Rays Winter Meetings: Four Possible Trade Partners

Oct 21, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; The New York Mets celebrate after defeating the Chicago Cubs in game four of the NLCS at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

CHICAGO CUBS

The Cubs were forced to watch pitching be the difference as they were knocked out of the playoffs by the Mets. They have some of the best hitters in the National League, and they have depth to deal in the form of Javier Baez or Starlin Castro. Rumors are swirling that Jorge Soler is available at the right price, which perked our interest at how he would fit in the Rays lineup.

Joe Maddon happens to know who he can trust within the Rays relief corps and our guess is that Jacob McGee would be the first target they’d ask for in trade. Matt Moore, Erasmo Ramirez, or Drew Smyly also seem like plausible targets.

There’s also a chance the Cubs would have interest in someone like Logan Forsythe and that the Rays would want to capitalize on his skyrocketing value.

Update: Marc Topkin has the Cubs and Rays talking Javier Baez as recently as last night. He notes that Baez would likely play SS since Evan Longoria and Logan Forsythe are cemented at their positions. IF that were to happen, it would make Brad Miller an interesting trade chip (or Forsythe who holds more value at this point). MLBTR expands on the situation here.

Pros: Rays have relatively inexpensive pitching the Cubs covet. Cubs have the inexpensive hitting the Rays covet. Maddon is well versed in the Rays pitching and can help Jed Hoyer and company come to a decision.

Cons: Evaluating a pitching for hitting trade where many of the pieces have had their respective issues isn’t easy to do, making this a hard trade to accomplish.

Chances: Extremely High

Most Likely to Become a Ray? Javier Baez and/or Jorge Soler

Most Likely to Become a Cub? Jacob McGee and/or Matt Moore

Next: The next trade partners are home to two prominent ex-Rays