Swapping Superstars Around The League

Written by Vincent Picone

Published on July 29, 2024

Major League Baseball has had some game-changing trades in recent years: C.C. Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers in 2008, Yoenis Céspedes to the New York Mets in 2015, and most recently, Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres in 2022. All of these moves pushed their new teams to playoff potential. As this year’s trade period begins, many teams look to find their missing piece, and some already have.

While there have already been a handful of trades, three big ones have already occurred: Randy Arozarena, Austin Hays, and Zach Eflin.

The Baltimore Orioles made two moves on Thursday. The first was saying good-bye to 2023 All-Star left fielder Austin Hays. They shipped the 29-year-old to the Philadelphia Phillies for former top prospect Christian Pache and relief pitcher Seranthony Dominguez.

Hays has been hitting .255 in 63 games this season for the O’s. He helps continue the Phillies’ trend of hitters crushing left-handed pitching. Hays hits .328 against lefties. Phillies manager Rob Thomson said to ESPN, “This guy was an All-Star last year. And for whatever reason, I don’t know Baltimore’s situation, but he wasn’t playing every single day. I think that maybe affected his numbers a little bit.”

As for the Baltimore Orioles, they receive some more defensive help from Pache in the outfield. What he lacks in offense, he makes up for with his above-average fielding. Seranthony Dominguez is the real piece Baltimore needed. Dominguez has a massive upside. If you look back at his 2022 Postseason, he was dominant with 10.2 innings pitched and only two runs allowed for the Phillies. He was a crucial piece that brought them to the World Series. However, after that, in 2023, he suffered a Left oblique strain, and since then, he’s never quite been the same. So far this year, he has been sporting a 4.62 ERA.

These teams have a good chance of meeting in the fall classic, and while the two were already great, these additions may be the pieces that push them to postseason greatness.

Shifting gears to the West Coast’s Seattle Mariners. On June 18th, the Mariners were in a dream situation. The Houston Astros dynasty looked like it had come to a close; the 2023 World Series-winning Texas Rangers lost their edge, and the Mariners had a ten-game lead in the West. Only 24 games later, everything would change. The Mariners are now a game behind the Astros and desperately in need of offense. They are currently dead last in Batting average around the league with a .217 mark. This is in part due to injuries from Julio Rodriguez, who may be out for an extended time, and J.P Crawford. They’ve been able to stay afloat because their pitching has been out of this world. They lead the league with the lowest ERA (3.38)

Unfortunately there’s only so much pitching can do when there is no offense. To combat this, Mariners GM Justin Hollander went out and got 2021 rookie of the year Randy Arozarena from the Tampa Bay Rays. Although Arozarena has upside this has not been his year. Hitting a low .211 compared to the last three years where he has averaged around the .260 mark.

The upside is he is on pace to have a career high in homeruns as he currently has 15 in 100 games this season and his past high is only 23. While this may be a good personal stat to watch for Arozarena, the trade still leaves a hole in the offense. This will not help the team with their hitting problem unless Arozarena can make some improvements soon. If he can’t, the Mariners can officially kiss first place in the West Good-bye.

For the final big name off the market. The veteran right hander Zach Eflin is the second Tampa Bay Ray to pack up his stuff and move. Eflin will be moving over to Baltimore.

This continues a strange but tactical trend for the Rays. In years past when players have broken out and at times needed new and bigger contracts the Rays have just traded them and kept their payroll very low. This may seem like an unproductive idea but the Rays have made it to the playoffs the last five years. In that time they’ve said good-bye to some names such as Chris Archer, Evan Longoria, and Will Myers.

Zach Eflin joins this list the former Ray and Phillie has been solid this year with a 4.09 ERA in 19 games. He will be a free agent after the 2026 season which gives the Orioles some time to use the effective veteran.

For the Orioles This is will help hold down their starting pitching while 3 big names in the rotation heal from injuries. Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells, and John Means. This has been the main problem with the very impressive Orioles this year. Despite their new ace Corbin Burnes ,who they acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers over the off-season, the pitching has been lacking. While Eflin can help the rotation now, when the 3 starters are ready to go, Eflin can go to the bullpen where he played for the Phillies in the 2022 postseason.

The upside to this trade is tremendous. The Orioles lacked the pitching in the playoffs last year when they got swept by the world champion Texas Rangers in the Divisional round. This could be the move that gives the Orioles the edge in their division the A.L. East and in the playoffs.

While the trade period has just begun, and there will be many more moves to come, these few may be looked at in October as the moves that made or broke these teams. The big question is who will go next, and an even bigger question is where they will go.

 

Featured image by Vincent Picone