With each passing day, baseball’s rumor mill begins to gain a bit more speed. Opening Day looms large on the horizon, and with its steady approach, teams are beginning to look at potential deals involving players that are out of minor league options.
Being out of options doesn’t automatically put a player on the trade block, mind you. But having too many out-of-options players on a roster can limit a team’s flexibility as needs arise during the regular season.
In most cases, teams peddling such talent are at a disadvantage in trade talks. Other general managers know that in a week or so, they’ll have a chance to claim said player off the waiver wire. But a chance doesn’t guarantee that they’d be able to get a player they’ve got their eyes on, so trades are discussed.
Of course, that doesn’t apply to every player that’s out of minor league options, as we’ll examine on the pages that follow. Keep in mind that these deals are pure speculation—there’s no indication that any of them have actually been discussed.