Win-Win MLB Trade Ideas 1 Week Before Spring Training (2024)

Trades are perfectly permissible even after spring training gets underway, so let's not pretend like the clock is ticking on the window for teams to make deals.

Except, it sort of is with regard to potential blockbusters in the mold of the Baltimore Orioles' trade for Corbin Burnes. It's rare for such deals to happen while spring training is in swing. If any more are going to happen, they pretty much have to happen before pitchers and catchers start reporting next week.

I've cooked up seven trade proposals that, at least in my kinda-sorta biased opinion, would be fair for both sides. The buyer gets an impact player without sacrificing too much talent, and the seller gets a fair return on said impact player.

All these concern players who have been reported to be available, and some of the matches are also based on public reporting. A couple are more speculative in nature, so take them for what they're worth.

In any case, let's get to it.

Trade Proposal: Texas Rangers get RHP Edward Cabrera; Miami Marlins get INF Ezequiel Duran, 1B Dustin Harris (No. 9 Texas prospect)

Why It's a Win for the Rangers

This is one of the speculative ideas that we talked about. There hasn't been any solid reporting connecting Cabrera to the Rangers, who may be fine with their rotation as is.

At least from this view, though, they shouldn't be. With Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Tyler Mahle not due back until the middle of 2024, the Rangers are banking on Andrew Heaney, Dane Dunning and Cody Bradford hacking it in the rotation for at least half the season after Nathan Eovaldi and Jon Gray.

The back side is where Cabrera would fit in, though his arsenal of electric stuff gives him top-of-the-rotation upside. And since he's a 25-year-old with club control through 2028, the Rangers would have time aplenty to unlock said upside.

Why It's a Win for the Marlins

Though the Marlins also have Jesús Luzardo to barter with, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic has written that Cabrera is more likely to move and that the ideal scenario would involve getting back a shortstop.

That's Duran in this case. Whereas he doesn't have a clear avenue to playing time on the Rangers' infield, the move to Miami would be his chance to prove himself as an offense-first shortstop. He could be a good one simply by virtue of a stroke that produced a hard-hit rate in the 65th percentile in 2023.

For his part, Harris has an .849 OPS for his minor league career, but is blocked by Nathaniel Lowe on Texas' depth chart. For the Marlins, he could step right into a designated hitter role that Jorge Soler doesn't seem close to returning to any time soon.

Trade Proposal: Los Angeles Dodgers get RHP Kenley Jansen, cash; Boston Red Sox get RHP Maddux Bruns

Why It's a Win for the Dodgers

The Dodgers have already had a heck of an offseason. They've spent over $1 billion just on free agents, or more than half what the whole danged franchise sold for back in 2012.

Yet as Rosenthal reported, the Dodgers still wanted a high-leverage reliever as of Jan. 28. It's possible that re-signing Ryan Brasier has scratched the itch, but the Dodgers also subtracted from their bullpen by trading Caleb Ferguson on Monday.

This has me thinking whether, as Rosenthal had suggested, Jansen could still be in play for the Dodgers. They know him well from their previous 12-year partnership, and he's still going strong. Better than strong, even, as last year saw the 36-year-old add 2 mph to his cutter.

Why It's a Win for the Red Sox

Even if one accepts that Jansen is still among MLB's best closers, his $16 million salary for 2024 still feels like a bit much. If the Red Sox are going to get even a mid-level prospect back for him, they'll likely have to eat some of that.

If they're going to do a deal like that, Bruns is the platonic ideal of the kind of prospect they could hope to get back. Baseball Prospectus only ranks him as the Dodgers' No. 17 prospect, mostly out of concern about his wildness. But his stuff (i.e. a high-90s fastball and a low-90s cutter) is precisely what the Red Sox are now looking for under Craig Breslow.

The bigger question may be whether the Red Sox should trade Jansen at all. But since they're clearly not all-in on winning, it seems silly to put up walls around a guy whose one job is to preserve wins.

Trade Proposal: Chicago Cubs get RHP Emmanuel Clase; Cleveland Guardians get INF/OF Christopher Morel, OF Owen Caissie (No. 6 Chicago prospect, MLB No. 70 prospect)

Why It's a Win for the Cubs

There's no speculation at work here. As Bruce Levine of 670 The Score reported on Jan. 16, the Cubs have been interested in acquiring Clase.

Mind you, it's possible this is no longer the case. Levine's report came out before the Cubs added Hector Neris on a one-year deal, thus lining him up to form a late-inning duo with Adbert Alzolay. If the Cubs deem that good enough, then so be it.

Then again, there's nothing wrong with a little overkill. As good as the Cubs' bullpen is, it would be even better with a 25-year-old fireballer who boasts two All-Star selections and back-to-back MLB saves titles. Plus, he's on a team-friendly contract that runs as far as 2028.

Why It's a Win for the Guardians

In the interests of full disclosure, the trade I've pitched here is the same one I pitched on Jan. 24 as part of a piece that identified the Cubs as the No. 1 landing spot for Clase.

Morel is as much a key part as Clase himself. At 24 and with club control through 2028, he's right there with Clase in terms of youth and club control. He also has something that the Guardians, who finished last in MLB in home runs in 2023, need a heck of a lot more than the Cubs do: power.

Caissie also has it in him to be an effective slugger in the majors, albeit probably not until 2025. In the meantime, he'd fit into a Guardians farm system that's more so been known for producing pitchers in recent years.

Trade Proposal: New York Yankees get RHP Devin Williams; Milwaukee Brewers get RHP Chase Hampton (No. 2 New York prospect, No. 76 MLB prospect), OF Brando Mayea (No. 10 New York prospect)

Why It's a Win for the Yankees

The Yankees reportedly shifted their focus to bullpen upgrades after signing Marcus Stroman, and you can still squint and see an opening for a late-inning type even after the deal that brought back Ferguson on Monday.

To this end, the biggest possible fish isn't Jansen or even Clase. It's Williams. Him and his "Airbender" would seem to be available, as Brewers GM Matt Arnold is open to more trade conversations after moving Burnes.

Williams is only 29 and he won't reach free agency until after 2025. Between that and his career 1.89 ERA and rate of 14.2 strikeouts per nine innings, he's well worth a high asking price in a trade. And after the Orioles' splash on Burnes reinforced their standing in the AL East, the Yankees have more cause to pay such a price than most teams.

Why It's a Win for the Brewers

Sans Burnes, what was already a thin-looking rotation in Milwaukee now looks badly in need of reinforcements. And sooner would be better, as the Brewers aren't necessarily rebuilding despite the optics of the Burnes deal.

At least hypothetically, this is what makes Hampton an attractive possibility for Milwaukee. He's not big league-ready right now, but he is a candidate to appear at some point in 2024 after showing his potential as a mid-rotation starter with a 3.63 ERA in the minors last season.

Mayea, meanwhile, just plain has tools. He's been compared to Gary Sheffield, though it bears noting he also has plus-plus speed in addition to power worthy of the former Yankee All-Star.

Trade Proposal: San Francisco Giants get SS Willy Adames; Milwaukee Brewers get RHP Keaton Winn

Why It's a Win for the Giants

The Giants have been reported to be monitoring the trade market for shortstops, and also to possibly be willing to part with pitching in a move that would make them younger and more athletic.

This trade proposal is thus a case of putting two and two together, though it's hardly a slam-dunk possibility for at least one reason. Like Burnes, Adams is due for free agency after this season. As such, whether the timing is right for a fringe contender like the Giants to make a move for him is debatable.

What's not debatable, though, is that Adames fits the profile of what the Giants are looking for. He's 28 years old and, in addition to a guy with 30-homer upside on offense, an elite defender who's tallied 20 Outs Above Average over the last two seasons.

Why It's a Win for the Brewers

As to Milwaukee's side of this equation, some might wonder if Adames should be worth a better prospect package. But given that the Brewers barely got even one top-100 prospect for Burnes—Reuter rates Joey Ortiz as MLB's No. 90 talent—I personally doubt it.

Far from some kind of non-prospect, though, Winn is a hurler with real promise. The 25-year-old already has 42.1 innings' worth of major league experience, and his Statcast readings hold more intrigue than the 4.68 ERA he posted last season.

The 6'4", 238-pounder landed in the 80th percentile with his fastball velocity and finished with a ground-ball rate just south of 60 percent. With talents like those, he has immediate mid-rotation upside that Milwaukee very much needs under Freddy Peralta and Wade Miley.

Trade Proposal: Tampa Bay Rays get SS Ha-Seong Kim; San Diego Padres get DH/1B/OF Harold Ramírez, 1B Xavier Isaac (No. 5 Tampa Bay prospect)

Why It's a Win for the Rays

The Rays are another potential landing spot for Adames, but recent history suggests that if they're going to trade with anyone, it's probably going to be the Padres.

Which brings us to Kim, who has a strong case as the most underrated player in MLB today. He's a Gold Glove-winning defender and he's otherwise been solid enough on offense in the last two seasons (including with 17 homers and 38 stolen bases in 2023) to be worth north of 5 rWAR in both of them. Only he and 10 others are in that particular club.

Kim is a better option at shortstop than José Caballero, in other words, and one of the players in this trade happens to be one the Rays want to move. According to Rosenthal, they're actively shopping Ramírez.

Why It's a Win for the Padres

The Padres "have set a high asking price" on Kim, according to Dennis Lin of The Athletic. And rightfully so, even if he's all but certain to turn down his end of a 2025 mutual option and become a free agent after this season.

The benefit of getting Ramírez is that the Padres could plug him in right away for instant offense in left field, first base or DH. Albeit with a platoon split, he's hit .306 with a 121 OPS+ over the last two seasons.

Yet the real prize in this deal would be Isaac. Though he's at least a year away from being ready for the majors, he built a case for himself as the best first base prospect in MLB as he was putting up a .916 OPS in the low minors last season.

Trade Proposal: Seattle Mariners get RHP Dylan Cease; Chicago White Sox get RHP Bryan Woo, SS Colt Emerson (No. 4 Seattle prospect, No. 69 MLB prospect)

Why It's a Win for the Mariners

Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto has been firmly in "Trader Jerry" mode this winter, yet he may have one more up his sleeve if Bob Nightengale of USA Today is to be believed.

He reported on Jan. 27 that the Mariners have had talks with the White Sox about Cease, who would further upgrade an already dazzling rotation. Even in a down year in 2023 after he was the AL Cy Young Award runner-up in 2022, Cease remained baseball's leading "sword" maestro en route to whiffing 10.9 batters per nine innings.

Though both players have plenty of value in a vacuum, this trade would only see the Mariners give up their No. 5 starter and their second-best shortstop prospect. It seems a fair sacrifice for a top-of-the-rotation type with club control through 2025.

Why It's a Win for the White Sox

There's another reason Woo is in this trade, and it's because Nightengale specifically mentioned him alongside fellow righty Bryce Miller as a guy the White Sox would want in exchange for Cease.

Woo, 24, managed just fine with a 4.18 ERA in 18 outings as a rookie last season. Yet some of his underlying numbers speak of greater upside, including a hard-hit rate in the 83rd percentile.

Otherwise, all Emerson did after going to Seattle via the No. 22 pick in last year's draft was hit .374 in his first 24 minor league games. Even if he's unlikely to ever be much of a slugger, his bat should play more than fine at shortstop in the long run.