MLB Trade Rumors: 5 veterans who are prime trade candidates

It’s never too early to start talking about which veterans might be traded at the deadline. 

No MLB team wants to give up on its season before the calendar turns to May, but sometimes it’s wise to get ahead of the curve. Trading a quality veteran so early in the year can maximize the return for a team who is desperately in need of a talent infusion.

In particular, teams that find themselves at the bottom of the standings need to think long and hard about what players really factor into their future. Specifically, keeping pricey free agents is a poor strategy. Many of these players would prefer to play for a contender. Quite a few contenders are more than willing to part with a prospect or two to help boost their chances of making noise in October.

The idea of trading established talent is particularly compelling when you’re discussing older players. Dealing an established star in his prime is pretty painful. Selling high on an aging veteran whose performance is likely to decline severely over the next few seasons is smart business. Identifying which sort of player you have is crucial for teams who are considering making a move.

There will likely be lots of player movement ahead of this year’s trade deadline, but these are five quality pieces that could be on the move sooner, rather than later. Time will tell if the struggling teams in question will have the foresight to sell high on their talent before things get too desperate late in the season.