The free-agent and trade markets have been quiet since the conclusion of December’s Winter Meetings. However, with the Jan. 24 deadline for a team to reach a deal with Japanese right-hander Masahiro Tanaka edging closer every day, it’s only a matter of time until things pick back up.
The few starters who are still on the market—namely Ervin Santana and Matt Garza—are likely to receive more lucrative contracts once the winner of the Tanaka sweepstakes is announced, so they’re wisely holding out until then. And once those pieces fall into place, there will likely be more activity on the trade front as well.
With that said, it’s not surprising that there is a complete lack of reasonable prospect-based trade rumors at the moment. However, ESPN.com’s Jim Bowden proposed several interesting trade scenarios earlier this week in a pair of articles about the missing links for every American and National League team (subscription required).
So, in the absence of prospect rumors, I thought I’d breakdown a few of his suggested trades in the aforementioned articles in order to determine the short- and long-term impact of the moves.