Oakland A’s trade possibility: Matt Olson
I would say Olson is the best player of this group by quite a bit and he might have the most interesting potential trade destinations as well. In 2021, Olson returned to form with the Oakland A’s, putting up a 5.0 fWAR season (19th in MLB) with a .911 OPS (T-12th best in MLB) and 146 WRc+ (8th best in MLB).
His market opens up a lot more with the DH looking to be brought to the National League and it could change greatly depending on where free agent Freddie Freeman decides to go.
New York Yankees
Even though New York has a solid to even great first baseman in Luke Voit, if you can get Matt Olson instead, you do it. Making a move for a guy like Olson with this already potent lineup looks scary for the rest of the league. I think ensuring their rotation is solid this year should be the main focus but they could bring in Olson and improve the rotation by making a deal with Oakland. It would be interesting to see if the A’s take Voit back as part of the return to then flip later. An example of a trade between the two sides you can find being reviewed here.
Milwaukee Brewers
Olson is the exact type of hitter that Milwaukee needs to add to this lineup. They have a lot of solid to good hitters but since Yelich has regressed they don’t have anyone that is really great, unless Willy Adames can sustain his production from the second half of last season. Olson would immediately make this team a much stronger contender. With the DH most likely coming it would give them a chance to platoon it with Keston Hiura and Rowdy Tellez, giving their offense even more upside.
Atlanta Braves
This is entirely contingent on whether or not they can bring back Freddie Freeman, but in a world where he moves on to another team, they should be putting a lot of chips in the Matt Olson basket. Olson would come in and provide pretty much the exact type of production that Freeman did and Atlanta has the assets to make this type of move. After winning the World Series last year they need to go all in to stay in contention and Olson would help them do that if they are without Freeman
San Diego Padres
This one is a little trickier because Eric Hosmer would have to come back but I don’t think that would scare away the Oakland A’s as long as the Padres agree to take on the cash. We saw what top level Hosmer looks like in 2020 so if the A’s get him back to that he could be flipped later. Olson would be a serious upgrade in the position that probably needs it the most for them, giving them another superstar level hitter to pair with Machado and Tatis.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Another interesting one but I think it works and I don’t think the Dodgers mind getting creative to fit in good players. Max Muncy has played a good amount of time at second base, managing to be at least average there defensively to make room for Olson at first. If the DH is brought in as well, that just provides another way to get both players into the lineup. This is the type of move the Dodgers have shown they are not scared to make and figure out later.