MLB Trade Deadline 2017: 5 best spots for Yonder Alonso

Yonder Alonso of the Oakland Athletics is having a career year and could be on the move at the trade deadline. These five teams could use him.

Coming out of the University of Miami as the seventh overall pick in the 2008 MLB draft, Yonder Alonso immediately became one of the top prospects in the game. His numbers in the minor leagues did not do much to tamp down expectations, and the burly first baseman was in the big leagues after only two full seasons on the farm. The power that Alonso’s 230-pound frame pointed to never developed, however, and he bounced around to three teams in his first seven years in the big leagues.

Alonso had a perfectly respectable career slash line of .269/.334/.387 entering this season. He makes good contact, draws enough walks, and generally avoids striking out. In short, Alonso had always done more than enough to keep himself employed in the big leagues, but not enough to fully live up to his high draft status.

That is changing this year. Alonso’s swing has finally developed some power and lift, and he is batting .280/.375/.568 with 19 home runs and 41 RBI. He hit only 19 home runs in 343 games from 2014 to 2016. Alonso has clearly made some big adjustments to his swing, and they are paying off. He has sacrificed some of his ability to make contact for the power, but is also walking more often.

The Oakland Athletics could attempt to keep Alonso as part of their long-term plan, and he has expressed an interest in staying. That being said, with the Kansas City Royals putting themselves back into the playoff race, Eric Hosmer will not be available. That leaves Alonso as the best first-base option on the market. The A’s have to keep their options open. If Alonso is going to be on the move, these five teams become the most logical trade partners.

5. Boston Red Sox

It is hard to determine what exactly is keeping Hanley Ramirez from being given the Pablo Sandoval treatment in Boston. While his numbers are not quite as ugly as Sandoval’s, Ramirez is hitting just .257/.346/.440 on the year with 11 home runs and 33 RBI. A full-time DH on a team that expects to contend for the World Series has to do better than that.

Ramirez was not signed by current Red Sox GM Dave Dombrowski, and has only one more guaranteed year on his $88-million contract. The deal has been a disaster for the Red Sox, but not quite as bad as the Sandoval deal. The only thing that could be keeping Dombrowski from targeting an upgrade at DH for the rest of this season is the fact that Ramirez could go nuclear and tear apart the clubhouse if he is sent to the bench.