While the Major League Baseball season is only pulling into the halfway point of its first month, it is never too early to look around and see what players may at the beginning of their final season as a member of their current club. The offseason hot stove has cool, but before long will be replaced by the spinning of the midseason trade rumor mill. And if this past winter was any indication of how the deals could shake out as the MLB trade deadline draws nearer and nearer, it could be a year of major shakeups.
However, pulling off a blockbuster trade is not as easy as it once was. With the advent of the second Wild Card slot, the push for postseason slots has become more competitive than ever. With this, teams are less likely to sell off their assets early unless they are clearly out of the playoff picture by late July. Add in the fact that the reward for holding onto pending free agents and attaching them to a draft pick guaranteeing compensation pick is more popular than ever, coming across premier in-season talent upgrades would seem to be a rarer than ever commodity.
However that did not stop last summer from being one of the most high profile trade deadline of all-time. Yoenis Cespedes, David Price, Troy Tulowitzki, Johnny Cueto, Ben Zobrist, Carlos Gomez and Scott Kazmir were among the nearly 30 trades made in the last week of July a year ago.
This year’s trade deadline could prove to be a repeat of last year’s boom as well. With free agent prices soaring, the chase to land a blockbuster trade is has become the preferred method of doing business for teams looking to improve in fast order.
What players are most likely to are most likely to make headlines this year as they potentially depart for new homes? Here is a look at 15 of the biggest names that could be on the move this summer.
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