As the MLB standings are taking their shape, and with the trade deadline approaching over the next two months, some teams will soon have to decide whether they are buyers or sellers by the end of July. When I think about sellers, I think of teams who have no shot at making the playoffs, and have some high-priced talent other teams may be interested in acquiring to make a deep playoff run. Even though some teams might be clearly out of the playoffs picture already, it would be hard to call a team like the Astros a fire sale team, when they are already in rebuilding mode. Here are some teams who could be in rebuilding mode in the very near future:
Toronto Blue Jays
The 27-35 Blue Jays traded for a lot of the Marlins’ free agents of 2012, and now employ some of the highest priced players in baseball for a last place team. I would think anyone in the organization is tradable, perhaps with the exception of Jose Bautista, and maybe Edwin Encarnacion as well. I would think even some of the players fairly new to the Blue Jays are available, including former Marlins Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson, and Jose Reyes if he can show he is healthy by the trade deadline. I wouldn’t think R.A. Dickey is completely out of the question either, as he has shown this year he isn’t going to have another Cy Young caliber season, but a team with questions at the back of their rotation might make an offer for him.
Chicago White Sox
Two weeks ago, I wrote that I wasn’t ready to write off the White Sox. The point of blowing the team up may be fast approaching the way they are playing now, as the White Sox are now 27-34. Losers of nine of their last 12 games, the White Sox have gone from third to last place in the division over the last two weeks. Chris Sale is definitely untouchable, but many of the position players on this team could definitely be dealt at the trade deadline. Paul Konerko could block any trade, but if he feels like he is in his last year or two, he might accept a trade if he feels like he has an instant chance to join a playoff team. Alex Rios is having a great season, and would be a great addition for any team. If a team thought a change of scenery might benefit Adam Dunn, they could buy low on him without giving up hardly anything. Jake Peavy is also definitely a trade candidate, and has already said he would accept a trade this season, even though he would prefer to stay with Chicago.
Philadelphia Phillies
The 31-33 Phillies are in third place right now, and only a game behind the Nationals in the NL East, but the wild-card spots are going to be real tough to get this year with the top three NL Central teams playing great. If the Phillies do drop out of this race by the end of July, they have a lot of players they could trade at the deadline. Ryan Howard, Roy Halladay, and Chase Utley are all players that could be traded, but the Phillies would have to eat a large portion of any of their contracts for any team to consider trading for them. Cliff Lee is the most likely trade candidate on the Phillies, despite his huge contract, but his postseason record is so outstanding, that one team would have to grab him at the deadline of the Phillies made him available. Mike Adams and Jonathan Papelbon are some relievers who might benefit from a new uniform, and could be made available to a playoff contending team in July.
Los Angeles Angels
The 27-36 Angels would be the perfect team to rebuild at the trade deadline, but many of the contracts in both the money and the length are so terrible, no one would trade for them. Due to bad contracts, I would say Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, Jered Weaver, and C.J. Wilson are completely untradeable, and the Angels wouldn’t want to trade Mike Trout, Mark Trumbo, and Ernesto Frieri who are under team control for a long time, and are the future of the team. If you take out those guys, I think the only players in demand for any team at the deadline would be Howie Kendrick, Erick Aybar, and Peter Bourjos. Kendrick and Aybar just signed multi-year extensions this off-season, and neither contract is out of control, but I don’t think the Angels have a viable option for someone to replace them at those positions if they were to trade them. That leaves Bourjos as the only player I could see the Angels actually trading this season. J.B. Shuck has been great filling in for Bourjos while he has been on the disabled list this season, and the Angels also have other options in the minors that could fill in if Bourjos was traded. Bourjos would be a great pickup for a team looking for a leadoff hitter at the trade deadline, and if the Angels could get a decent starting pitching prospect for him, I think they would have to consider dealing him.