Category Archives: Trades

December 14, 2024

A’s Keep Adding

The Athletics made a trade with the Rays as the team formerly from Oakland keeps improving the pitching staff:

The Athletics are acquiring left-hander Jeffrey Springs in a six-player trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, the team announced Saturday, continuing their push toward contention with a significant increase in their payroll as they head into their first season in Sacramento.

Springs and left-hander Jacob Lopez will go to the A’s while right-handers Joe Boyle and Jacob Watters, first baseman Will Simpson, and a Competitive Balance A round draft pick — somewhere in the late 30s — will go to the Rays.
ESPN.com

Springs posted a great year in 2022 at seasonal age 29, then missed most of the last two seasons due to Tommy John surgery. In the three years he collected 4.2 fWAR in 184 1/3 innings. The big change for him in 2022 was his home run rate, which he cut in half from the previous season. Part of that came from inducing more ground balls. He started throwing more change ups than sliders that season, but does not appear to have added a sinking pitch.

Lopez threw 22 2/3 innings in the majors. In the minors he owned a high K rate with a bit of wildness. He was very good at limiting hits. At seasonal age 27, the A’s are getting him in his prime.

Boyle and Watters are very good at preventing home runs, but walk lots of batters. Maybe the Rays can work some magic with them. Simpson is probably the best player coming back to Tampa Bay. He gets on base with some pop.

Also from the story:

The A’s went 69-93 this year. With a core of designated hitter Brent Rooker, outfielders Lawrence Butler and JJ Bleday, catcher Shea Langeliers, shortstop Jacob Wilson, and first-base prospect Nick Kurtz, they are positioning themselves to compete in a wide-open American League West.

Which, I believe, might be a problem for MLB. If the Athletics make the playoffs, does MLB really want post-season baseball in a minor league stadium? In this way, the lack of a city name attached to the team right now might be a good thing. I would bet MLB moves them to a major league park if they do make the post-season. While San Francisco might be the preferred location, the team might need to play in Anaheim if the Giants also make the playoffs.

Update:

I am not being serious about the Rays being able to fix Boyle. I don’t think you can possibly fix how bad his command is. pic.twitter.com/OBTdpm8xW8
— Jon Anderson (@JonPgh) December 14, 2024

December 13, 2024

Brewers Land Cortes

The Brewers sent their soon to be free agent closer Devin Williams to the Yankees for Nestor Cortes and minor league infielder Caleb Durbin. From a WAR perspective, the pitchers are more even than one might think. I’m not sure it’s all that tough to find a closer in this age where pitchers are taught to go maximum effort on every pitch. So the Brewers believe they can replace Williams and use Cortes as a reliable five to six inning starter.

Williams allows the Yankees to put their relievers in the correct rolls so none of the Yankees starters need to go deep.

What may tip the trade in favor of the Brewers is Durbin, an infielder who gets on base. I would not describe him as a prospect, as he will play 2025 as a 25 year old. He lacked power until last season, but could be a spark plug at the top of the order. We’ll see how he handles major league pitching.

December 13, 2024

Tucker Trucks North

The Cubs acquired outfielder Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros.

The Chicago Cubs acquired Houston Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker in exchange for third baseman Isaac Paredes, pitcher Hayden Wesneski and prospect Cam Smith, the teams announced on Friday.
ESPN.com

Tucker can become a free agent at the end of the season, so he may be a rental. The Cub gave up two major leaguers and a good prospect in Cam Smith. Paredes is a solid player, and if the Astros can find a way for Wesneski to prevent home runs, he would be a pretty good pitcher.

Tucker, in a way, is coming off his best season. He posted 5+ rWAR seasons from 2021-2023. His 2024 rWAR came in at 4.7, but he only played 78 games.

The talent the Astros received indicate to me this is more than a rental, and I would not be surprised to see Chicago try to sign Tucker to a long-term deal.

December 11, 2024

Christmas Sweater

The Red Sox landed White Sox starter Garrett Crochet, giving up four of their top fourteen prospects:

The Globe reported Red Sox prospect Kyle Teel was part of the deal, something confirmed by USA TODAY’s Bob Nightengale. NESN’s Tom Caron confirmed Teel’s inclusion.

According to multiple reports, the Red Sox are trading a package of prospects highlighted by Teel and 2024 first-round pick Braden Montgomery.

Red Sox acquire: Garrett Crochet
White Sox acquire: Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery, Chase Meidroth, Wikelman Gonzalez
NESN.com

Chrochet will play the 2025 season as a 26-year-old, so Boston will capture most of his prime, as he has three years before he becomes a free agent. He posted a 4.7 fWAR in 2024, his first full season in the majors. He struck out 209 batters and walked 33 in 146 innings pitched.

Teel so far posted a very high OBP in the minors, and will play next season as a 23-year-old. He should be ready for the majors soon. Montgomery was a two way player in college, but a much better hitter. He has yet to play professionally. Meidroth is an infielder who will also be 23 years old and also puts up excellent OBPs. Gonzalez is another 23 year old, a pitcher, with a very high K rate, but a very high BB rate in the minors.

Crochet gives the Red Sox an ace in a rotation where all five pitchers are in their primes, most in their early primes. Chicago needs batters on base, and the three they received should make them better in that regard. It’s a fine rebuilding move, saving them the money they would need to pay Crochet in arbitration.

December 10, 2024

Guarding Second

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The Blue Jays make a trade with the Guardians for a defensive player at second base. Andres Gimenez is headed to Toronto:

The deal, once completed, will send the three-time Gold Glover to a team coming off a second straight AL Team Gold Glove Award. Going the other way are infielder Spencer Horwitz and minor-league outfielder Nick Mitchell, while the Blue Jays will also be acquiring right-handed reliever Nick Sandlin, Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith reported.
TorontoSun.com

The Guardians signed Gimenez through 2029, his age 30 season, so Toronto will enjoy most of his prime. Offensively, Gimenez peaked early, with a great OBP in 2022, .371, but that looks like an outlier compared to his .319 career mark. If he can get back to .320, he’ll be fine playing great defense in the middle of the diamond. Even with a poor offensive season in 2024, he managed to earn 2.8 fWAR thanks to his fielding.

Getting on base is Horowitz’s strength, both in the minors and majors. Mitchell plays 2025 as a 21 year old, and posted a .350 OBP in 22 games at A ball. Sandlin is a high K/BB/HR pitcher. Only one of those is good.

In the end, the Guardians get someone who reaches base, and a good, young prospect. The Blue Jays get more defense, with the hope that they can find what made Gimenez great at the plate in 2022.

November 23, 2024

Spice Trade

The Royals and Reds fill needs as pitcher Brady Singer heads to Cincinnati for second baseman Jonathan India and outfielder Joey Wiemer:

The deal fills needs on both teams as the Royals have been looking to add offense alongside star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. Their starting staff, which had the second-best ERA in the majors, afforded them the ability to move a rotation arm to fill their need at the plate.

Meanwhile, the Reds add a durable starter to a team that has dealt with injuries in its rotation over the past couple of seasons.
ESPN.com

The Royals lead-off hitters managed a .270 OBP in 2024, and despite that Witt drove in 109 runs from the two slot. India owns a career .347 OBP and is a good base stealer. India is in the middle of his prime, so the Royals should not see a fall-off. I love this move, as the Royals identified a glaring weakness, and found an excellent way to fix it. It’s replace Sid Bream with Fred McGriff.

Wiemer is a right-handed hitter who generates a lot of power against left-handed pitchers. He’s a nice option to have on the bench.

Singer tends to keep the ball on the ground, which will be good when he pitches in Cincinnati. Balls do tend to fly out when batters manager to get them in the air, however. I suspect his home run rate will go up. He’s a solid middle of the rotation pitcher, and like India, is still in his prime. A very good trade for both teams.

July 30, 2024

Dodgers Get More Flahr

The Dodgers picked up pitcher Jack Flaherty from the Tigers:

The eight-year veteran is 7-5 this season with a 2.95 ERA, which would be his lowest in a season since receiving Cy Young Award votes in 2019. He has 133 strikeouts in 106 ? innings, finding renewed success this year with his fastball-curveball-slider pitch mix. And for the Dodgers, he represents a legitimate option to start postseason games — possibly featuring alongside Tyler Glasnow, Gavin Stone and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (if he regains health and form after sitting out the last two months because of a shoulder injury) in a potential playoff rotation.
LATimes.com

The Tigers get catcher Thayron Liranzo and infielder Trey Sweeney. Liranzo is 20 year old catcher who both walks and strikes out a ton, and hits for power. He even hit three triples in his 987 minor league PA. Sweeney is seasonal age 24, and is hitting decently at AAA. Liranzo looks like the prize of this deal, as he has the higher ceiling.

We also have video of the Dodgers front office discussing the trade:

July 30, 2024

Cardinals Trade an Outfielder to the Rays

The Cardinals and Rays made a deal, St. Louis sending Dylan Carlson to Tampa Bay for reliever Shawn Armstrong. My first thought was going to be that Carlson is the next Randy Arozarena.

Rumors have circulated for several days about a potential trade of Dylan Carlson. The Cardinals wanted to clear roster space for the newly acquired Tommy Pham and also find bullpen help.

They (theoretically) did both by moving Carlson to the Rays (where he seems destined to become an impact player) for struggling right-handed reliever Shawn Armstrong.
VivaElBirdos.com

The Cardinals likely needed to give Carlson some room to recover from an early season injury. The Rays might be better suited to do that right now.

July 30, 2024

Pirates In

The Pirates acquired Isiah Kiner-Falefa from the Blue Jays:

The Pittsburgh Pirates have acquired superutilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa from the Toronto Blue Jays, the team announced Tuesday.

The Blue Jays are receiving minor league infielder/outfielder Charles McAdoo in the trade.
ESPN.com

IKF is having one of his best seasons at the plate. There are a number of positions where he could improve the Pirates offense, and I suspect he will move around a lot so the Pirates can use the other players when matchups favor their strengths.

McAdoo looks like a pretty good prospect, as he’s shown the ability to get on base with some pop in the minors.

This is a good trade for the fan base as well. The Pirates are close enough to the wild card that going for it rather than standing pat or selling off might bring out more fans.

July 30, 2024

Walker Replacement

The Diamondbacks respond to the injury to Christian Walker by paying the Marlins cash for Josh Bell‘s contract:

Walker has quietly been the second-best first baseman in the game over the past three years. I don’t mean that hyperbolically; he’s second only to Freddie Freeman in WAR over that time period. He’s done it with good offense and outrageous, comically good first base defense. I don’t think I’m selling this enough. Per Statcast, Walker has been 38 outs above average over that time period. Carlos Santana is second… with 17. DRS scores it 33-20 in Walker’s favor, with Matt Olson at 21. However you look at it, Walker is head and shoulders above everyone else at the position.
FanGraphs.com

Basically, no one is going to fill Walker’s shoes. Bell owns a .305 OBP this season, well below his career average of .343. Maybe with a better club he can turn things around.

July 30, 2024

Blackburn Fly

The Athletics traded their Paul Blackburn to the Mets:

Right-handed pitching prospect Kade Morris was sent to the A’s in the deal.

Blackburn, 30, was a 2022 All-Star and began the 2024 season with 22? scoreless innings across four starts before finally surrendering his first run.
ESPN.com

Blackburn spent two months on the illjured list with a foot injury. His ERA wound up at 4.41 after nine starts. In general, he is a low strikeout pitcher with a high BABIP, not a great combination.

Morris accumlated 95 innings in two seasons in the minors with a 3.48 ERA I would expect someone of that age to be doing better in the low minors.

July 30, 2024

Cobb to the Guardians

Cleveland traded for Giants injured pitcher Alex Cobb:

Cobb has not pitched this year after having hip surgery and some cortisone shots in his arm but he was expected to rejoin the Giants’ rotation this weekend.

The Guardians are expected to have him make one more rehab start before joining their rotation. Cobb has 230 starts in the big leagues with a 77-75 record and a career ERA of 3.85 ERA. The Guardians have the best bullpen in baseball, leading the majors in ERA by nearly half a run.
ESPN.com

As we have seen recently, pitchers returning from injuries can reinjure themselves quickly, and it will be tough for Cobb to go deep in games right away. He owns a 3.93 ERA in six minor league starts this season covering 18 innings.

July 30, 2024

Rogers Flies North

The Orioles acquired pitcher Trevor Rogers from the Marlins:

Miami received second baseman Connor Norby and outfielder Kyle Stowers in return, sources told ESPN.

Rogers, 26, is 2-9 with a 4.53, but has gotten better results over his last nine starts, generating a 3.17 ERA. Norby is ranked as the Orioles’ 12th-best overall prospect by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, while Stowers, 26, reached the majors in the past, but has had all but 36 at-bats in the minor leagues this season.
ESPN.com

The article talks about the top teams going through a mid-season malaise, and with all the talk about a Yankees decline, the Orioles haven’t done much better. Coming into today, the teams in first place at the start of July where all at or under .500 for the month, with the Yankees and Mariners falling out of first place.

Norby hit very well at AAA over three seasons, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he helped the Marlins immediately. Stowers great minor league stats for some reason did not translate to the majors, but he never had the chance to establish himself. We’ll see if the Marlins let him play every day to see if he can get in a groove.

July 30, 2024

All Leiters Must Pitch for the Yankees

The Yankees traded two minor leaguers to the Cubs for Mark Leiter Jr.

Leiter — the son of former Yankee Mark Leiter Sr. and nephew of former Yankee and Met Al Leiter — had a 4.21 ERA across 39 games and 36 ? innings with 53 strikeouts this season.
NYPost.com

The Yankees wanted Leiter’s K factor. The Cubs receive infield prospect Ben Cowles and relief prospect Jack Neely. Cowles, at seasonal age 24, isn’t much of a prospect anymore, but he consistently got on base well in the minors, and sometimes showed some pop. Neely posted a 14.8 K per 9 in the minors. He is also seasonal age 24. I’m not sure why the Yankees think Leiter is a better move than bringing up the cost effective minor leaguer. He was having less success at AAA.

July 30, 2024

Overnight Deals

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The Reds acquired DFA’s Ty France and cash from the Mariners for a minor league catcher. This was more of a warm body deal than a deadline deal. Seattle gets something for France. The Reds also traded Frankie Montas to the Brewers for Joey Wiemer and Jakob Junis. This was a need trade rather than an improvement trade for the Brewers.

The Braves traded with the Giants for two players from their World Championship team:

The Atlanta Braves acquired outfielder Jorge Soler and right-handed reliever Luke Jackson from the San Francisco Giants late Monday, bringing back two key players from their World Series-winning 2021 team.

The deal, which will send left-handed reliever Tyler Matzek and minor league third baseman Sabin Ceballos to San Francisco, was essentially a money dump by a Giants team playing perhaps its best baseball of the year. The Braves will assume the remainder of Soler’s salary this season as well as the $26 million he’s owed on the free agent deal he signed with San Francisco over the winter.
ESPN.com

The Braves needed a power bat. Ceballos at least gives the Giants an infielder who gets on base. While the Giants are still technically in the wild card race, there are three teams in front of them before they get to the third wild card. That makes it a lot tougher to catch up.

July 29, 2024

Astros Say Kikuchi

It looks like the Astros landed Yusei Kikuchi in a deal with the Blue Jays:

Just as Jake Bloss was scratched from his start on Monday night, multiple reports surfaced that the rookie right-hander will be involved in a trade for Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi. According to The Athletic’s Chandler Rome, additional prospects will be included in the deal.

Stay tuned for details.

July 29, 2024

Fast Lane

The Nationals sent Lane Thomas to the Guardians for three prospects:

Thomas destroys left-handed pitching and is batting .326 with a .922 OPS when facing southpaws this year. He is a career .306 hitter against lefties.

The Nats are receiving Jose Tena, Rafael Ramirez and Alex Clemmey in return for Thomas.
YardBarker.com

Ramirez and Clemmey are teenagers. Ramirez was great in rookie ball at age 17, he’s struggling a bit in A ball at seasonal age 18. Clemmey, also seasonal age 18, is striking out a ton of batters, but needs to find his control.

July 29, 2024

Another Bat

The Mariners pick up Justin Turner from the Blue Jays:

“Justin has been one of the most productive corner infield bats in the league for over a decade,” Mariners general manager Justin Hollander said. “With his track record at the plate and extensive experience in the postseason, he is a valuable addition to both our lineup and clubhouse.”

The Blue Jays will receive Double-A outfielder RJ Schreck in the deal.
ESPN.com

Turner is likely to be the first baseman DH for the Mariners. Neither of those positions hit well for the team.

Shreck owns a .371 OBP in the minors. At 23 years old, he could be MLB ready soon.

July 29, 2024

White Sox Rebuild

The Dodgers, Cardinals, and White Sox pull off a three-team deal to bring Chicago some young talent:

The White Sox, Cardinals and Dodgers reached a three-team, eight-player trade Monday that sees St. Louis land starting pitcher Erick Fedde and outfielder Tommy Pham, and Los Angeles get super-utility man Tommy Edman and reliever Michael Kopech.

Three former Dodgers infield prospects — Miguel Vargas, Alexander Albertus and Jeral Perez — are headed to the White Sox along with a player to be named later or cash.

The Dodgers also get 17-year-old right-hander Oliver Gonzalez from the Cardinals, while the Cardinals will get cash from the White Sox and either cash or a player to be named later from the Dodgers.
ESPN.com

Albertus and Perez are just 19 years old and doing a great job of getting on base in the low minors, and Perez adds power. Those two and a good, high draft choice next season could lead the White Sox back to the promised land. We’ll also have to see who the PTNL turns out to be.

July 29, 2024

Lorenzen to the Royals

The Royals acquired pitcher Michael Lorenzen from the Rangers:

The Rangers received left-hander Walter Pennington in exchange for Lorenzen, who is 5-6 with a 3.81 ERA in 19 appearances (18 starts) this season.
ESPN.com

So the Royals rent a good starter for a 26-year-old left-handed reliever with a high K rate in the minors.

Note the Royals rotation is good. They own the third highest average game score in the majors. Their top four starters all own better ERAs then Lorenzen, but he would give them five starters with ERAs under 4.00. So if someone goes down with an injury, they could still carry four good starters down the stretch.

July 28, 2024

A Winker and a Smile

The Mets finalized the trade with the Nationals for Jesse Winker today:

Minor league right-hander Tyler Stuart has been sent to Washington, the Mets announced Sunday morning, after news broke of the club acquiring Winker Saturday night.

The return at the time wasn’t known.
NYPost.com

Winker posted poor BABIPs the previous two seasons, but brought it up to .315 this year. Combined with an increase in power, he became interesting to the Mets as they received poor offensive performances in both center and rightfield this year.

Stuart, at seasonal age 24 is not young, but he is a pitcher with good three-true outcomes. He never pitched above AA, however, and he may be old for that level. We’ll see how quickly he slides into the Nationals rotation.

July 28, 2024

Third Base Swap

The Cubs and Rays swap third basemen, with the Rays picking up some prospects as well:

The Cubs and Rays are swapping third basemen, as Christopher Morel will head to Tampa Bay while All-Star Isaac Paredes goes back to Chicago, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Sunday.

The Cubs are also sending two prospects — pitchers Ty Johnson and Hunter Bigge — to the Rays in the deal, sources told ESPN.
ESPN.com

Johnson pitched just 61 minor league innings, but so far is a low HR, high K pitcher. Bigge limits hits, but makes up for that with walks. Both blow away batters, So I would not be surprised that the Rays see them as two more low cost power arms out of the bullpen.

This is not a classic deadline deal, as Paredes is seen as a long-term solution at third base for the Cubs.

July 27, 2024

Catching Depth

The Red Sox acquired catcher Danny Jansen from the Toronto Blue Jays:

Jansen, 29, was one of the few starting-caliber catchers available on the trade market and joins a Red Sox catching unit that has been one of the most productive on the offensive side this season.

One player going to Toronto in the deal is infielder Cutter Coffey, a second-round pick in 2022 who has impressed in High-A this season.
ESPN.com

Well, Connor Wong is productive, but Reese McGuire is not. While Jansen owns a low batting average this season, he does draw walks and he does hit for power, so he should be an improvement as a backup. He has hit better on the road this year as well, so the change of scenery might do him some good.

Coffey’s minor league numbers do not look very impressive, but trading him does avoid the future conflict of having two players on the same team with the same first name but a different spelling. Jansen was in his walk year, so at least the Jays get something.

July 27, 2024

New York Jazz

There are reports that the Yankees have agreed with the Marlins on a trade for Jazz Chisholm Jr.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the teams had not yet announced the deal.

The Marlins will receive three prospects in return, including 22-year-old catcher Agustin Ramirez, ranked as the Yankees’ third-best prospect, according to Baseball America.
MSN.com

I’m not a huge Chisholm fan, as he does a rather poor job of getting on base, but season to season WARs are better than I thought they would be. Yankee Stadium could enhance his power, so we’ll see. Ramirez looks like a decent hitter for a catcher. He struggled at AAA this season, but struggled at AA last year and then tore it up in 2024.

The story says the Yankees will play him both in centerfield and second base, so it will be interesting to see how the Yankees use him once Stanton comes back. Does Soto go to left and Judge back to right? Might the Yankees move Gleyber Torres? Stay tuned.

Update: The Miami Herald has the other prospects:

ESPN reported the other two prospects coming to the Marlins are infielders Jared Serna and Abrahan Ramirez.
MiamiHerald.com

Ramirez is a teenager in the low minors getting on base at a terrific clip. I’m less impressed with Serna. If the two Ramirezes work out, this might be a very good deal for the Marlins.

July 26, 2024

Eflin for the Birds

The Orioles made a second trade, acquiring pitcher Zach Eflin from the Rays, as the Rays continue their sell-off:

In return, the Rays received outfielder Matthew Etzel, superutilityman Mac Horvath and right-hander Jackson Baumeister.
ESPN.com

Eflin is quite the “ball in play” pitcher this season as both his K rate and his BB rate are low. Baltimore fields a good defense, Eflin should work on that squad. The Rays defense was not it’s usual stellar self, so expect Eflin to have a better ERA with Baltimore.

Etzel is seasonal age 22 and OBP machine. Horvath only has 416 MiLB plate appearances, but so far is a well rounded hitter. Baumeister has 70 2/3 innings at A ball with 11.6 K per 9. It’s a nice talent grab for Tampa Bay.

July 26, 2024

I-95 Trade

The Phillies and Orioles swapped outfielders, the Orioles getting a pitcher as well:

The Philadelphia Phillies acquired outfielder Austin Hays from the Baltimore Orioles on Friday in exchange for right-handed pitcher Seranthony Dominguez and outfielder Cristian Pache in a deal between the East Division leaders in both leagues.

The starting center fielder in the 2023 All-Star Game for the American League, Hays got off to a terrible start and has three homers and 14 RBIs in 63 games this season for the Orioles.

Baltimore entered Friday at 61-41 and held a two-game lead over the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Phillies boast the best record in baseball at 64-38.
ESPN.com

Hays’ season isn’t that out of line with his career. In 2023, he had a fantastic first half, then fell off. Sometimes players are All Stars based on a couple of good months. He is likely to platoon with Philadelpia.

Dominguez is having a slightly off year, mostly due to a high home run rate.

Pache is not much of a hitter, but should be a very good defensive replacement.

It’s not a blockbuster deal, but given the two front offices I suspect they see themselves as filling needs.

July 26, 2024

Pax Sox

The Red Sox acquired DFA’d James Paxton from the Dodgers:

The Boston Red Sox acquired left-hander James Paxton from the Los Angeles Dodgers for minor league infielder Moises Bolivar on Friday, attempting to fortify their rotation as they chase a playoff spot in a wide-open American League landscape.

The deal for Paxton, 35, comes after Los Angeles designated him for assignment Monday. Paxton had thrown 89? innings of 4.43 ERA ball over 18 starts this season, helping stabilize an injury-riddled rotation as he had done in 2023 with Boston.
ESPN.com

Bolivar at seasonal age 16 is playing rookie ball, hitting .270/.364/.423. He’s playing mostly third base, but at 16 the sky’s the limit. That really is a good pickup for a DFA’d player.

July 26, 2024

North by Northwest

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Randy Arozarena finds himself at the opposite end of the country from Tampa Bay and the Mariners acquire the outfielder from the Rays:

The Seattle Mariners, starving for offense and in desperate need of a spark, have acquired All-Star outfielder Randy Arozarena from the Tampa Bay Rays, the teams announced Thursday night.

Two lower-level minor leaguers, outfielder Aidan Smith and right-hander Brody Hopkins, will go to the Rays in the trade, as will a player to be named later.
ESPN.com

Overall Arozarena is in a down year, but picked things up over the last month or so. Injuries to two Mariners stars necessitated an early trade deal.

The two prospect going to the Rays look pretty good so far. Smith is just 19 years old and is hitting .284/.402/.470 at A ball. Hopkins is a high K, low home run pitcher, but he does need to find his control. He is 22, so would likely be the first person from this trade to the majors.

June 12, 2024

The Next Muncy

The Dodgers acquired Cavan Biggio from the Blue Jays in a trade:

Biggio, 29, was taken off the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster last week after struggling over the first third of the season, hitting .200/.323/.291 with two home runs in 131 plate appearances for Toronto, which at 33-34 occupies third place in the American League East.

…

Biggio debuted in 2019 and was one of three sons of longtime major leaguers, along with infielder Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and shortstop Bo Bichette, who was expected to serve as the core for an ascendant Blue Jays team. He hit 16 home runs in 100 games his rookie season and followed in the COVID-shortened 2020 year with a .375 on-base percentage, looking like a foundational element at second base.
ESPN.com

Muncy, like Biggio, showed promise but mostly walked for the Athletics in his second season in the majors. The Dodgers were able to pick him up cheaply and turn him into a very productive hitter. The best of Biggio may be on the way.

May 4, 2024

The Right Foot

Luis Arraez doubled in his first plate appearance for the Padres. He is the DH in the game, with Xander Bogaerts at second and Manny Machado at third.