The Arizona Diamondbacks don’t necessarily have to trade either one of their two young shortstops currently battling for the starting job.
Both Didi Gregorius and Chris Owings, the two talented players involved in the aforementioned battle, have minor league options and could be sent to Triple-A to start the season. They might even benefit from the experience.
And for a playoff hopeful like the D’backs, it could be extremely valuable to have a strong option waiting in the wings in case the big league starter struggles or gets injured.
But young and controllable big league-ready shortstops like Gregorius and Owings, who have the potential to be very good offensively and defensively, are at a premium around the league and it’s rare that an organization has the shortstop depth to even consider trading one.
This is why the D’backs, who have several good shortstop prospects throughout their farm system, could be open to moving one now, as Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic recently pointed out.
While Diamondbacks general manager Kevin Towers acknowledged that trade talks have been limited due to Stephen Drew’s presence on the free-agent market, he would trade one of his shortstops in the “right deal” and mentioned a “top-notch catching prospect” and upper level pitching as potential returns.
Here are four teams that might target either Gregorius or Owings in a deal this spring and the trade packages it could take to get a deal done.