While the baseball world is transfixed over whether or not Shohei Ohtani will be traded ahead of the MLB trade deadline, and if so where he could end up, he’s not the only player that could be moved.
The San Diego Padres could end up moving their All-Star closer Josh Hader in his final year of team control, or Blake Snell, who has a 0.66 ERA over his last seven starts.
The Chicago White Sox could end up trading Lucas Giolito. The St. Louis Cardinals will be sellers, but just how far they’ll go to get some starting pitching we’ll have to wait and see.
Those potential deals are out there grabbing headlines. Today, let’s talk about some under-the-radar impact additions that could be traded to help boost a team’s playoff odds ahead of the MLB trade deadline.
Related: Sportsnaut’s updated MLB power rankings
C.J. Cron getting a new Crew?
While it isn’t wise to bet on the Colorado Rockies’ front office to be logical, trading away a 33-year-old first baseman that is in the final year of his contract seems like an obvious move to be made.
Cron is having a down season, batting .250 with a .293 on-base percentage (OBP) and just nine home runs to go along with an 84 wRC+ (100 is league average). The slugger missed some time this season due to back spasms, coming back to the Rockies on June 27th after missing a month and a half. In 10 July games, Cron is batting .314 with a 135 wRC+ and three homers.
His Statcast metrics are up from last season. His barrel rate is in the 94th percentile. His expected batting average (xBA) of .275 is in the 82nd. His slugging and max exit velocity are also among the best in baseball and are similar to what he put up in 2021 when he was 26% better than league average.
There is room to think that he can continue to turn things around in the second half and be a big bat added to the middle of a lineup that could use one. Of the teams that are in playoff contention, the Milwaukee Brewers have the worst offense, ranking 25th in baseball with an 89 wRC+, and 24th in runs scored with 392.
The Brewers could use help at a number of positions, and first base is one of them. Owen Miller has been getting starts at first of late, and he has a 96 wRC+ with five homers and a .280 average, so he hasn’t necessarily been bad. But his Statcast page isn’t filled with nearly as much red as Cron’s. Miller can also play second where he has racked up five outs above average (OAA), per Statcast. Milwaukee’s No. 2 prospect Brice Turang has been playing second a decent amount this season but holds a 52 wRC+ this season–47% below league average.
Adding Cron to play first base, where he is also a solid defender, and adding a bat that could be in for a big second half, feels like a Brewers-type move.
Cron would be owed about $2.5 million the rest of the way.
Related: MLB trade deadline rumors
Mark Canha to the Minnesota Twins?
The Minnesota Twins could use a boost of offense (and a win in the playoffs). They currently rank 24th in wRC+ from left field, coming in six percent below league average at a packed position. New York Mets outfielder Mark Canha’s 111 wRC+ would immediately move Minnesota up to just outside of the top ten.
Canha has a club option for 2024, so he may not end up being available, but if the Mets are looking to get a little bit younger, the 34-year-old Canha, while still productive, could be used as trade bait at the deadline.
The outfielder has been productive against righties and lefties this season, so the Twins could plug him in at any outfield spot, or even at first base, and they’d get an instant boost in the lineup. Roster construction-wise he may not be a perfect fit for Minnesota, but this is definitely the type of player (inexpensive, productive, and has playoff experience) they need to go after at the deadline to ensure they aren’t sent packing too early.
The Twins have lost 18 consecutive playoff games, dating back to 2004. The starters in that game were Johan Santana and Mike Mussina for the Yankees. Shannon Stewart had a RBI and Jacque Jones clubbed a solo home run. The good news for Twins fans is that the New York Yankees don’t currently hold a playoff spot with 13 of those 18 losses coming at the hands of the Bombers.
Canha would be due about $4 million over the final two months of the season, and his 2024 team option is for $11.5 million with a $2 million buyout.
Trevor May saves the day for the Los Angeles Dodgers
In a surprise to no one, the Oakland Athletics will be sellers this season. What may surprise people is that they do in fact have some pieces that may intrigue teams with World Series hopes. The A’s and Dodgers linked up back in 2016 in a swap that included Josh Reddick and Rich Hill going to L.A. and Frankie Montas headed back to Oakland.
Trevor May is a piece the Dodgers could use to help build up their bullpen and give them another option on occasion to close games. He had a 12.00 ERA when he landed on the IL with issues related to anxiety earlier this year, but since he returned in late May, Trevor has allowed just six runs in 18.2 innings pitched, good for a 2.97 ERA. Three of those runs also came in one outing, and if you take that away he has posted a 1.50 ERA since re-joining the A’s bullpen and taking over as the closer.
The Dodger bullpen ranks 21st in bullpen ERA this season at 4.24, and due to a myriad of injuries all over their pitching staff, Los Angeles could use some reinforcements to really help solidify that relief corp. As a team, 24 relievers have been used this season in at least one game. They’re also currently without Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler and Dustin May, three big pieces of their starting rotation. Building out the bullpen with a veteran reliever that won’t cost much either financially or in prospect capital is a move that should be expected.
May will be due roughly $2.5 million over the final two months of the season.
Related: Players available ahead of the MLB trade deadline
Randal Grichuk to the Arizona Diamondbacks?
Randal Grichuk is having one of the best seasons of his career, batting .300 with a .364 OBP and a 112 wRC+. He’s split time at all three outfield positions this season with his defense being the best in right field. The one caveat, as it was with C.J. Cron, is that Grichuk is on the impossible-to-predict Rockies.
Playing in Colorado means that everyone will ask about his home and road splits, and while Grichuk has been a little better at home (roughly ten percent better), he hasn’t been bad on the road at all. Plus, once Coors Field is taken out of the equation, those numbers tend to even out a little.
The teams that could be in the mix for his services, specifically in right field, are aplenty. Ranging from the Arizona Diamondbacks (89 wRC+ from right fielders, ranking 23rd in baseball) to the Milwaukee Brewers (72, 29th), Minnesota Twins (98, 21st) and the Cincinnati Reds (95, 22nd), there will be suitors for Grichuk’s services.
The Diamondbacks could be the sneaky team here, because they’re arguably the best of this crop of potential landing spots, and Grichuk is the kind of low-cost player that would allow them to both make an improvement for a postseason run while also not giving up the farm for a rental player and keeping their future intact.
The Diamondbacks will have to decide whether they’d prefer to have 25-year-old Jake McCarthy and his decent bat with solid defense continue to get the bulk of the time in right. If that’s the case, then an outfielder may not be in Arizona’s deadline plans, but a similar move could be on the table.
Grichuk will be owed roughly $3.5 million for the final two months of the season.
Tony Kemp, the new San Francisco treat?
Tony Kemp is another A’s player that will be a free agent at the end of the season, and after really struggling for the first two plus months, the 31-year-old has put together a nice stretch of games over the past month. Since June 15 he’s 26-for-82 (.310), plus he can play second base or left field and hold his own defensively. He’ll only be owed about $1.25 million the rest of the 2023 season.
Oakland recently promoted the organization’s number three prospect Zack Gelof, a second baseman, with the intention of playing him consistently. The A’s also have second baseman Jordan Díaz on the 26-man roster, making playing time a little harder to come by for Kemp in Oakland as the team pushes a youth movement.
One team that could use a boost up the middle is the San Francisco Giants. They have Brandon Crawford at shortstop, and he isn’t likely to go anywhere, which makes it all the more important that the orange and black solidify second base. They currently have Brett Wisely holding down the keystone and in 42 games he has a 43 wRC+, 57% below league average. Kemp, who just raised his batting average above .200 last Friday against Minnesota, has been 26% better than Wisely on the year, and he’s been a little better than league average over his current run.
The Giants will be getting Thairo Estrada back from the IL in a few weeks once his fractured hand is healed, but how effective he’ll be upon his return is an open question. Kemp would present a low risk insurance plan that could also be used in left field if the need arose.
Plus, if the A’s are going to trade Tony Kemp, it would be a nice gesture to make the move as close to home as possible with Tony and his wife expecting their second child in just a few weeks.
In order for that to happen, the A’s and Giants would have to make their first player-for-player trade since 1990. The two teams have swapped players this season, with Cal Stevenson going to the Giants for cash considerations and Sam Long to Oakland, also for cash considerations. The two teams about as close to completing a deal as they’ve been in decades.
Maybe this is the year it finally happens ahead of the MLB trade deadline.