We are roughly three weeks into the MLB season and you can already hear the trade gears turning. There are some surprise breakout teams (Miami, Minnesota, Pittsburgh), as well as a few "contenders" in dark places (Boston, Houston, Philadelphia). Yes, it's early; but with how much is on the line in front offices around the league, it won't be hard to find a GM or two looking to rock the boat with a major move.
For these stars stuck on losing teams, a trade could open the door to new competitive vigor — a chance to play meaningful baseball. Let's pair them up with teams in need.
SS CJ Abrams, Washington Nationals
Landing spot: Texas Rangers
Washington reportedly floated CJ Abrams to prospective suitors in the offseason, but couldn't strike a deal. Now the uber-talented shortstop is on breakout watch, with four home runs, four stolen bases and a .975 OPS entering play on Monday night. His strikeouts are way down, his walks are way up. Abrams is seeing the ball better than ever while slugging (.571) more than a hundred points better than he was a year ago (.433).
Abrams has two years left on his contract and, at 25, there's still ample room for growth. Teams should be spamming the phone lines in D.C., hoping to get new GM Paul Toboni to fork over the former (and future) All-Star.
How about the Rangers, who already won the Brandon Nimmo-Marcus Semien swap with New York in the offseason and could now backfill his spot at second base? Abrams can move to the keystone, opposite Corey Seager at short, which should mitigate the former's one major weakness (defense). Abrams would immediately become one of the most productive second basemen in the league, with the chance to join a potential contender in Arlington. The Rangers are only a few years removed from the World Series, lest we forget.
RHP José Soriano, Los Angeles Angels
Landing spot: Baltimore Orioles
José Soriano is the best pitcher in baseball through four starts. He has a 0.33 ERA and 0.68 WHIP with 31 strikeouts in 27.0 innings. He has allowed just nine hits, nine walks and a single earned run — a Drake Baldwin solo homer in what was otherwise a shutdown effort against the red-hot Braves.
With two additional years of club control left, the Angels needn't rush into a Soriano trade. That said, it doesn't take an expert forecaster to realize Los Angeles will not compete this season — or realistically, before Soriano becomes a free agent in 2028. This team is stuck with a middling farm system and a front office too cheap to compete in the current free agent marketplace. The best way to restore their asset pool might be to cash in on Soriano at the absolute peak of his value.
Regression will eventually come for the 27-year-old sinkerballer. That's not to say he isn't on the All-Star (and maybe even the Cy Young) path, but Soriano has struggled with command his entire career and he's no stranger to volatility given his contact-oriented approach.
If the Angels do float Soriano to prospective suitors before the deadline, we all know the Orioles could use a shutdown ace to headline the rotation. Baltimore added a couple high-impact bats this winter, but a rotation with Soriano, Trevor Rogers, Kyle Bradish and Shane Baz starts to feel like a staff that can actually support a deep postseason run.
1B Munetaka Murakami, Chicago White Sox
Landing spot: Pittsburgh Pirates
Munetaka Murakami has performed exactly as advertised for the White Sox, for better and for worse. The power plays; he has four home runs and seven RBI, in the 89th percentile for hard-hit rate. He's also hitting .157 and striking out at an unsustainable 33.8 percent clip. Murakami needs to clean up his swing decisions and adjust to MLB pitching, but when he connects, that baseball travels a long way.
Chicago landing Murakami for two years and $34 million was a surprise in the moment, but it was a result of league-wide skepticism linked to the 26-year-old's very real shortcomings. At the end of the day, though, Murakami's natural power — that smooth, lefty swing and his winning personality — are easy to be excited about long term.
Beyond the affordability and the immediate production, the White Sox probably understood that signing Murakami to a two-year contract meant he wouldn't stick around long if he performs. That could mean trading him now, with another year of club control left, is the best way to maximize the value from this arrangement.
Pittsburgh has the arms to win the NL Central and a lineup that is gradually becoming a real force with Konnor Griffin, Brandon Lowe and Ryan O'Hearn in the mix. The Pirates shouldn't balk at the opportunity to add another young slugger if the opportunity arises, however. Murakami fits their budget and it's easy enough to plug him into the DH spot in place of a struggling Marcell Ozuna, if it comes to that.
3B Isaac Paredes, Houston Astros
Landing spot: Philadelphia Phillies
Isaac Paredes isn't off to a blistering start at the plate (.225 with a .665 OPS and 95 OPS+) but he's a two-time All-Star and he just turned 27. The Astros are stuck with an infield logjam, which means Paredes is pigeonholed at DH and Yordan Álvarez is lined up in left field — a precarious setup, to say the least.
Houston should trade Paredes now, while he still has an extra year of cheap club control to boost his value. That will happen sooner than later if the Astros can't get back in the win column more consistently, which will be tough given their early deluge of pitching injuries.
Enter the Phillies, who could use a facelift in the infield. Both Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott are black holes in an underperforming lineup at the moment. Stott's defense probably keeps him at second base, but Bohm's days were already numbered on an expiring contract. Paredes is an immediate upgrade, plus the Phillies can hope to get a couple postseason runs out of him.
The friendly dimensions at Citizens Bank Park should help spruce up Paredes' production. He's not a sharp defender at the hot corner, but he's hardly worse than Bohm. This feels like one of the more obvious trade fits out there.
OF Jarren Duran, Boston Red Sox
Landing spot: Cincinnati Reds
Boston has won four of its last five after a brutal start, but the Red Sox are still tied for last place in MLB's most competitive division. Should their season eventually turn sour, Craig Breslow will almost certainly trade one of their outfielders (albeit a few months too late). Jarren Duran's name was popular in trade rumors all winter and Wilyer Abreu's explosive numbers out of the gate only increase the probability that Duran winds up the odd man out.
He was excellent for Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic, but Duran's campaign is off to a bumpier start — .563 OPS with a 42.7 percent whiff rate, near the bottom of the league. Still, we know what the 29-year-old lefty is capable of. Duran's blend of power and speed is a rare commodity and should mean Boston can flip him for solid value, especially with two additional years of club control left on his contract.
In Cincinnati, meanwhile, the Reds are a half-game behind Pittsburgh in the NL Central. The rotation, even in its current compromised state, looks strong enough for another Wild Card push. If Cincinnati can add more firepower to its lineup, Terry Francona's squad will be cooking with gas.
Duran would provide an immediate upgrade in either corner outfield spot, giving the Reds another top-of-the-order bat in front of Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart. This feels right.
LHP Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
Landing spot: Los Angeles Dodgers
Tarik Skubal and Framber Valdez have been as good as advertised atop Detroit's rotation, but ice-cold bats and compromised rotation depth has left the Tigers floundering out of the gate. We know AJ Hinch is a genius, and we know the Tigers can win, but these struggles come after Detroit basically spent the second half of 2025 in a prolonged meltdown. Maybe there's something wrong at the core right now.
If the Tigers can't climb the standings expeditiously, keeping Skubal beyond the trade deadline — when he's virtually guaranteed to walk as a free agent next winter — would be malpractice. As much as it would sting, Detroit cannot get left holding the bag. If the Tigers aren't going to meaningfully contend in the American League, trading Skubal and recouping value is a must. There's no way around it.
As for where Skubal might end up, it's probably a team with a high financial threshold and a deep farm system. Unfortunately for the rest of MLB, no club meets those criteria better than the Dodgers.
Los Angeles has a ton of promising bats (Josue De Paula, Zhyir Hope, James Tibbs III) and MLB-ready arms (River Ryan, Emmet Sheehan, Jackson Ferris) to throw at Detroit. The Dodgers' rotation is already quite strong, but "need" is relative for a team with L.A.'s payroll. If the Dodgers can add the best arm in baseball to the best team in baseball, cost certainly won't stop them.
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