2 Trade Deadline will be here before you know it, and it’s never too early to start thinking about how clubs can bolster their rosters for the stretch run.
The Mets are still in the top half of the Majors in starters’ ERA, but reinforcements would certainly be welcome, even as the key injured starters work their way back.
Underlying stats indicate that Castillo’s results should be better so far this season, in a small sample after a late start due to right shoulder soreness.
Of course, this is also the type of trade that would benefit the Mets if it happened now, not at the end of July, which would likely make the ask from the Reds’ side even higher.
You look at the names in the Padres’ outfield and you wouldn’t necessarily think they need a new one: Wil Myers, Trent Grisham and Jurickson Profar currently man the outfield for San Diego.
Benintendi has a good track record and he’s in his prime, so he’s worth going out and getting if you’re the Padres, once again battling the Dodgers and Giants in the NL West.
The additions of Sonny Gray and Chris Archer have worked out well so far, and up-and-coming righties Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober have been excellent, but this isn’t a team that should be standing pat, not with Carlos Correa likely to opt out after this season.
The 29-year-old has pitched to a 3.48 ERA with a 10 K/9 and a 3.7 K/BB ratio in 69 starts since the beginning of 2019.
Just last year, the Twins got back two Top 100 prospects — infielder/outfielder Austin Martin and righty Simeon Woods Richardson — from the Blue Jays for pitcher José Berríos, who had one-plus years of team control remaining at the time, like Montas does now.
Enter the switch-hitting Bell, who is having a solid campaign at the plate in the second and final year of his contract with the Nationals after the Pirates dealt him to Washington prior to the 2021 season.
The Nationals, meanwhile, are headed nowhere fast as far as this season is concerned, and Washington could certainly stand to bolster a farm system that ranks in the bottom third of baseball.
With the Blue Jays’ lineup having been somewhat underwhelming over the first two months of the season, Toronto could benefit by swinging a Bell-type trade sooner rather than later, perhaps well before the Aug.
With the Cubs’ playoff odds dwindling close to 2% and Contreras a pending free agent, he could soon be the last member of the 2016 World Series champions to exit Chicago.
Primary catcher Martín Maldonado has been arguably the most offensively challenged regular hitter in the Majors this season.
But an injury here or a slump there could change that calculus in a hurry.
