RosterResource Chat – 7/16/26

Jason Martinez: Welcome to the RosterResource chat! About 2 weeks left until teams will have to decide whether they are buyers or sellers. As of now, here are the 7 likely sellers …

ATH
CIN
COL
KCR
LAA
NYM
SFG

… and even a team like the Giants is probably holding out hope that they can win 10 straight games out of the gate and turn this season around. In other words, don’t expect much more than rumors for at least another week.

Here we go …

Rick: With the A’s calling up Tommy White, do you think he can take the 3B job and run with it long-term?

Jon Becker: Not impossible but I think it’s somewhat improbable based on how he’s done in the minors. He has a shiny slash line in the minors this year but thanks to playing in amazing ballparks for hitters he’s actually below-average by wRC+. Kuroda-Grauer has looked really good so far (though he still hasn’t walked and is running a cartoonish BABIP), and my guess is their medium- to longer-term plan has Wilson, De Vries, and Gelof covering short, second, and third. Muncy also had a really nice start to his year before getting hurt and struggling upon his return and we can’t completely disregard him, either.

Ragbrai: Chances Goodman gets traded out of Colorado?

Jason Martinez: I’m sure they’d be open-minded on any player and Goodman is probably at peak value. That value won’t drop much if they wait until the offseason, however. Either 3+ seasons or 3 seasons of team control if they wait until after the season.

The question is how quickly they believe they can be competitive and whether Goodman fits into that window. Or whether they think they can extend him. I’d put the chances at 25% that he’s traded. Could be a huge splash for an acquiring team and maybe DePodesta’s best chance at bringing back multiple top 100 prospects in a deal.

Brian Smith: why wasn’t there more skepticism for the Mets roster construction this offseason, especially their starting rotation construction. Has the baseball intelligentsia become too hive-minded?

Jon Becker: I think that a lot of people, myself included, got a little too attracted to the shiny names and didn’t consider enough of the downsides of playing multiple guys at new positions (though that hasn’t really been a problem) and adding a lot of injury-prone players like Polanco and Robert (which has been a major problem). I thought the starting rotation construction was perfectly fine and a Peralta-McLean 1-2 looked really solid, it just hasn’t worked out that way. The big thing that maybe could have been foreseen was expecting to get much from Senga while continuing to run a six-man rotation to accommodate him.

g4: Padres currently in 10th place in NL. If that doesn’t improve in 2 weeks, is Morejon squarely on the block? What would he fetch?

Jason Martinez: Despite having to jump 4 teams in the standings to get the WC3 spot, if they were a .500 team that is only 3.5 games out, I don’t think there’s any way they’re selling.

But if they’re under .500 and 5+ games out — seems very likely if you take a look at their very bad starting rotation — Morejon will be their No. 1 trade chip and I think he’d get a Top 100 prospect in return. I also think the Padres could prioritize a young SP with upside and 4-5 years of team control. Brewers have a few of those. I really like the Marlins as a fit but every contender will be interested.

drplantwrench: would the brewers trade Jeferson Quero for Reid Detmers?

Jon Becker: If that was the offer 1-for-1, I think the Brewers would drive Quero all the way to Anaheim themselves. Quero’s a nice prospect, don’t get me wrong, but 2+ years of Detmers with the Brewers’ ability to develop and improve pitching might make him into one of the best starters in baseball. I think the actual cost would be something more along the lines of Quero + Letson + less interesting prospects.

Phil: Is it a reasonable supposition that, if they stay roughly where they are now in the standings, the Red Sox will probably just not do very much beyond acquire a cheapish rental infielder or two and a couple relievers? What they need beyond that is power, and, unless they bring in a DH-type and are willing finally to DFA Yoshida, I don’t see a good opportunity to do that. Your thoughts?

Jason Martinez: If Breslow has been given a vote of confidence by ownership, I don’t think he’ll be very aggressive to improve the team in the short-term unless it’s acquiring an impact player who has at least 2 more seasons of team control. But if he thinks his job is on the line, it’s possible he does everything he can to get this team to the playoffs because that would be considered a “win” for this front office despite the horrible start to the season.

Realistically, if they’re within 2-3 games of a WC spot and they feel confidently that Crochet and Anthony will be back to full health in September, they’d have to feel pretty good about their chances. Adding talent to the roster with the resources they have ($ and prospects) wouldn’t be difficult.

richielamps: What could Luke Weaver get back at the deadline with an extra year of control as maybe the best reliever available (if Sox hold AC)?

Jon Becker: I don’t think a top 100-ish prospect is out of the question even with his sizable (but more than worth it the way he’s pitching) $11M salary for next year plus the balance of what he’s owed this year. He’s been one of the best relievers in baseball for three years now and it’s pretty clear to me now that the blip from the end of last year really was just pitch tipping. Unless the offers are truly so far below what the Mets deem reasonable I’d be pretty surprised if they didn’t move him, he’s not going to get any more valuable than he is right now.

Ragbrai: If Weaver gets traded does he because me a closer somewhere or just stays in a setup position?

Jason Martinez: Depends on the team. Most contenders have a pretty good closer and would use Weaver as a primary setup man. Only a few contenders have an obvious need at closer … BAL, CHC, MIA, PIT, WSN … but that doesn’t mean they’d value Weaver any more than a team that would use him in the 7th/8th innings.

ado64: It was very surprising to see the Brewers not on the Replacement Level Killers for 3B. With Pratt seemingly their long-term vision at SS and doing capably so far, and Hamilton and Ortiz both at their flexible disposal for 3B, do you think might not even bother upgrading the left side of the infield? Especially with their increased need for SP right now.

Jon Becker: I don’t see a big need for them to upgrade there. Pratt has looked a lot better of late and I don’t think there’s any 3B out there on the market who’s a reasonable enough upgrade over Hamilton/Ortiz anyway. I think they’d sooner add Jett Williams as part of the infield mix if they want to make a change.

Sonny L: Between the new playoff format and the relative flatness of records across the league I think your list of 7 definite sellers is both too many and too few even for 7/16. The bar was lowered and it feels like teams lowered their expectations (Dodgers excluded) to chase the soft middle.

Jason Martinez: When trying to determine who is a buyer/seller, there is a difference between teams like the Padres, Tigers, Orioles, and Blue Jays that have invested a lot of resources into their roster with the expectation that they were “going for it” and teams like the Marlins, Twins, and Cardinals that have been better than expected and surprisingly in the mix for a playoff spot.

The aforementioned teams are more likely to buy as long as they’re in reasonable position because expectations were high and the casual fans are likely to lose interest once they have officially given up. Now, if the Twins, for example, were in the same exact spot, they’d be more likely to sell because they consider this a rebuilding season and do not want to lose the chance to continue adding talent to a team that has played above their talent level. They’d want to keep building a more talented roster that can be a perennial contender.

sliderinthedirt: I feel like the Padres would 100% be sellers if they didn’t have Mason Miller. I’m not sure if it makes that trade better or worse.

Patrick Burke: Is it likely that any team who (if SDP moves him) gets Mason Miller takes on Machado or Bogaerts to offset some of the prospect capital it would take to get him?

Jon Becker: The Padres probably have lost at least 2-3 more games if they don’t have Miller, so yeah, he’s saving their season at least a little bit and saving them from selling in all likelihood. As for a team trying to pry Miller away by taking Machado or Bogaerts on: I would be as shocked as I’ve ever been by a trade if that happened. Miller’s awesome, but he’s still a reliever with only three years of control who’s already had a UCL sprain and that’s just absolutely not worth taking on Machado or Bogaerts even if a significant portion of the money was paid down. Machado has the entire Anthony Rendon contract left after this year!

fincampbell05: Ken Rosenthal apparently thinks the Tigers are unlikely to trade Tarik Skubal. This seems like it must be either irresponsible reporting on his part or abject stupidity on their front office’s part. Thoughts?

Jason Martinez: Reminder that any reporting at this point is just speculation based on several factors (record, games back, how many teams they’re chasing, expectations going into the season, etc.). Same as I’ve done here. A reporter can only speculate because teams don’t know what they’re doing yet because they have no idea how much will change in the next 2 weeks.

With that said, the Tigers are 100% keeping Skubal if things haven’t changed in 2 weeks. 8 games under .500 is embarrassing but it’s not as embarrassing as not making the playoffs with a rotation that includes Skubal and Framber Valdez. The roster is way better than they’ve played.

10 games under .500 and 5+ out of a WC spot would probably be a different story so they can’t afford to take any step backwards between now and then.

Phillip Denny: Would the Dodgers selling Lauer for prospects be too galaxy brained? Once the SP gets healthy, he seems the obvious man out with no options and several more reliable lefty options in the pen over him.

Jon Becker: No, not at all. It’d be a much smaller scale version of what they did with Dustin May last year in that Lauer is not getting you back a Tibbs-type prospect, but when Snell is back (should be before the trade deadline and if not, soon after) there’s just not a spot for him really. He hated pitching out of the bullpen with the Jays so it’d be doing him a favor to send him to an SP-needier team.

Isolated Thinker: Are you buying the Francisco Lindor trade rumors?  If Cohen pays half his salary going forward, could the Rays be interested?  They can use an upgrade at SS.  Or is that too out of character for them.

Jason Martinez: I wouldn’t rule it out. Out of the teams who are under-performing, the Mets could be most likely to shake things up in a big way. And Lindor still being an elite player the past few seasons is why they could still trade him and a lot of the $ he’s owed.

He hasn’t been good since returning from the IL, however, and that could make it less likely. Despite the track record, he’s in his age-32 season and there will always be a question of whether a decline in performance has begun. Not sure if Cohen is willing to eat as much $ as it would take.

clydethedog: odds rockies keep moniak since they could deal him next year at the deadline

Jon Becker: Decent odds since he’s got another year of control after this year but assuming the market’s there, they’d do well to sell high on McCarthy (who has two more years after this year) as well as Moniak. Would make for a much easier playing time puzzle when Doyle is back and Carrigg continuing to do well, plus Veen and Beck down in the minors and Johnston capable of (though not good at) the corner OF, too. And not to mention Charlie Condon, who the team seems to view as an RF now and is fast approaching.

opifijikl: If you were Craig Breslow, what would you do to bolster the team down the stretch? Also do you think he overpaid too much for additions last year, and will he do it again?

Jason Martinez: Would be a lot of competition but Luis Arraez would be my No. 1 target. Maybe someone like Mickey Moniak. Another lefty setup man … (Raley or Minter from the Mets) would help.

Phil: So, the remaining obligations to Trout will drop under $150 million after this season, and the deadline is late enough that not too too much would be added to that this season. Is a trade starting to look more feasible, assuming he would accept one? There are a lot of teams that could use a good outfielder with on-base and power. . .

Jon Becker: It’s just as infeasible as it’s always been as long as he has no intention of waiving his NTC, which continues to be the case every time he’s asked about it. Teams are surely more hypothetically interested than they’ve been in a couple years but none of that really matters if he’s not willing to go anywhere. (Same answer for Byron Buxton, btw!)

cosmichero: What trade value does Luis Garcia have? Is his bat real? Can he really only play 1B?

Jason Martinez: If you believe in often-cited defensive stats like DRS and OAA, Garcia was no longer playable at 2B. He had -17 DRS and -7 OAA in 2025, which is why he hasn’t played a game there in 2026. As a 1B, he has 0 DRS and 1 OAA so he’s been fine there. The big test would be whether he could hit enough to be a starting 1B in the big leagues. And, yes, he is also passing that test (.871 OPS, 135 wRC+).

His trade value has risen and I’m sure the Nats’ front office kind of hopes the team will make their decision easier by falling out of the race within the next 2 weeks so they can continue to rebuild and trade a player like Garcia (free agent after 2027).

Phillip Denny: The White Sox clearly need pitching, both in the rotation and the pen. Do you see the strategy there as more of a rental, we just need a guy to eat innings, or we need someone who can start/close in the playoffs and ideally with multiple years of control?

Jon Becker: I think I’m more fascinated to see what the White Sox do this deadline than I am any other team. I really believe in the offense, and they’ve gotten some strong pitching performances from the likes of Davis Martin and Sean Burke, but can either of them handle the workload down the stretch and stay this good? That I don’t know. But all of the reporting is that they don’t want to do too too much in the way of giving up prospect chips, so I’ll guess they’re a lot likelier to be in the Brady Singer/Tomoyuki Sugano aisle than they are to get a Game One-type starter like Detmers.

GB: Is there a prospect rankings update on the way?

Jason Martinez: Not 100% sure but I believe our prospect team adds the 2026 draft picks to their current lists pretty quickly and then do system re-rankings late in the season.

Baseball Learner: Is Jasson Dominguez being kept in the majors over Spencer Jones solely because of a difference in Minor league options and the like? If so, will this continue?

Jason Martinez: Both would be in AAA if not for the Judge/Stanton injuries. But Dominguez earned his chance years ago and, despite some ups and downs, he’s done enough to show he could be a very good big leaguer at some point. Jones has the big upside because of his power but has struck out in 41% of his MLB plate appearances. And that was the main concern with him. Seeing that play out in the big leagues isn’t great for his current trade value and probably won’t earn him another chance in 2026.

Jason Martinez: That will do it for today. Thanks for joining us. We’ll be back next Thursday. Enjoy the start of the 2nd half!