoted Oscar Mercado) were at 0 and -22, respectively. Reserves Bradley Zimmer (68) and Tyler Naquin (72) haven't been much better, either. It's a small sample, but when you're playing a 60-game season you have to accept that everything is a small sample and proceed anyway.
Cleveland might prefer to sort through other internal options. Delino DeShields is back, and Daniel Johnson and Jake Bauers are a call away. If the front office goes external, then adding someone like Dickerson would make sense.
Dickerson's 80 OPS+ wouldn't seem to be worth the hassle of negotiating in these odd times, yet his history and his underlying metrics suggest he's due for better top-line results over the coming weeks. To wit, he's hitting the ball hard enough to rank in the 88th percentile in exit velocity, and he's doing so with an elevated launch angle that bodes well for his power output..
Presuming Dickerson does get his OPS+ closer to his career mark (108), he'd be a fine addition as an offensive-minded platoon outfielder whose team control runs through the 2022 season.
4. The Rays acquire RHP Richard Rodriguez from the Pirates
In an ideal world, the Rays could find a backstop to rent. Shy of that, the Rays could stand to reinforce a pitching staff that has been hit with injuries recently. Charlie Morton and Oliver Drake are working their way back, but Jose Alvarado will miss some time and both prospect Brendan McKay and righty Yonnny Chirinos are out for the season.
Rodriguez would give the Rays another reliable late-inning arm, and one who is under team control through the 2023 season. He doesn't have the pure stuff of a Nick Anderson or a Pete Fairbanks, but he does have a rising fastball and a slider that elicits swings and misses. Rodriguez also has a little funk with his delivery, too, which might make him more appealing to a front office that appears to be experimenting with vertical and horizontal approach angles.
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August 22, 2020 at 10:57PM
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