Five Players Who Teams Would Love to Trade Before Opening Day
Even in late February, a few MLB teams still hold some contracts on their rosters that they'd ideally like to part ways with by Opening Day.
As spring training is upon us and we officially enter the final stretch of the offseason, the focus for every team will be to finalize their rosters ahead of Opening Day.
However, despite the bulk of trades and free agent signings being accomplished already, there are a few teams who will look to take advantage of the trade market over the next month or so.
Now the goal here won’t be to try and land the next big difference maker in their lineup or on the mound, but rather it will be to shed some money and open up some roster flexibility at the expense of some undesirable contracts ahead of the 2025 campaign.
Of the names we’ll discuss here, some are aging veterans who just don’t fit the mold for the future for their respective organizations, others are simply victims to their team’s current financial situation, and others are simply contracts that have aged poorly where both parties need a fresh start.
While the individual situations may vary, what is the same for each of these five names, is that they’re players that their organizations would love to move on from ahead of Opening Day.
Nolan Arenado (St. Louis Cardinals)
This seems like a trade that’s been on the cusp of happening all winter, however Arenado’s no-trade clause in his contract has proven to be a tough hurdle to leap for Jon Mozeliak and co.
There was a reported deal to the Astros that the 33-year-old kiboshed in December, and since then nothing has really seemed to come to fruition on the trade front.
With the Cardinals all but set for a rebuild after back-to-back seasons of disappointing postseason misses, the time for a deal has never been more fitting.
They sure have plenty of young infield talent waiting in the wings in Thomas Saggese and JJ Wetherholt to pair alongside younger big league names like Masyn Winn, Brendan Donovan and Nolan Gorman. This makes Arenado’s roster spot even more enticing to open up.
Despite his age and decline, Arenado still holds a decent amount of value. He’s coming off a season where he was still able post an above average wRC+ of 102, along with a .272 AVG, .719 OPS, 16 HR and 71 RBI. Not anything earth-shattering but still somewhat productive in the right scenario.
Pair that with his defense that may not be at the same level as it was when he won 10 consecutive Gold Gloves at third base from 2013 to 2022, he was still a well above average defender last season with 6 DRS and 9 OAA.
Is he the MVP-caliber player he was just a few seasons ago? No. However, in the right scenario with enough support around him in the lineup, there should still be interest in his services.
St. Louis should be all over this if a deal comes through, as freeing up $25.5 million dollars in luxury tax space and opening up an infield spot for the next generation could be far more valuable than what Arenado would give you in 2025.
Robert Suarez (San Diego Padres)
It’s no secret that the Padres aren’t in the best financial standing this winter, which makes further trades even more likely.
With the creative deal to avoid arbitration for Michael King and the recent signings of both Nick Pivetta and Kyle Hart, it seems the Padres are in a position to go for it again, as Aram Leighton and Jack McMullen alluded to on the Feb. 17 edition of the Just Baseball Show (linked below). This means that’s it’s likely not a stretch to think Dylan Cease will stay put.
From a positional standpoint San Diego could still deal names like Luis Arráez or Jake Cronenworth, like they’ve reportedly entertained according to Dennis Lin of The Athletic, but the odds of finding a suitable replacement for either of those positions that would also keep them competitive would be difficult at this stage.
That leaves the bullpen to try and create some wiggle room in the budget, and Suarez’s $10 million payroll hit in 2025 and potential $8 million per year the following two seasons looks like the prime candidate to free up those funds for the Friars.
With plenty of teams always in need of backend bullpen arms, Suarez’s 36 saves, 2.77 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and .215 BAA in 2024 would be an appealing profile to pursue.
The Padres also have the necessary bullpen depth to stomach dealing Suarez, with Jason Adam and Jeremiah Estrada capable of holding down the backend roles, and names like Adrián Morejón, Bryan Hoeing and Yuki Matsui all adequate middle-relief arms.
Marcus Stroman (New York Yankees)
Things have already gotten off on a sour note between Stroman and the Yankees in 2025.
The 33-year-old joined camp late, missing multiple workouts, and upon his return was adamant that he has no desire to move to the bullpen.
In reality the road to starting for the Yankees could be a difficult one for Stroman given the competition surrounding him for the five spots in the rotation.
Gerrit Cole, Max Fried and Carlos Rodón are all shoe-ins for the top three spots, while Luis Gil should also be considered in that conversation after claiming AL Rookie of the Year honors in 2024.
Then the race for the fifth should presumably be lead by Clarke Schmidt after a 2.85 ERA season in 2024, leaving Stroman on the outside looking in.
After a dreadful second-half ERA just shy of 6.00 (5.98) and a WHIP near 1.80 (1.77), Stroman’s $18.5 million salary in 2025 is less than ideal.
If the Yankees want a project within their starter depth, they currently have that with an arm like Will Warren who still has some prospect pedigree to his name, despite a 5.91 ERA in Triple-A last season. He also happens comes at a fraction of the price on a rookie pre-arb contract.
To get a Stroman deal done New York will have to be comfortable with letting him go for next to nothing or eat some of his salary, as the extra roster spot might be worth that hefty price.
There’s always some value in an arm that can be an innings eater, and perhaps Stroman can look more like the 3.51 ERA arm he was in the first-half of 2024 with a change of scenery for a prospective trade suitor.
Jordan Montgomery (Arizona Diamondbacks)
Speaking of sour relationships, it’s been a rocky road to say the least between Montgomery and the Diamondbacks.
After missing spring training after signing a deal at the eleventh-hour of the 2024 offseason, Montgomery struggled to a very high 6.23 ERA.
While all this was going on, D-Backs owner Ken Kendrick described signing Montgomery as “our biggest mistake this season from a talent standpoint” on The Burns & Gambo Show back in September.
Despite a meeting with management over the comments in attempt to salvage the relationship, there always seemed to be a sense that a move was in the cards this winter.
After the signing of Corbin Burnes as well, the rotation looks packed to the gills with talent. Between Burnes, Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodríguez and Brandon Pfaadt, as well as the likes of Ryne Nelson, Yilber Diaz and Cristian Mena as young projectable depth, Montgomery’s place is slipping away.
A $22.5 million salary is a bit steep for a long relief role making a move all the more desirable on Arizona’s end.
It’s unfair to think that Montgomery is a washed up entity, as he’s only a year removed from 3.56 ERA season split between St. Louis and Texas, and provided the World Series winning Rangers with some excellent postseason heroics.
Having a camp to report to on day one of spring training this time around will help Montgomery in the preparation for the season, something he didn’t get the benefit of really partaking in 2024.
For the right amount of retained money, or perhaps a bad contract swap, the Diamondbacks could still make this deal happen. For both parties’ sake though, getting this deal done as early in spring training as possible would be ideal.
Masataka Yoshida (Boston Red Sox)
The Red Sox are in a bit of a conundrum when it comes to their lineup, a conundrum that only got more complex after the signing of Alex Bregman.
With Bregman, Rafael Devers, Triston Casas and Trevor Story the likely infield quartet, and Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela the presumptive outfield on day one, the DH role is seemingly all that’s left for Yoshida to occupy.
However, with three Top 50 prospects according to Just Baseball in Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer all projected to need big league at-bats at some point in 2025, suddenly there’s less and less opportunity for a primary DH type player like Yoshida.
If Yoshida could play even passable defense in the outfield then perhaps his value to the Red Sox would keep him away from trade speculation. After all he’s coming off a season at the plate in which he posted a 115 wRC+.
However, the reality is he was -4 DRS and -8 OAA defender in 2023 resulting in him registering just a a single inning of defense in 2024.
An $18.6 million per year DH is less than optimal to put in nicer terms, no matter how solid the bat may be.
Like Montgomery though, if the Red Sox were able eat some money in a trade, suddenly Yoshida’s value as a full-time DH rises and the Red Sox still save some cash to utilize as they enter their contention window, while also more importantly freeing up that valuable spot on the 26-man active roster.
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