(Strahm is) a year away from free agency. We were able to get a guy that we liked who has six years of (club control) and we think can help us right away. So you have to give to get. And we still feel good with our left-handers in the bullpen.
Romero, 29, is one of the most straightforward trade candidates of the offseason. He is slated for free agency after the upcoming campaign. With the Cardinals rebuilding, there's little sense in hanging onto him. They could wait to trade him at the deadline but that path carries risks, as the Cards know. They held onto Erick Fedde and Ryan Helsley going into 2025 and saw both pitchers decrease their respective trade values with poor performances.
Impact free agents like Devin Williams and Dylan Cease have already signed, and the trade market has been buzzing all winter long with deals like the Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien swap, Boston's acquisition of Sonny Gray, and last night's five-player deal between the Pirates and Red Sox. The activity should only ratchet up from here leading up to and throughout the meetings, with plenty of exciting moves to come in the next few days.
If recent predictions from ESPN's top baseball writers carry any weight, it doesn't look like the Cubs are expected to do much on the trade front. Though Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel listed as many as eight team fits for each of their top 25 trade candidates this offseason, the Cubs did not appear a single time. Not for Tarik Skubal (No. 1), not for Byron Buxton (5), not for Joe Ryan (6),
O'Hearn was an eighth-round draft choice of the Kansas City Royals in 2014, and he made his MLB debut on July 31st, 2018. He fared well in his first taste of major league action and finished the year batting .262 with 10 doubles, 12 homers, 30 RBI, and a .950 OPS. He was seen as a potential core piece for the rebuilding Royals.
The Blue Jays acquired Hernández before the 2017 trade deadline, with the outfielder breaking out in June of 2019 after a stint in Triple-A. Over his next 1660 plate appearances from Jun. 5, 2019, until the end of the 2022 season, Hernández slashed .277/.332/.525 with 96 home runs, for a 131 wRC+. During that span, he earned MVP votes in 2020 and 2021, the same two years he won a Silver Slugger for the outfield. He also earned his first All-Star Game nomination in 2021.
The Braves acquired Sean Murphy from the Athletics in a three-team deal. The Braves sent three somewhat decent minor leaguers and William Contreras to get him. I won't rehash it, but it seemed like good value each way at the time. Though, you can argue if it was worth it. I won't stop you. But how did the Brewers get William Contreras? I mean, I clearly understand how it happened, but I don't understand how they were able to muscle their way into this trade.
"I was hoping I'd be traded again because looking at the Dodger roster at the time, I thought I was going to make a career out of Triple-A baseball," Hernandez said. "(President of baseball operations) Andrew Friedman got on the phone with me and said their plans were real with me. They were looking for players like me as far as playing different positions. And I was saying to myself, 'Alright, sure. I'll believe it when I see it.'"
In 2020, Andrés Giménez finished his rookie season by finishing in the top 10 in NL Rookie of the Year voting as a member of the New York Mets. After one season in New York, Gimenez's tenure with the Mets was shortly over. Giménez was traded by the Mets in part of the trade that sent superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor to New York from Cleveland.
When A.J. Preller executed five trades involving 22 players in six hours, he was both celebrated and criticized, reflecting his polarizing reputation in Major League Baseball.
Derek Jeter pointed out that the Yankees make too many mistakes, stating, "You can't get away with making that number of mistakes against great teams." This critique followed a night where the Yankees struggled significantly on the field.
Though cross-town deals with the Chicago White Sox are exceedingly rare, the Cubs have a lot of background information on Houser, who has suddenly re-emerged to become the new ace on the South Side.
