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MLB rumors: The best players that will be traded this season

By Michael Francis

MILWAUKEE, WI - OCTOBER 4: Nolan Arenado #28 of the Colorado Rockies hits a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning during Game 1 of the NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on Thursday, October 4, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WI - OCTOBER 4: Nolan Arenado #28 of the Colorado Rockies hits a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning during Game 1 of the NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on Thursday, October 4, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

Many logical trade targets have stayed put this winter, but the best of these players will be the subject of plenty of rumors at the MLB trade deadline and could be traded at some point during the season.

After a slow and frustrating winter for most baseball fans, spring has finally come! Pitchers and catchers have reported to camp with the rest of the players trickling in as we speak. Games will begin soon and most of the negative narratives behind the off-season will slowly creep toward the back burner as we enjoy our favorite pastime. However, that doesn’t change what happened (or didn’t happen) this winter. As of this writing, four of the top five free agents according to MLB Trade Rumors still do not have teams for the 2019 season.

Many teams have come under fire about their lack of spending and overall lack of activity. Some have claimed that teams just don’t want to be in the market of paying big time money to free agents. Others have said that these particular free agents are not worth spending crazy money. While some of this makes sense to an extent, it really doesn’t explain the stagnant trade market. With free agency at a standstill, teams should have been trading all over the place, using their player capital rather than their financial might, but this hasn’t happened yet.

There has also been a sentiment by many teams that they want to save some of their budget for in-season moves. This makes sense on the surface, but there is only so much that teams can do mid-season, and player salaries have been paid down some by mid-season thus cheaper to acquire.

There is a benefit to making more moves during the season however, as the team has a better idea of where they stand and which direction they should go. Before the season there are probably twenty teams that all think they have some sort of shot at the playoffs, making them less inclined to sell off pieces. This has created a standstill among MLB’s middle tier teams leaving many players who should have been traded this off-season with their current teams.

With that being said let’s take a look at some of the players that could’ve been moved this off-season and are likely to be moved during this upcoming season:

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