The MLB trade market is starting to get some attention with major free agents signing with teams, as players like James Shields, Carlos Gonzalez, Charlie Blackmon, Corey Dickerson, Jorge Soler, Tyson Ross, Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier, Todd Frazier, Aroldis Chapman, Brett Gardner and Andrew Miller have come up in rumors for potential deals.
Many of the top free agents have signed with teams, including Zack Greinke, Johnny Cueto, David Price and Jason Heyward and that could put some teams in position to make trades. Some teams may not want to give up draft picks or dish put money for free agents and that could heat up the trade market in the back end of December. According to ESPN.com, the Rockies are listening on outfielder Carolos Gonzalez along with Charlie Blackmon and Corey Dickerson, while the Padres could be open to trading a pitcher.
The outfield market has names like Alex Gordon and Yoenis Cespedes available, but some teams may want to bypass free agents and could look at trades. According to Ken Rosenthal at Fox Sports, the Dodgers could be willing to deal wither Andre Either or Carl Crawford for some pitching, while the Yankees have made Brett Gardner available this winter, but have not come that close to trading him yet.
The Padres reportedly are open to dealing James Shields or Tyson Ross, while the Reds have pushed deals for Aroldis Chapman and Todd Frazier. Chapman had interest from the Dodgers, Astros and Nationals at various points this offseason, but right now nothing is happening since the close is under investigation by the MLB for a domestic incident. The Dodgers had a deal basically done for Chapman, but they backed out of that, while the Astros traded for Ken Giles and likely are not looking at Chapman anymore. The Nationals reportedly are out on Chapman as well, according to ESPN.
Ken Rosenthal reports that the Dodgers could look at making some trade deals after missing out on some of the top free agents, as players like Jake Odorizzi and Jake McGee could be options with the Rays, while Todd Frazier could be a potential target with the Reds. The Reds have reportedly been talking with the Indians about Frazier and that comes after players like Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar have come up in rumors connected to the Cubs. The Cubs reportedly may consider trading Jorge Soler after signing Jason Heyward, as the team would like to add more pitching to the rotation. USA Today reports the Reds are getting a lot of interest in Frazier.
The Yankees have reportedly been open to trading Andrew Miller this offseason, but the team is looking to get young pitching back in return. Gonzalez has been mentioned in trade rumors over the past couple years and after dealing with injuries in recent seasons, Gonzalez finished 2015 with 40 home runs and he could be a cheaper option than players like Justin Upton or Cespedes, as he has two years left on his contract at $27 million overall.
