In baseball, not all teams can afford the luxury of having a top-of-the-line team that can be a World Series hopeful from beginning to the end of the season without having to do any tweaking down the line. Some teams need a little kick in their starting rotation, a little juice in their batting orders, or a little more gas in their defensive schemes. To be taken as seriously as wanted by MLB world series odds experts, teams understand that sometimes mid-season adjustments are exactly what’s needed to make the necessary splashes and put their respective leagues on notice.
Here are a few trade scenarios that would seriously benefit some of the MLB’s top World Series contenders.
The New York Yankees Need More Hitting
One could argue that the NY Yankees could use another starter in their rotation to truly pull themselves apart in the AL East and later down the line in the AL playoff race. That’s always true, for basically any team in contention, but let’s leave the Yankees rotation alone since it´s a very decent one and focus on something they need more of, hitting. Now, if I’m the Yankees I would want to find a hitter that can offer me results right away. Now let’s get one thing straight, it’s one thing to look for an all-out slugger, but the Yankees have that already in Judge and above all, Stanton. The Yankees need a hitter that can do it all, with great average, with proven star power, they need someone like Arizona’s Ketel Marte.
The Diamondbacks are sitting on the worst record in all of MLB so trading away their biggest star shouldn’t be that farfetched, especially if they can get a deal focused on rebuilding and thinking into the future. The setback is that Arizona will not let their star go for some change and a thank you letter; they will be asking for a lot. Are the Yankees ready for such a commitment?
The other great option here is going after Florida’s CF Starling Marte, no, not related to Ketel. With Aaron Hicks out for the season in NY, the Yankees need a good option at center field and with Marte looking to leave Florida and a proven record, he should be a top priority for the Yankees. Batting power and defensive skills to the brim, it all makes sense for both parts.
Yo, Joey Gallo! The Padres Need a Center Fielder!
Ok, so in all honesty the Padres don’t really need a center fielder that bad, but given that the Rangers star outfielder and slugger Joey Gallo is in the trade talks mix, the Padres should definitely target him, why? Because they’re the Padres, the most exciting team in the NL, and because they can! Given that the Padres are without a starting CF since Trent Grisham was sidelined because of a heel contusion San Diego has had to rely on Jurickson Profar, who is not really performing at the level that’s needed by this Padres team.
Bringing in a guy like Gallo, who is young, who can play at center field, right field, and even at first base and who has some seriously good hitting power would only add up more to a Padres lineup who need to beef up their batting order to take down the Giants and Dodgers in the NL West. If San Diego adds Gallo to their roster, this would allow them to move Profar back to where he truly shines, being a top-line utility player and they can even see into moving Tommy Pham, who makes more money than Gallo out of San Diego to create some breathing room in the roster.
Please, White Sox, Give Your Bullpen Some Love!
For a team that had the top-rated bullpen coming into the season, the White Sox could really use some much-needed bullpen help towards the second half of the season. The gap between the starting rotation to get to closer Liam Hendricks is getting bigger and bigger as the season passes and this is only hurting Chicago more and more as time goes by. If they wish to truly stay their path as contenders then they need to address their bullpen needs, amongst others, but their bullpen needs first and most importantly.
Now, there’s no hate whatsoever for what Jose Ruiz, Evan Marshall, Aaron Bummer, Michael Kopech, and Codi Heuer have done and can do moving forward, but this bullpen really needs to get some fire going. Liam Hendricks needs a solid set-up man; Ruiz has been doing that in a very effective way but just not good enough. So what should Chicago do? Call Washington, ask about Daniel Hudson, get Daniel Hudson via trade, be happy and continue.
Hudson and his five-pitch repertoire including a beautiful four-seam fastball and one would assume that he would love to go to the White Sox, taking into account that Chicago is the team that welcomed him into the major leagues back in 2008. Hudson can bring a much-needed postseason pedigree to a team where thinking about going to the World Series is not an opium dream. He could end up being the steal of the trade deadline and just what the White Sox need. Hey, Chicago, get on with it, call the Nationals!
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