The Arizona Diamondbacks are in a tough spot this season. They have the talent to be successful, but a crushing injury to Corbin Burnes has set them back quite a bit. Burnes was the team's major offseason acquisition, so losing him for the year and then some is the kind of situation that crushes a team.
Pair that with the fact that the Diamondbacks are stuck playing in the loaded National League and the best division in baseball and Arizona has an outside shot to be competitive. The Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, and San Francisco Giants are all postseason contenders with very low chances of looking to sell this year.
All in all, it seems like the Diamondbacks will be sellers this season, which is crazy to state considering how talented they are. But talent doesn't always guarantee a postseason spot, especially when three of the best teams in baseball are in the same division.
Who could be shipped out of Arizona in the coming weeks?
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4. LHP Jalen Beeks
There are a lot of players who could be traded from Arizona this season. But the first, and likely only, players to look at as trade chips are the expiring players. The Diamondbacks have too much talent to enter a full scale rebuild, so they'll likely look to hold onto the controllable players while dealing the expiring contracts away in an attempt to reload next season.
With this in mind, the first player to look at is talented reliever Jalen Beeks.
The relief pitcher market is typically one of the hotter trade markets each season. Every contending team needs to add relievers. Having a good bullpen can be the difference in October. But having a very talented and very consistent left handed reliever like Beeks could be the difference maker.
It would be easy to play match maker with the lefty. Any team besides the Padres, Dodgers, and Giants make sense. The Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees could emerge as top landing spots as they look to fill out their bullpen. Either way, Beeks is putting together a solid year and he should net the Diamondbacks a good prospect return on the trade market.
3. 3B Eugenio Suarez
Over the last few weeks, third baseman Eugenio Suarez has really emerged as one of the better sluggers in baseball. Suarez has always hit a lot of home runs, but this season, he's hitting for a solid average and posting a career best OPS+.
Suarez is also on an expiring contract which makes him a very attractive trade candidate, as is the case with Beeks. The Diamondbacks should deal him away while they can still salvage some value for him.
The biggest reason to expect a Suarez trade is how coveted he will be on the trade block. Teams like Detroit Tigers, Cubs, and New York Mets and Yankees need to add a third baseman. The Yankees make a lot of sense as they look to add some more pop and consistency to a lineup that's struggled recently. Adding Suarez behind Judge in the lineup would be a massive upgrade over what they have right now.
2. RHP Zac Gallen
Before the season, there were high expectations for the Diamondbacks' rotation because they were placing a superstar like Burnes next to an ace like Zac Gallen. Gallen has quietly been one of the better pitchers in the NL for years now. But this year, he's struggled to match his normal level of play.
But just like the previous two players on this list, Gallen sits on an expiring contract. The Diamondbacks will likely try to re-sign Gallen in the offseason, but they could look to trade him and sign him back in the winter in the same way the Tigers traded Jack Flaherty to the Dodgers before signing him in free agency.
Gallen's down year has likely tanked his draft value quite a bit at this point. But with starting pitchers being so coveted at the trade deadline, Gallen should still be able to land a decent return for the Diamondbacks.
1. RHP Merrill Kelly
The final player on this list sits on an expiring contract. Do you notice a trend for the Diamondbacks? The expiring players have to go unless Arizona plans on signing them to new contracts. For a veteran like Merrill Kelly, it's unlikely the Diamondbacks look to re-sign him once the season ends, especially if he's hunting a big money contract.
The Diamondbacks have been without Burnes for a few weeks now and Kelly has seemingly taken his spot at the top of the rotation. Kelly has quietly been one of the better pitchers in the NL, posting a 3.39 ERA, 2.2 WAR, and 1.05 WHIP in 16 starts and 93 innings. He's set to be quite coveted by contending teams at the trade deadline.
When playing in a division as competitive as the NL West, teams need to do everything they can to put together the best organization possible. Trading Kelly in exchange for a few top prospects would be the best move for the Diamondbacks to make and it's slowly becoming a move that baseball fans should expect to see.