Baseball Buyers and Sellers

The All-Star selections will be made today but with July also comes the height of trade season I thought I'd take a look at some of the "sellers" and players they may look to move.

Tampa Bay - The two players most likely to be on the block from the Devil Rays are Aubrey Huff and Julio Lugo. Huff can play 3rd or OF and DH but he's a fading slugger at just 30 years old. Huff has averaged 27 HR over the past 4 years but only has 6 HR so far this year. He's the highest paid player on the Devil Rays and they would like to move his salary even though he's in the final year of his contract. Julio Lugo is probably the most valuable chip they have to bargain with but what playoff contender needs a shortstop?

Orioles - It has been reported that both Javy Lopez and Miguel Tejada are being offered around by the Orioles. I can understand why the Orioles would like to move Javy Lopez. Ramon Hernandez is the catcher of the future for the Orioles while Lopez is a pretty well paid DH and the Orioles wouldn't mind moving his $8.5 million 2006 salary. Why the Orioles would move Tejada now is a question to me. I would think that they would be able to get much more in the offseason when every team would be in the market.

Kansas City - Reggie Sanders would really be a good fit for the Yankees and I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up in pinstripes. Mark Redman and Scott Elarton could eat up some innings as a 4th or 5th starter. All three players are most likely on the block.

Cleveland - The Indians would love to move Aaron Boone. Anyone need a washed up 3rd baseman?

Braves - The Braves would love to dump John Thomson's salary ($4.75 million for 2006) just as a cost saving move. Thomson may end up being the best starter to change teams (which says more about the dearth of quality starters on the market than it does about Thomson). The big question is whether the rumors of John Smoltz being on the market are true or not. It would make sense to trade Smoltz but if the season continues going down the tube - the Braves will need the idea of "come see John Smotlz in his final days as a Brave" as a draw to sell tickets.

Nationals - Tony Armas, Livan Hernandez, and Alphonso Soriano are all on the block. Soriano is of course the biggest name that could be traded but somehow I see Jim Bowden screwing things up.

All-in-all, I doubt we'll see any trades that really make you say "Wow!" I'd expect a flurry of spare part trades.