5 Big Names Who Could Switch Baseball Teams This Summer
Whilst it could be argued that the 2022 MLB season is still in its infancy now, there will still be a lot of questions about what is currently being experienced by the teams around the league.
There will be some that will be delighted with the start that they have had, whereas there will be teams at the opposite end of the spectrum that will be wondering why they have had such a poor start to the year and questioning what they can do to turn things around.
Indeed, one of the things that some franchises – regardless of their position in the standings at the moment – will potentially look at is in regard to trading for new players in order to strengthen their rosters as they look to strive to be the best that they can.
Whilst the MLB trade deadline is not until August 2, there are several rumors already circulating about what certain teams may look to do, with some of the biggest names in baseball also being touted for trades between organizations.
Naturally, this period can be as equally exciting as it can be heartbreaking for some. Players moving between teams will leave some happy and some upset, whilst it will also have those who are interested in betting on baseball somewhat engaged, too. Indeed, with sites like gamblingpromocodes.com identifying the best promos to use at available sportsbooks, punters are able to get the best experiences possible!
If we go back to the trade rumors, though, who are five of the biggest names in the sport to be potentially on the move before the deadline comes into effect on August 2? Let’s look at them below!
OF Ramon Laureano, Oakland Athletics
Ramon Laureano of the Oakland Athletics might be one individual who is on the move this summer, with the outfielder capable of providing a spark to an outfield on both sides of the ball.
Indeed, the 27-year-old has been rather inconsistent in regard to his statistics, especially since he was busted for performance enhancing drugs in late 2021 that led to an 80 game suspension. Laureano’s defense is highly regarded and he brings an intensity that competing teams this summer could value highly. Moreover,he’s moving up the arbitration ladder and the A’s cheap ways could find Laureano’s future paychecks unpalatable.
LHP Matt Moore, Texas Rangers
The once top prospect has found a home in a Texas bullpen that has performed at the top. He’s part of an otherwise unheralded group that includes Dennis Santana, Joe Barlow, and Brock Burke that have a combined 1.84 ERA. The group has helped Texas to a surprisingly good start to the year; they’re 31-35 in second place in the AL West. Still, this wasn’t quite supposed to be Texas’ year and they’ll likely be sellers at the deadline. What better asset to sell than a soon-to-be free agent lefty reliever? He could net the Rangers more long-term assets as they look to build the next championship contender in the DFW area.
LHP Sam Moll, Oakland Athletics
We promise we do not have something against the Oakland Athletics, but they already shipped out all their good players, including Sean Manaea. Given the firesale going on in Oakland, the A’s seem ripe to try to sell high on lefty reliever Sam Moll.
Sam is a 30 year old journeyman who has been waived, rule 5 picked, granted free agency twice, and the official MLB transaction tracker has the A’s “purchasing” Sam Moll from the Diamondbacks in the 2021 offseason. Through all that, the profile has remained fairly consistent: he’s a lefty reliever who doesn’t throw quite as many strikes as you’d like. Still, he’s made a shift to throwing his slider 60% of the time in 2022 and its led to a 1.23 ERA with 29 strikeouts in just over 21 innings. It’s a long arm action and he’s another piece of what could be a contender’s bullpen.
CF Bryan Reynolds, Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates just promoted O’Neil Cruz and have some good things cooking in Pittsburgh. Bryan Reynolds has long been rumored to be available and the Pirates would do well to listen. However, Reynolds is a switch-hitting center fielder who finished just outside of the top 10 in MVP voting last year. He’s got 3.5 more years of club control left, so any package that the Pirates get back would have to make it worthwhile. Pirates fans are growing ready for a winner and Reynolds could be around to be part of the next playoff game in Pittsburgh.
1B Josh Bell, Washington Nationals
Bell is having something of a career year in his walk year in Washington. He’s up to an 146 OPS+ which means that he’s been 46% better than league average in the box. He provides power and switch hitting ability.
With the DH now universal, there are plenty of contending teams that could use his bat in the lineup. While the first-place Brewers have given the majority of their DH plate appearances to Andrew McCutchen, nobody on their team with more than 5 plate appearances has an OPS+ higher than Bell’s mark. Additionally, the competing Giants have given 33-year old Tommy La Stella the majority of plate appearances at DH. He’s rewarded that commitment with a .266 OBP that actually gets worse when he has the platoon advantage. We could go on, but it’s clear that Bell will be a big bat available this summer.
