OAK C Stephen Vogt
The Indians need to get some kind of productivity from their catchers if they want to make a final run for the World Series. Roberto Perez has been on the DL almost the entire season, Yan Gomes has decreased his lines each of the last four seasons to the point he’s hitting .168 right now, and the team traded to get Chris Gimenez back who’s also hitting .185. Roberto Perez has a WAR 0.8 higher than Gomes despite hitting .000 this season before getting hurt. For those that don’t know what that means, it’s statistically saying the Indians would win one more game this season playing Roberto Perez with him having a batting average of .000 than Yan Gomes in the lineup. Stephen Vogt would be an intriguing option. The A’s are in an obvious rebuild mode and are no strangers to making trades and Vogt will be hitting his first arbitration eligible year after the season. That would put him under team control for three more seasons despite him already being 31 years old. He’s a back to back All-Star and hitting .277 for Oakland this year. Due to his ability to be controlled, Oakland may want to keep him around but the Indians can at least make an offer.
Chances: 3%
PIT 3B David Freese
Pittsburgh is the true wildcard team at the trade deadline this year. Since adding the second wildcard team, there have been a lot more teams holding onto their players and going for it than selling. The Pirates currently only stand 1.5 games back of a wildcard spot and with the injuries that both the Dodgers and Mets are recently facing the Pirates may creep back into the postseason. The reason they could sell is because the NL does have some very good teams at the top, the Pirates have some valuable players that are set to hit free agency, and they have also have some talented players at AAA that are getting close to hitting the majors. With depth at third, Freese might be available. He’s on a one year, three million dollar deal and he’s hitting .295 this year. He’s a seasoned veteran at 33 and has the postseason experience that some of the younger guys don’t. Cleveland was linked to Freese as a possibility all offseason and still makes a lot of sense. He could be had for maybe a midlevel prospect as the Pirates would build up for a run next year but still being in the wildcard race would be the hold back.
Chances: 5%
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