Ask BA: Proposing Five Prospect-For-Prospect Trades

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Q: Disregarding whether they would approve it, what would be five prospect-for-prospect trades you could envision helping both teams moving forward?

Matt Huml, Louisville, Ky.

BA:Thanks Matt, for a great question. Prospect-for-prospect, challenge trades rarely happen. More often prospects are traded for big leaguers, but that doesn’t mean we can’t sketch out of some (hopefully) realistic trades that swap prospects in moves that can help both teams. Here are five possibilities.

Pirates trade OFs Austin Meadows and Willy Garcia to Reds for LHP Cody Reed

Meadows is as blocked as a top prospect can be. Pittsburgh has Andrew McCutchen roaming center field, Gregory Polanco in right and Starling Marte as the most overqualified left fielder in the league–with his range and arm he could slide over to right field or center field if needed. Marte is signed through 2021, McCutchen is signed through 2018 and Polanco won’t reach free agency until 2021.

And beyond that, the Pirates also have the nearly big league-ready Josh Bell. While the switch-hitting Bell has worked on playing first base recently, his best position is still in a corner outfield spot as his 16 errors in 107 games at first base last year attests, so they are still well-covered in case of a big league outfielder’s injury.

Meadows gives Cincinnati a very viable center field option in case Billy Hamilton’s 2016 offensive numbers look similar to his very disappointing 2015 production. And if Hamilton can hit enough to let his defense and speed play, Meadows should produce enough offensively to handle a slide to the offensive corners. He immediately would become the best position prospect in the Reds’ system, with more upside than recent acquisition Jose Peraza. The strong-armed, strikeout-prone Garcia is a much higher-risk prospect, but he has a much better shot at a big league career in Cincinnati than he does in Pittsburgh.

The Reds would hate to lose Reed, a lefthander with front-line stuff who took a massive step forward in 2015. But they have a large number of nearly big league-ready pitching prospects (including lefthander Amir Garrett) so they are dealing from a position of strength. Reed would give the Pirates an up-and-coming power lefty arm to go with the power righthander trio of Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon and Tyler Glasnow.

Rockies trade 3B Ryan McMahon and SS Pedro Gonzalez to Astros for SSs Alex Bregman and Nolan Fontana.

McMahon isn’t going to play third base in Colorado anytime soon with Nolan Arenado setting the standard for National League third basemen. Bregman, the Astros’ first first-round pick in 2015, is a middle infielder whose best positions are shortstop and second base, positions occupied by Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve. So a swap gives both teams a premium prospect at a position of bigger need.

Bregman could play third base, but it’s using him at less than full value since his ability to play up the middle is a key part of what makes him a top prospect. McMahon has more power than Bregman and his lefty bat would be a good fit in a very righthanded Astros’ lineup.

This isn’t a slam dunk of a deal, as you can find flaws on both sides that would keep it from getting done. The Astros have Colin Moran nearly ready at third base and McMahon, like Moran, faces questions about whether he’s going to be able to handle the position defensively. But McMahon is an excellent hitting prospect who is a better prospect than Moran.

For the Rockies, Colorado already acquired a shortstop of the future in the 2015 draft, but Bregman is much closer to the big leagues than Brendan Rodgers, the Rockies’ 2015 first-round pick. Bregman gives the club a nearly big league ready answer at shortstop or second base.

Why include Gonzalez? Well, the Astros seemingly never make one of these deals without getting a youngster included as throw-in. Gonzalez, a shortstop with developing power who has yet to play above the Dominican Summer League, is a nice piece to dream on. In return the Rockies get a big league-ready utility infielder in Fontana.

Cardinals trade RHPs Luke Weaver and Sandy Alcantara to Cubs for SS Gleyber Torres

This is a trade the Cubs probably don’t make, as Torres’ value likely will be even higher a year from now if he follows up his excellent 2015 season with similar production in 2016. But it is hard to see where he is going to fit onto a big league roster that has Addison Russell, Ben Zobrist and Javier Baez up the middle. Really, it’s hard to find fits for almost any Cubs position prospect right now as the big league team is filled with outstanding young talent.

By trading Torres, the Cubs give up their best position prospect in the minors, but in return they get a nearly big league ready starter in Weaver and an outstanding arm in Alcantara (albeit one who has yet to play in full-season ball).

For the Cardinals, Torres gives the team a long-term answer at shortstop to eventually replace Jhonny Peralta and while they would be giving up a number of pitching prospects, they would still hold on to Alex Reyes, Tim Cooney, Marco Gonzalez and Junior Fernandez.

Royals trade OF Brett Eibner and RHP Pedro Fernandez to Cubs for 1B Dan Vogelbach and 2B Arismendy Alcantara.

Hey, not all the trades are blockbusters. Eibner is one of a seemingly endless number of Royals’ outfielders on the 40-man roster (they have 10 in total). He’s blocked at his best position (center field) by Lorenzo Cain and is being pushed by Bubba Starling coming up behind him. But he is coming off an excellent .303/.364/.514 season at Triple-A Omaha and he is a true center fielder, so he could be a useful backup plan for a Cubs’ lineup that’s doesn’t have many options if Jason Heyward misses time in center field. Yes, Chicago also has Albert Almora, but Eibner is closer to big league ready.

Fernandez is yet another promising arm (he sits 92-94 mph and touches 96) who could add to the Cubs’ attempts to build up a still-thin crop of minor league pitching prospects.

Vogelbach is stuck behind Anthony Rizzo at first and he’s really challenged defensively at any position, but he can hit. Vogelbach’s best long-term position is designated hitter. A trade to the American League opens up that option as he could push to be the Royals’ designated hitter when Kendrys Morales’ contract expires.

Alcantara technically is no longer a prospect after getting 300 plate appearances in Chicago in 2014, but he’s yet to become an established big leaguer after spending most of 2015 at Triple-A Iowa. Alcantara has been buried by the Cubs’ onslaught of young big league talent but he still has excellent versatility and could serve as a useful multi-position backup at least.

Red Sox trade 2B Yoan Moncada to Mets for LHP Steven Matz and SS Luis Carpio

This is a blockbuster. Moncada is one of the best position prospects in baseball. Matz is among the best pitching prospects in the game. And a swap would help fill big needs for both. Moncada could be the Mets long-term answer at second base (where Neil Walker has been acquired as a short-term replacement for Daniel Murphy) but his versatility means he also could become a rangy, explosive center fielder. That’s not an option in Boston where Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley already in the majors.

For the Red Sox, the only risk in acquiring Matz is his struggles at times to stay healthy. Stuff-wise, he’s a front-line starter who has demonstrated that in the big leagues. And he has thrown 150+ innings each of the past two seasons so many of those health concerns have been somewhat alleviated.

Initially this deal did not include Carpio, but a scout surveyed about this deal said he felt that Moncada is a significant enough talent and Matz has enough injury concerns that they believed the Mets would have to include an additional piece. Carpio fits the bill as a middle infielder who is far enough away (he played in the Appalachian League last season) that his ETA would be closer to the 2019-2020 window where Boston may eventually start looking for middle infield help.