With free-agent options dwindling, contenders looking to fill roster holes will soon have to turn to the trade market.
SI MLB Staff | Jan 3, 2025
In this story:
- Baltimore Orioles
- Chicago White Sox
- Cleveland Guardians
- Philadelphia Phillies
- Seattle Mariners
- San Diego Padres
- Tampa Bay Rays
After several offseasons that featured glacial-like movement on the free-agent market, much of MLB’s premier free agents have already been signed as we enter 2025. Just 11 of our top 30 free agents are still looking for a home.
That means contenders will soon have to turn to what’s also been a robust trade market to upgrade weaknesses on their rosters. This seems like a good time to solicit our staff for trade proposals to do just that.
Every deal below was approved by Baseball Trade Values’ trade simulator, which analyzes a vast history of past deals to assign a numerical value to every active player down to the depths of the minor leagues.
All prospect rankings are according to MLB Pipeline.
Tom Verducci
Philadelphia Phillies get: CF Luis Robert Jr.
Chicago White Sox get: CF Johan Rojas, SP Mick Abel (Phillies’ No. 5 prospect), OF Griffin Burkholder (No. 7)
A bounce-back from left-handed hitting Max Kepler is not the answer for Philadelphia’s needs. Robert may be injury-prone, but a five-tool player who is still only 27 is exactly the type of player worth betting on. He’s also a right-handed hitter and a true center fielder, filling the Phillies’ holes. The 2023 All-Star is due to make $15 million this year and has club options for $20 million in 2026 and ’27.
Rojas, 24, a burner and plus defender who won’t hit much, becomes superfluous with the acquisition of Robert. Abel, 23, a 6'5" power righthander, and Burkholder, 19, a speedy outfielder with size, present a steep price. But the Phillies are in win-now mode, which has never bothered Dave Dombrowski when it comes to finishing off a roster.
Will Laws
Baltimore Orioles get: SP Bryce Miller
Seattle Mariners get: 1B/3B Coby Mayo (Orioles’ No. 1 prospect)
The Mariners have been reluctant to deal from their surplus of starting pitchers to improve their problematic offense, while the Orioles have held on to their top prospect in Mayo in past efforts to upgrade their rotation. So there’s a slim chance this juicy one-for-one swap comes to fruition. But it would certainly address glaring weaknesses for both clubs.
Baltimore sorely needs a frontline starter to rely on in October after the departure of Corbin Burnes, and Miller is a young stud who isn’t even eligible for arbitration yet. The 26-year-old recorded a 2.94 ERA in 180.1 innings last season with a sparkling 0.98 WHIP, the fourth-best mark in the majors. He may not possess elite strikeout stuff, but he'd immediately slot into the Orioles’ projected playoff rotation.
Mayo is a consensus top-10 prospect who has drawn comparisons to Atlanta Braves star Austin Riley for his power (22 home runs in 89 Triple A games last year) and strong arm at the hot corner. The 23-year-old can be prone to strikeouts but would instantly become Seattle’s best option to start at third base on Opening Day.
Nick Selbe
Baltimore Orioles get: SP Dylan Cease
San Diego Padres get: OF Enrique Bradfield Jr. (Orioles’ No. 4 prospect), RHP Chayce McDermott (No. 5), OF Dylan Beavers (No. 6)
The Orioles have a clear need for another starting pitcher and a bevy of young bats to deal from. The Padres would likely want a group of players near major league-ready in return for Cease, and they'd get just that with this haul from Baltimore.
Beavers and Bradfield were both high-end college bats who were drafted by the Orioles in 2022 and '23, respectively. Beavers profiles as a corner outfielder and hit 15 homers with 31 stolen bases last year, reaching Triple A by the end of the season. Bradfield is a speed demon who stole 74 bases across High A and Double A in '24 and projects as a plus defender in center field. Acquiring him would enable Jackson Merrill to eventually move back to shortstop. And McDermott had a 3.78 ERA and averaged nearly 13 strikeouts per nine innings across 21 Triple A starts last year and looks ready for a role in the big leagues.
Cease is as reliable as it gets among arms that could be available on the trade market, as he's posted a 3.52 ERA across 130 starts over the past four years. Entering his age-29 season, he won't be cheap to acquire from a prospects standpoint, even though he's only a year away from free agency. The O's are one of the few teams that could afford to foot the bill, and should have the sense of urgency to do so after back-to-back early playoff exits.
Patrick Andres
Cleveland Guardians get: 2B Brandon Lowe
Tampa Bay Rays get: LHP Joey Cantillo (Guardians’ No. 15 prospect), LHP Parker Messick (No. 20)
In the wake of their Dec. 10 trade with the Blue Jays, the Cleveland Guardians have an Andres Gimenez-shaped hole in their lineup. Fortunately for them, they have multiple Gimenez heirs in the offing—versatile prospect Juan Brito, for instance, and (eventually) top draft pick Travis Bazzana.
It's worth pursuing a short-term keystone solution, however, and Brandon Lowe offers one. The 30-year-old former All-Star is a slight offensive upgrade, having produced 2.2 oWAR in 2024 against Gimenez's 1.9 (Gimenez's defense is light-years ahead of Lowe's, but that's the risk Cleveland took moving the three-time Gold Glove winner). Lowe, due $10.5 million in 2025 with an $11.5 million club option for 2026, also comes significantly cheaper than Gimenez in the long term—always a plus for a cost-conscious team.
Even Lowe’s relatively small salary qualifies as Tampa Bay’s biggest 2025 commitment, and the Rays have a history of dealing their veterans with two years of club control left. Doing that enables them to acquire a prospect like Cantillo, a 2023 Futures Game participant who’s added several ticks of fastball velocity over the last couple years and fits into the typical Rays archetype of a potential multi-inning reliever or back-end starter. It's sensible for the Guardians to deal from their ample pitching depth, and both the bat-missing Cantillo and command-friendly Messick offer the kinds of projects Tampa Bay seems to crave.