7 Fresh Trade Ideas for the 2022 MLB Winter Meetings

With Major League Baseball's winter meetings taking place this week in San Diego, there should be quite a bit of free-agent movement and trade negotiations.

Let's focus on the latter with seven fresh trade ideas that could transpire in the coming days.

These potential trades are based on a combination of recent rumors (Sean Murphy should be traded soon, Bryan Reynolds wants out of Pittsburgh, etc.) and assumptions about teams' plans that we've held for a while (Baltimore needs starting pitching, Toronto has catchers to spare, etc.).

We've utilized the trade simulator at BaseballTradeValues.com to formulate swaps that are balanced enough to conceivably happen. That method isn't flawless, and some trades that happened ahead of the August 2 trade deadline would have been ruled unacceptable. But it's better than nothing.

Trade ideas are presented in no particular order, aside from saving the biggest blockbuster for last.

Texas Rangers Receive: CF Bryan Reynolds

Pittsburgh Pirates Receive: OF Evan Carter, RHP Owen White and C Mitch Garver

All-Star center fielder Bryan Reynolds has requested a trade from the Pirates, per Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Reynolds was a popular name in the buildup to the August 2 trade deadline, although that felt like more of a callback to all of the times Pittsburgh has unloaded its best players for prospects over the past few decades than any sort of insider information that Reynolds or the Pirates were interested in a split.

Now that we actually have a report about him wanting out of the Steel City, though, let the speculating begin/resume.

Plenty of teams should be interested in acquiring Reynolds, largely because only a handful of free-agent center fielders are worth investing in for multiple seasons. It's basically only Brandon Nimmo and Cody Bellinger, and the latter is a major risk given his play over the past three years.

But the most aggressive suitor for Reynolds might be the Texas Rangers. They have a glaring need for outfielders to pair with Adolis García, and they've already been extremely aggressive this offseason with their $185 million move for Jacob deGrom.

Because of that acquisition, they probably don't have the room left in their budget to get Nimmo or Bellinger. But Reynolds, who's owed $6.75 million in 2023 and arbitration-eligible in 2024 and 2025 before hitting free agency, could work.

More importantly, they have the pieces to pull it off. The Rangers boast six of MLB.com's top 90 prospects.

The Pirates would likely be interested in addressing their dire pitching situation, and 2018 second-round pick Owen White could be a great way of doing so. Evan Carter could be Pittsburgh's new starting center fielder by 2024. And Mitch Garver would be a nice stopgap at catcher until Pirates top prospect Henry Davis is ready for the bigs.

Cleveland Guardians Receive: C Sean Murphy

Oakland Athletics Receive: RHP Tanner Bibee and 2B/SS Angel Martinez

Oakland trading away Sean Murphy isn't a new idea. It might actually be the most regurgitated idea over the past few months given Oakland's surplus of catchers, its clear desire to shed payroll and the fact that Murphy will hit free agency (after 2025) before the A's are likely to vie for an AL West crown again.

It's not a question of if Murphy gets traded, but rather where he gets traded.

According to MLB Network's Jon Morosi, the Cleveland Guardians have emerged as a top suitor for Murphy's services.

The Guardians were on the short list of likely candidates to trade for catcher Willson Contreras ahead of the August 2 deadline. After losing Luke Maile to the Cincinnati Reds and with Austin Hedges still a free agent, catcher is even more of a must-have for Cleveland than it was in the middle of the season.

Should they whiff on trading for Murphy, though, don't expect the Guardians to shell out the big bucks to get Willson Contreras. They could be fine rolling with prospect Bo Naylor as their primary backstop and signing a guy like Tucker Barnhart, Jorge Alfaro or even bringing back Hedges to serve as his backup.

The A's would be looking for multiple long-term prospects in exchange for Murphy, one of whom could be Naylor, though a Triple-A catcher is unlikely to grease the wheels in these negotiations. But if Cleveland dangles a 20-year-old middle infielder who hit .278 this season and a 23-year-old pitcher who had a 1.83 ERA in 13 Double-A starts, now we're getting somewhere.

It might take a third prospect or Cleveland throwing in some money to get the deal across the finish line, but the Guardians might be part of a minor blockbuster.

St. Louis Cardinals Receive: C Danny Jansen

Toronto Blue Jays Receive: OF Alec Burleson

The Toronto Blue Jays did some much-needed salary-shedding by trading Teoscar Hernández to the Seattle Mariners earlier this offseason. Hernández has just one year of arbitration eligibility remaining before free agency, and he's probably going to cost somewhere in the $14 million range for that season.

Getting reliever Erik Swanson and left-handed pitching prospect Adam Macko in the process of shedding that salary was a nice bonus. But their outfield depth is now nonexistent.

The Blue Jays have Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in left field, George Springer in center field, presumably Whit Merrifield as the primary right fielder...and that's it. None of their impending top prospects play the outfield, either.

Toronto could always try to sign a relatively cheap outfielder or two in free agency. It could also trade away one of its three quality catchers to bring in a young outfielder who wouldn't be making a seven-figure salary for at least a few years.

With that goal in mind, St. Louis sure looks like the perfect trade partner.

The Cardinals have Dylan Carlson, Lars Nootbaar, Tyler O'Neill, Brendan Donovan, Juan Yepez and top-100 prospects Jordan Walker and Alec Burleson among their outfield options. Meanwhile, their catcher situation is bleak with career .204 hitter and .288 slugger Andrew Knizner and 22-year-old Iván Herrera as the only backstops on the 40-man roster.

The Cardinals would perhaps rather have Willson Contreras or Sean Murphy than Toronto's Danny Jansen, but it would be hard to argue with trading for two years (Jansen will hit free agency after the 2024 campaign) of a catcher who had an .855 OPS this past season.

Boston Red Sox Receive: 2B Gleyber Torres

New York Yankees Receive: Three TBD mid-tier prospects

The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees have made only six trades with each other since 1969, just two of which have come in the past quarter-century, per MLB.com's Thomas Harrigan.

But if the Red Sox are unable to sign one of the four marquee free-agent shortstops, they desperately need a middle infielder who can hold down the fort until top prospect Marcelo Mayer is ready for the majors, which will likely be at least another year or two.

Meanwhile, the Yankees kind of need to get rid of a middle infielder. They already have Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Gleyber Torres, DJ LeMahieu and Oswald Peraza on the big league club, plus top prospect Anthony Volpe, who might be ready to make the 2023 Opening Day roster.

If they could get past their hatred for one another, it could be a match made in heaven, because Torres to Boston makes a lot sense.

The Yankees second baseman has two years of arbitration eligibility remaining before he hits free agency, so the timing with Mayer checks out. The Red Sox can figure out later whether to convert Torres or Trevor Story back to shortstop (most likely Story), but they each have ample MLB experience at both positions.

While New York's asking price for Torres would be high, it shouldn't be astronomical. Boston shouldn't need to part with one of its top prospects as long as it gives up a few of its mid-tier minor leaguers. Something along the lines of RHP Wikelman Gonzalez (Boston's No. 14 prospect), SS/2B Brainer Bonaci (No. 16) and RHP Franklin German (No. 27) might be enough.

New York Yankees Receive: RHP Pablo López

Miami Marlins Receive: RHP Ron Marinaccio, OF Everson Pereira and SS Roderick Arias

Maybe we should just combine this trade with the previous trade and have a three-team deal in which Boston gets Gleyber Torres, New York gets Pablo López and Miami gets some nice prospects for bringing those rivals together at the bargaining table.

At any rate, there were rumblings at the trade deadline about a possible López-Torres swap (not necessarily a one-for-one deal), so maybe bringing a third team to the mix would help make it happen. But we'll stick to two-team trades.

It makes sense for the Marlins to part with starting pitching given their depth at that position. They've already traded Elieser Hernández to the New York Mets.

If they're going to part with one more pitcher, it will probably be López. He has two years remaining until free agency, and he is possibly going to be more expensive in 2023 than Jesús Luzardo, Edward Cabrera, Braxton Garrett and Trevor Rogers combined.

Expensive is a relative term here. To a bigger-market team, López isn't expensive in the slightest. He made $2.45 million in 2022 and figures to land somewhere around $6 million in arbitration negotiations for 2023. That's chump change to a team like the Yankees, who have no chance of finding a free agent who both costs less than $10 million and has posted a sub-4.00 ERA in each of the past three seasons.

With that said, they wouldn't give up SS Anthony Volpe for him. They probably wouldn't be willing to part with OF Jasson Domínguez, either. But a package of Ron Marinaccio (a reliever with a 2.05 ERA this past season who won't hit free agency until 2029) and prospects Everson Pereira and Roderick Arias might be agreeable to both squads.

Arizona Diamondbacks Receive: RHP Joe Jiménez

Detroit Tigers Receive: SS/2B Blaze Alexander

At one point, the Tigers could have fetched a pretty penny for Joe Jiménez. But after five years as the "closer in waiting" in Detroit, he has a career 5.24 ERA with just 20 saves and only one year remaining until free agency.

Some team with a need to bolster the back end of its bullpen in 2023 would still take a flyer on Jiménez, but Detroit isn't going to get much more than a middling prospect for him.

On the "needs bullpen help" front, Arizona certainly fits the bill. The Diamondbacks brought in both Mark Melancon and Ian Kennedy last offseason, but that pair of 37-year-olds delivered a combined ERA of 4.99 and a bWAR of negative-1.9 for $10.75 million. Not great.

They have already signed Miguel Castro to a one-year, $3.5 million deal, but there is more work to be done. And as a lower-market club, trying to address the problem frugally via trade would be preferable to entering another bidding war for a free agent like Kenley Jansen, Craig Kimbrel or Aroldis Chapman.

While Blaze Alexander isn't one of Arizona's top 10 prospects, he did hit 20 home runs while batting .301 in the minors (mostly at Double-A Amarillo) in 2022. Both of those numbers are better than anyone posted in Detroit last season.

Baltimore Orioles Receive: RHP Corbin Burnes

Milwaukee Brewers Receive: LHP DL Hall, OF Colton Cowser, IF Ramón Urías

Are the Baltimore Orioles ready to go all-in?

They made a gigantic leap last season, improving by 31 wins to finish just three games shy of a playoff spot. A big splash in the starting rotation could push them over the top and into the postseason.

Even after the recent acquisition of Kyle Gibson, the likely impending promotion of top prospect Grayson Rodriguez and John Means' eventual return from Tommy John surgery, the O's need help. They could really use an ace for the next few years until Rodriguez is ready to ascend to that throne.

Corbin Burnes would fit that bill.

Burnes won the NL Cy Young in 2021, placed in the top seven in that vote in both 2020 and 2022 and has posted a 2.62 ERA over the past three seasons. Burnes made 21 quality starts this past season compared to a combined 19 by Baltimore's top three returnees—Dean Kremer had eight, Kyle Bradish had six and Tyler Wells had five.

To get a pitcher of Burnes' caliber, it almost has to be via trade. The O's were never going to land Jacob deGrom, and it's hard to imagine they can scrounge together enough money to sign Carlos Rodón. Even Chris Bassitt is likely out of their price range.

Even though Burnes is set to hit free agency in two years, Baltimore would need to give up a lot to get him.

DL Hall was Baltimore's first-round pick in 2017 and had been a staple in "top 100 prospects" rankings for the past four years before finally making a few appearances in the majors this season. Colton Cowser, the No. 5 overall pick in 2021, could be ready for everyday work in center field in the majors this coming season. Utility infielder Ramón Urías just won a Gold Glove while hitting 16 home runs, and he still has four years remaining before he hits free agency.

Even that package might not be enough to get Burnes. But the Orioles should be asking the Brewers what—aside from Rodriguez, Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday—it would take to get Burnes to Baltimore.