Trades Anyone?

Looking through team depth charts, I thought it might be useful to have a little synopsis of what players teams might be looking to trade. Here it goes:


Blue Jays: Vernon Wells, Scott Rolen, Lyle Overbay, BJ Ryan

The Jays are looking up at 3 tough teams to beat in their division with the Rays, Red Sox, and Yankees all being projected as strong teams for 2009. They might look to unload some payroll. With the plethora of closers and corner OF/1B types they could look to trade Ryan and/or Overbay, and get some bargains from the free agent bin to take over. (Trevor Hoffman, Chad Cordero, Brandon Lyon, Eric Gagne, and Eddie Guardado at closer and then Rich Aurilia, Sean Casey, Doug Mientkiewicz, Richie Sexson, or another free agent at 1B.)

Orioles:

Baltimore also might look to unload some contracts and think about the future rather than the present. We could see Brian Roberts, Melvin Mora, and Aubrey Huff as trade candidates. Although, with so many free agent 1B and corner OF types, the O's might wait until the trading deadline and trade him to a team that needs a bat to make a playoff run. He might bring back more then than now.

Rays:

Tampa doesn't really have any big contracts they need to get rid of, but they might unload another one of their young pitchers to get a bat to fill the void left by Cliff Floyd. But, it might be more likely that the Rays get a hitter off of the free agent market.

Red Sox: No major trade candidates, but we could see a young pitcher (like Buchholz or Bowden) traded for a catcher.

Yanks: Our Yanks will try to trade at least one of Swisher, Nady, Matsui, and Damon. Don't expect them to trade Damon though.

Indians: Not any guys I would expect to be traded, but they might try to get rid of some contracts like that of Hafner and Westbrook. Yet, I don't think anyone really wants to take on their contracts.

Royals: The Royals are overstocked with outfielders (Crisp, Dejesus, Guillen, Teahen, Maier) and firstbasemen/DHs (Butler, Gload, Ka'aihue, Shealy, and Jacobs). Expect them to trade one of those guys. They might look for another veteran arm to add to the rotation or another reliever. They have Mike Aviles and Alberto Callaspo at short and second, but they might look to upgrade over Callaspo.

Tigers: Detroit is coming off a very disappointing 2008 season. The one thing I could see them doing would be trading Marcus Thames or Magglio Ordonez to trim some salary. Maggs is a crucial part of their offense, so I see a Thames trade as more likely.

Twins: No one they need to get rid of, but word has it they have tried to gauge the market for Delmon Young.

White Sox: Jermaine Dye's name has been mentioned in trade talks. He is supposedly trying to get the team younger. However, trade wise, we really never know what Kenny Williams is up to. I mean the guy traded for Wilson Betemit.

Angels: They need a closer and another bat. I don't think they have anyone they will really try to trade. We could see Nick Adenhart as a trade chip though. Chone Figgins is entering his walk year, so they might trade him to get that bat they need. He's one guy I would love to see on the Yanks. Who knows, maybe they'll deal him for Swisher or Nady( who would play first base), altough I don't know how likely that is.

Athletics: Billy Beane is one of those guys who you can't ever predict their next move. They need offense and have some extra payroll of the upcoming year. Maybe they'll trade one of their pitchers, but they have already traded Greg Smith this offseason, so they might be hesitant to trade another pitcher.

Mariners: Seattle was truly disappointing in 08. They have a new GM and a new manager. They should look to shed some payroll, meaning they might look to get rid of Jarrod Washburn, Carlos Silva, and maybe Adrian Beltre. However, not sure how many takers they'll have for Washburn and Silva with their ridiculous contracts.

Rangers: They obviously are open to trading one of their catchers(Saltalamacchia, Ramirez, and Teagarden) if they can get pitching in return. They are said to be open to trading Hank Blalock, and they might even trade Michael Young. The Rangers have a great offense, so now they just need to add some pitching.

Braves: The Braves need an outfielder. They could be a good trade partner for Nady or Swisher. They have some young pitching they might be willing to trade, but their pitchers might cost more than just Nady or Swish.

Florida: The Marlins are always trying to cut payroll, so we could see a Jeremy Hermida trade.

Mets: The Mets might want to deal an outfielder, as they are overstocked there with Beltran, Tatis, Church, Reed, Pagan, Evans, and Anderson. Even with this overstock, they are looking for a corner outfielder that might bring something more to the lineup.

Phillies: The defending champs seem pretty set for the upcoming year after the signing of Raul Ibanez, but they will look to get rid of Adam Eaton who is overpaid, and takes up a 40 man roster spot.

Nationals: The Nats have an overstock of outfielders, with Kearns, Dukes, Willingham, Milledge, Harris, and Pena. If I were Jim Bowden I'd try to trade one or two or even three of those guys to get some starting pitching, and then take the money set aside for Teixeira and sign Manny to put some fans in the seats as the team continues to rebuild.

Astros: The Astros don't really have depth anywhere. They are trying to trade Miguel Tejada though in order to free up some salary.

Brewers: The Brewers have prospect Alcides Esocbar able to play shortstop in the near future, so they might consider trading current shortstop JJ Hardy. They obviously were rumored to be looking into trading Mike Cameron to the Yanks, though that seems dead now. Prince Fielder is set for a pay raise in 09, and he could possibly be a trade candidate. The Brewers need pitching, and badly. They lost their two headed ace of CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets to free agency (although there is some chance Sheets could return) and need to find replacements for those two.

Cardinals: The Cards might look to trade away Ryan Ludwick or Rick Ankiel so that they can open an outfield spot for Colby Rasmus. They would want pitching or a middle infielder in return for either of those guys.

Cubs: The Cubbies would like to get rid of Fukodome and his contract, but will probably keep him so he can hopefully reestablish his value. They have some useful middle infielder with DeRosa, Fontenot, Cedeno, and Theriot. Perhaps they'll be open to trading one of them.They wanta lefthanded power hitter who can play right field. I think they should also look for a better centerfielder instead of relying on some combination of Johnson, Gathright, and Pie.

Pirates: The Bucs would love to rid themselves of the Wilson and Sanchez contracts, but haven't had too many takers. The Dodgers were interested in Wilson, but now that they have Furcal count them out.

Reds: I think the Reds are really going to surprise in 09. But, in order to do so, they need to add another power hitter. They signed Willy Taveras to play centerfield, and Jay Bruce is sure to be another outfielder for them. They should look to add a corner outfield type to play left. They might look to trade fallen prospect Homer Bailey, but there isn't anyone they should be actively shopping.

Diamondbacks: Arizona has been hit particularly hard by the economy. They will look to get rid of Eric Byrnes' contract. As a Rockie fan (second to the Yanks though), I hate Eric Byrnes with a passion. They'll probably end up getting rid of him in a swap of bad contracts. With Brandon Lyon and Juan Cruz leaving the D-Backs should look to add some pitching.

Dodgers: The Dodgers have made some bad decisions in recent years (Juan Pierre, Andruw Jones, Jason Schmidt). They would probably like to get rid of one of those contracts, but they're unlikely to find any takers. They might look to trade Delwyn Young, who is blocked by Pierre, Jones, Matt Kemp, and Andre Ethier.

Giants: San Fran has a great rotation, but needs some offense badly. They could look to trade Jonathan Sanchez for a corner infielder. If they can add some kind of a respectable hitter then they could end up as NL West champs.

Padres: The Padres are going to be for sale in the near future and with their owner's divorce they have been looking to cut payroll like crazy. They could still trade Jake Peavy. They also might look to get rid of Brian Giles' salary.

Rockies: The Rox already made their big move of the offseason with the Holliday trade. They could look to trade Huston Street for a starting pitcher. They also would consider trading 1B/3B Garrett Atkins. I think they should trade an outfielder. They have Ryan Spilborghs, Carlos Gonzalez, Brad Hawpe, Seth Smith, and Dexter Fowler who all can only play the outfield. With Clint Barmes seemingly set as the second baseman, and Atkins and Helton(depending on his back) set at the corners, we could see Jeff Baker and/or Ian Stewart moved to the outfield. The Rox need some young starting pitching, an area where they have seen mixed results. They have Jeff Francis, Aaron Cook, Ubaldo Jimenez, Greg Smith, Jorge de la Rosa, Franklin Morales, Jason Hirsh, and Greg Reynolds as candidates for the starting rotation, but I don't see any of them as ace caliber. As a Rockie fan (again that's behind the Yanks) I wish they'd sign Ben Sheets to give them that ace they really need.

Those are my thoughts. What are yours? Let's here them in the comments.