The offseason is considered the most optimal time for front offices to conduct trades. General managers have a better feel for where their teams stand and aren’t distracted by game-day operations or the pressure to complete a deal by the trade deadline with a bunch of moving parts changing the landscape on a daily basis for all involved.
But while baseball fans were treated to a highly active free-agent market before the lockout, with 26 of our top-50 free agents signing before MLB locked out the players on Dec. 2, the trade market was a different story. Seattle’s acquisition of infielder Adam Frazier from San Diego, Miami’s trading for former Pirates catcher Jacob Stallings and Boston and Milwaukee’s outfielder swap of Hunter Renfroe and Jackie Bradley Jr. counted as the most notable deals. While those trades could very well affect the 2022 playoff chase, there are certainly more remarkable ones coming after a new collective bargaining agreement is reached.
I’ll try to forecast some of the players who could change jerseys at some point this year, with a focus on talents without a clear path to playing time rather than those close to free agency on teams unlikely to contend in 2022. With the league’s owners refusing to budge in CBA negotiations despite benefiting from a system in which every team is worth 10 figures, I’m in no mood to ponder scenarios that will let the penny-pinchers avoid paying their superstars right before they reach free agency and are finally free to earn what they’re worth. Plus, most knowledgeable fans are aware that the likes of Matt Olson, José Ramírez and Ketel Marte are on the block, anyway.
