He who hesitates is lost, and even the favorites to win MLB's 2022 World Series have (at least) one area they could clearly stand to improve in advance of the still-far-away-but-approaching trade deadline.
One observation/explanation before we dive in: The majority of these flaws are batters rather than pitchers, but that doesn't mean we're anticipating an unusually quiet summer as far as trading of pitchers is concerned.
With rare exceptions, postseason contenders are always interested in improving their pitching staff before the deadline. In fact, the playoff field expanding from 10 teams to 12 teams figures to create even more demand for starting pitchers and less supply of them than we're used to seeing. But a lot of that demand is based on injury and/or guys cooling off from hot starts, and we'll need to wait at least another month or two to see how those factors drive the market. As is, most of these contenders seem to be in good shape in the pitching department.
Contenders are listed in alphabetical order, and these are the 12 teams who entered play on Tuesday with better than 30-1 odds of winning the World Series, per DraftKings.
Atlanta Braves
World Series Odds: +1500
Flaw to Fix: Outfielders Not Named Acuna
What's curious about Atlanta's outfield predicament is the sheer amount of money it has already sunken into the position.
Ronald Acuna Jr. is making $15 million this season, and that's a bargain for one of the best players in baseball. But the Braves are also paying $16 million for Marcell Ozuna, $9.775 million for Adam Duvall and $9 million for Eddie Rosario. Without factoring in the substantially less expensive Orlando Arcia, Guillermo Heredia and Travis Demeritte, Atlanta is paying more for four outfielders than the A's or Orioles are paying for their entire rosters.
And the return on that investment has been…sub-optimal.
Even with Ozuna in the midst of a 10-game hitting streak that includes four home runs, he (-0.2), Duvall (-0.4) and Rosario (-1.2) each have a negative Baseball Reference WAR.
Dare they throw good money after bad in hopes of becoming the first repeat champions since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees, or just roll with what they've got in the outfield?
If they opt for the former route, Mitch Haniger could be an intriguing target. The Mariners right fielder has played in just nine games this season due to an ankle injury and isn't expected back until July, but he hit 39 home runs last season and could be the type of lucrative trade deadline acquisition that Duvall and Jorge Soler were for Atlanta last year.
Chicago White Sox
World Series Odds: +1700
Flaw to Fix: Second Base
Before this past offseason even began, Chicago knew second base was a weak point. The White Sox got just seven home runs and two stolen bases from their second basemen in 2021, and the two guys who logged the most games at that position (Cesar Hernandez and Nick Madrigal) were either already gone or on their way out the door.
They brought in Josh Harrison—a career .274 hitter with a respectable amount of pop and speed—in hopes of solving the problem, but he's batting .179 with neither a home run nor a stolen base to his credit. Leury Garcia hasn't been much better at .194 with two home runs and one stolen base.
As a result, "White Sox Second Baseman" has returned a worst in the majors negative-0.7 FanGraphs WAR on the season and is the lowest hanging fruit that this underachieving team could fix via trade.
The funny thing is bringing back Hernandez might be their best option. He's batting .277 as the everyday second baseman for the 15-games-below-.500 Nationals. Getting Adam Frazier from the Mariners is also an option if and when the M's drop far enough out of contention to part with one of their few impending free agents.