Due to it being the start of the season, baseball trade rumors haven’t picked up much steam in the last couple of weeks.
Especially with Miguel Cabrera registering his 3,000th hit to go with his 500+ homers (only seven others have pulled off that feat) last week and Kyle Schwarber going ballistic on umpire Angel Hernandez, there have been plenty of things to keep an eye on so far.
While there isn’t a ton of movement at the moment other than minor league assignments, routine call-ups, and COVID-19 lists (ugh, still), let’s take a look at what we could see as the season heads into summer and MLB trade rumors start getting tossed around.
Baseball Trade Rumors for 2022
Looking ahead at this season, there are some big names that could be moved before the trade deadline. Underperforming teams will sometimes prefer to have a “fire sale” and trade off many of their big-name, high-priced players to go into a full rebuilding mode.
Similarly, teams with players nearing the end of their contracts may get traded if their current team knows that they won’t be able to afford the player’s salary demands the following season. Whatever the circumstances, here are our five MLB picks that we believe will be donning new uniforms before the end of the season.
Josh Bell
The Washington Nationals’ first baseman saw a bit of a resurgence in 2021 and will be a free agent after this season. If the Nats fall out of a tight NL East race before the deadline, they could use Bell as a trade chip to a contender looking to add a final piece to a team with World Series aspirations.
Xander Bogaerts
Speaking of tough divisions, the AL East is always hotly contested and this year is no different. Bogaerts is (rightfully) considered a part of the Red Sox foundation, but with free agency looming and the recent acquisition of Trevor Story, the writing may be on the wall.
GM Chaim Bloom is famously frugal (he traded Mookie Betts!), and he may choose to trade the still-very-young shortstop for some help in another area and move Story back to his natural position from second base.
Noah Syndergaard
Once considered one of MLB’s brightest young pitchers, injuries have muted “Thor”‘s electric arm over the past two seasons. If the perpetually underperforming Angels continue their annual streak of subpar play, they may look to capitalize on any improvement Syndergaard is able to showcase before the deadline.
Andrew Benintendi
Once a member of the Red Sox’ vaunted young outfield, Benintendi’s production dropped off before he was dealt to the Royals in 2020. He earned a Gold Glove in somewhat of a bounce-back effort last season. If he can continue to improve, KC is a likely seller come deadline time.
Trey Mancini
Mancini makes the list because he is the only decent batter on a terrible Orioles team. He makes $7.5 million a year, which is pretty reflective of his game. In the AL East, the Orioles are almost perennial sellers and they will likely blow it up and start this squad from scratch, so Mancini is one of the few big league assets they can leverage.
Stay Up To Date On MLB Trade Rumors
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