The Real Beneficiaries of Possible Trades, Part Two

About a week or so ago, I took a look at a few guys who would benefit from being traded over the next few weeks, including Brandon Drury, Ronald Torreyes, and Victor Caratini. This post looks at players who are exceptionally talented, but don’t have a clear path to playing time with their current organization.

These next few guys could also be great beneficiaries of possible trades.

Milwaukee Brewers: Brett Phillips, Domingo Santana

The Brewers have a surplus of very talented outfielders including Christian Yelich, Lorenzo Cain, Ryan Braun and Keon Broxton, with Eric Thames taking some reps in the outfield to clear room for Jesus Aguilar, who has finally been getting the credit and playing time that he deserves.

Phillips has struggled this season in Triple-A, but was a consensus top-100 prospect going into the season, and has exhibited double-digit home run power, and double-digit stolen base speed with solid plate discipline and the potential to hit for contact. He has the potential to be a starter, and reminds me a bit of Shane Victorino. Unlike most of the guys are mentioned in this post, I fully expect Phillips to be traded.

As for Santana, he has been awful this season in the majors, but then again, what would happen with your motivation if your team acquired two star outfielders the offseason following an exceptional .278/.371/.505 season with 15 stolen bases and 30 home runs? He needs an opportunity to play every day, and if that is presented to him, I have no doubts that he could return to form.

Solution: Trade the pair to the Baltimore Orioles in a possible Machado deal. Obviously, the market for Machado is popping right now, but with two major league caliber outfielders and maybe a young pitching prospect or two, I could see the O’s biting.

Otherwise: Theoretically, the Brewers could try to use Phillips as a fourth outfielder over Keon Broxton, but Santana looks as if he’s a non-tender candidate, as he’s arbitration eligible this offseason.

Atlanta Braves: Preston Tucker

While Preston Tucker had a hot start, and cooled off, you need to remember that his playing time plummeted when superstar Ronald Acuna was recalled from Triple-A. If you look at his starter/sub splits, he hit a solid .253/.300/.458 in games that he started compared to just .233/.281/.267 coming off of the bench. While I don’t know that he’s as good as he looked in April, I see him as an average to slightly above average major league regular that can hold down the fort for a team in the midst of a rebuild including the Royals or the Orioles. Based on his power, Baltimore would actually make sense, as his power would play up in the AL East.

Solution: Flip him in a trade similar to the Eric Young Jr./Collin McHugh deal from a few seasons ago. Right now, he’s not going to get you much of a return, but in a fringe 40 deal, it could work.

Otherwise: It seems likely that he would eventually be a roster casualty.

Boston Red Sox: Adam Lind, Blake Swihart

Imagine playing for a division winning organization, and hitting .303/.362/.513 with 14 home runs. Going into the offseason, you would probably be expecting to make some money in free agency. Unfortunately, he was unable to secure any guaranteed money and was forced to settle for a minor league deal with the Yankees, and after not being able to break into the stacked organization, he went to the division rival Red Sox who were just about as stacked. While he’s struggled a bit in Triple-A, I believe if given a shot off of the bench, his numbers could improve.

For Swihart, this one is perhaps the most obvious situation in the major leagues at the moment. Blake Swihart is being kept on the Red Sox roster despite getting no playing time. If he wants to have a chance to realize his potential, he needs to be traded to a team that can use him, as a catcher. He has not been very good in the major leagues, but it’s difficult to improve when you don’t get any at-bats, or innings in the field.

Solution: Lind carries no trade value right now, therefore, the best thing for him would be to exercise an out clause, if one exists, or to simply hope for somebody to begin to struggle. With Swihart, flip him to a rebuilding club that could actually give him playing time behind the plate, allowing him the opportunity to realize his potential.