With the World Series in the rearview mirror, the hot stove season is well underway and we now have the time to ponder interesting things like possible free agent acquisitions; trades that may or may not happen this winter; boneheaded contracts that are surely to be handed out because GM’s panic after a down year; and what it would be like to be inside the mind of Brian Wilson for a day.
In some order.
Today, we are looking at some arbitration-eligible players that may turn up on the trade market.
If a player stands to see a significant raise in his salary via arbitration, his club may end up deciding that the best option is to trade him instead of paying an annual salary that it may find a bit, well, exorbitant.
There’s a lot of value in these types of players for smaller market clubs because they usually aren’t making any big free agent splashes or posting eight-figure bids for the right to negotiate with a player.
(Wait. Didn’t the Oakland A’s just do that? Crap.)
The club can then get a player with a few years of control left without being burdened by a long-term contract.
We are tossing around a few different names for fun, but remember, this list is subjective and is not a prediction of the market. These players may be traded, or they may not be traded. It’s all for discussion.
If you would like to add a name that wasn’t mentioned, or discuss any that were, feel free to post your thoughts in the comment section.
Now the list …