Trades went down left and right last week during Major League Baseball’s annual winter meetings.
Unfortunately, none of those deals involved notable prospects.
Well, that changed on Monday when the Chicago White Sox acquired third baseman Matt Davidson from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for closer Addison Reed.
In short, landing the 22-year-old Davidson is a huge victory for the White Sox, who haven’t received consistent production from a third baseman since Joe Crede a half decade ago. If he continues to develop as expected, Davidson should be an everyday regular at the position with 20- to 25-home run potential and a solid on-base percentage.
Reed is a proven closer with 69 saves over the last two seasons. However, with a 4.17 career ERA (103 ERA+) and 0.9 HR/9 (home runs per nine innings), he doesn’t rank among the game’s best in the role.
While a few smaller prospect trades should transpire before the end of the offseason, it’s doubtful that any top-ranked prospects will be moved unless there’s a blockbuster trade involving a star-caliber player.
So here’s a look at five different prospects-for-star trade scenarios that would make sense for both teams.
*All contract information courtesy of Cot’s Baseball Contracts.
*All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.