Major League Baseball’s offseason trade block is still in motion while we wait for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Cody Bellinger, Josh Hader, and Jordan Montgomery to sign free agent contracts worth an estimated nine figures.
Teams are anxious to acquire and sell, and we’ve already seen agreements including Juan Soto, Tyler Glasnow, Jarred Kelenic, Alex Verdugo, Tyler O’Neill, and more this month. However, there are still a ton of potential deals in the works.
You wonder, what possible deals?
Finding those willing customers and sellers is the first stage in his entire endeavor. There are undoubtedly more eager people than others (in both directions), and you might not agree with the teams we selected. However, we arrived at
Oakland and Atlanta Complete Another Trade
Atlanta Major League Receive: Paul Blackburn, LHP (with two years left to be eligible for arbitration)
RHP JR Ritchie (No. 35 pick in the 2022 MLB draft; No. 6 in Atlanta’s farm system) is acquired by the Oakland Athletics.
Until Atlanta and Oakland make a big move, the offseason isn’t over.
This time last year, there was the major Sean Murphy three-team deal. The A’s sent Matt Olson to Atlanta in March of last year. In addition, Oakland should give Atlanta’s starting pitcher a few more years before he becomes a free agent so that the Braves may potentially sign him to a long-term agreement.
Although Paul Blackburn’s overall statistics over the last two seasons (4.35 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 8.1 K/9) haven’t been great, he has had some encouraging extended
Yankees acquire Marlins’ borderline ace
LHP Jesús Luzardo (with three years left to be eligible for arbitration) is acquired by the New York Yankees.
Miami Marlins Receive: SS Roderick Arias (No. 6 prospect in Yankees farm system) and OF Spencer Jones (No. 1 prospect in Yankees farm system, per MLB.com)
It appears that the Marlins are open to dealing a top starter for a potential long-term enhancement to their lineup for the second consecutive winter.
This time, the player with three years of team control left is Jesús Luzardo, not Pablo López, who has two years left before becoming a free agent.
During the last two seasons, Luzardo has performed admirably, making 50 starts and posting a 3.52 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and 10.6 K/9. At the same period, Dylan Cease (record: 3.37 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 11.0 K/9) and Kevin
Boston Sends Minnesota Salary Relief and Relief Pitching
Red Sox in Boston Receive: 2B Jorge Polanco ($12 million club option for 2025; $10.5 million in 2024)
RHP John Schreiber (who still has three years to be eligible for arbitration) is acquired by the Minnesota Twins.
The Boston Red Sox can strengthen their starting rotation through free agency, which is something they sorely need to accomplish. There are still plenty of arms available, including Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, even if they don’t win the Yoshinobu Yamamoto sweepstakes.
But they’re going to have to trade for someone in order to upgrade at second base.
Thank goodness, Minnesota is willing to start a negotiation with the words “we’d love to take Jorge Polanco’s salary off your hands AND give you someone who might help you win your division in 2024.”
Not because the Twins don’t
Tampa Bay Keeps Cutting Salaries
2B Brandon Lowe ($8.75 million in 2024, $10.5 million club option in 2025, and $11.5 million club option in 2026) is acquired by the Los Angeles Angels.
Received by the Tampa Bay Rays are OF Jadiel Sanchez (ranked No. 22 in the Angels farm system by MLB.com) and RHP Chase Silseth, who has six years left before becoming a free agent.
The Rays of Tampa Bay would never completely give up on the forthcoming season.
Sure, they lost Manuel Margot and Tyler Glasnow in the trade, but they also acquired outfielder Jonny DeLuca, who played well in the minors the previous year and briefly appeared in the majors, and Ryan Pepiot, who has been reliable when healthy. In 2024, both men ought to be of assistance to Tampa Bay; their costs pale in comparison to what Glasnow and Margot would incur.
The Blue Jays Grow Desperate to Take Action
RHP Dylan Cease, who has two more years to be eligible for arbitration, and OF/DH Eloy Jiménez, who will cost $13.8 million in 2024, $16.5 million in 2025, and $18.5 million in 2026, are acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays.
Chicago White Sox Receive: SS Ricky Tiedemann (LHP), who is ranked as Toronto’s top prospect by MLB.com, and Toronto’s No. 12 prospect Josh Kasevich and first baseman Spencer Horwitz, the 16th-ranked prospect for Toronto
For the Blue Jays, the offseason has not been easy.
They attempted to acquire Juan Soto after losing Jordan Hicks, Matt Chapman, Kevin Kiermaier, Brandon Belt, Whit Merrifield, Hyun Jin Ryu, and Jordan Hicks to free agency. An attempt was made to sign Shohei Ohtani. Their goal is to bring Yoshinobu Yamamoto down. But so far, all I’ve encountered are dead ends. Additionally
Giants of San Francisco Acquire: RHP Shane Bieber (estimated $12 million; one year left to be eligible for arbitration)
Cleveland Guardians: RHP Carson Seymour (the No. 23 prospect for the Giants) and OF Vaun Brown (ranked No. 13 in the Giants farm system)
Let’s take note of Shane Bieber’s absurdly low Baseball Trade Values before we get into this transaction.
He still has one year left at almost the same prices as Corbin Burnes, but Burnes has a “surplus value” of 33.8 compared to Bieber’s 5.6. It seems a little absurd that if Baltimore was looking to trade for a one-year ace, it could supposedly acquire Bieber for Anthony Santander’s contract that was about to expire, but would have to
Dodgers acquire another expiring ace in trade.
Los Angeles Dodgers Receive:Â RHP Corbin Burnes (one year of arbitration eligibility remaining, estimated $14 million)
Milwaukee Brewers Receive: C Diego Cartaya (No. 3 in Dodgers farm system, per MLB.com) and RHP Nick Frasso (Dodgers’ No. 4 prospect)
Have we figured out yet whether the Brewers are actually trying to contend again in 2024?
They traded away Mark Canha for a relief pitcher in Double-A. They non-tendered both Brandon Woodruff (understandable with his shoulder injury) and Rowdy Tellez (a bit more surprising). They declined options on both Andrew Chafin and Justin Wilson. Aside from trading for a career .211 hitting journeyman in Jake Bauers, all they’ve done is re-sign 37-year-old Wade Miley, take a flyer on Joe Ross (who hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2021) and sign a guy with zero MLB experience (Jackson Chourio) to an $82 million deal.
Not exactly the markings of a team that’s all-in on winning a World Series in 10 months.
So if someone is willing to offer a pair of top-100 prospects for Corbin Burnes’ final season before free agency, surely the Brewers would at least consider it.
And for as active as the Dodgers have already been, they are in the market for at least one more starting pitcher.
They would prefer that pitcher be Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but if he signs elsewhere, Burnes would be quite the Plan B for putting the finishing touches on the rotation.
The Dodgers maybe wouldn’t immediately sign Burnes to a long-term extension like they did with Tyler Glasnow, since they presumably will have both Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May back at full strength for 2025 and since Burnes recently said he would want to test the free-agency market. But after giving up two of their best prospects to get him, the Dodgers might want more than just one year.