The MLB offseason is fast approaching, and it's never too early to start setting the landscape for another busy winter of wheeling and dealing on the trade market.
While much of the attention this offseason will focus on the free agency of superstars like Aaron Judge, Trea Turner and opt-out candidates Jacob deGrom, Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, expect an active trade market as well.
Ahead we've counted down the top 25 potential trade candidates to know for the upcoming offseason. It's a mix of speculative trade candidates and players who have previously seen their names pop up on the rumor mill. Likelihood that a player is traded helped us narrow our list to 25 players, while remaining years of control and salary commitment factored into where players fell in the rankings.
Off we go!
25. LHP Madison Bumgarner, Arizona Diamondbacks
With three years and $50 million remaining on his contract, Bumgarner is an intriguing salary-dump candidate. The D-backs are a team on the rise, and finding a way to free up that salary could go a long way in helping them shore up the roster. The 33-year-old had a 4.88 ERA in 158.2 innings last season, and attaching a quality prospect to him could be enough to entice a team to buy low and absorb a sizable chunk of his remaining salary.
24. CF Ramón Laureano, Oakland Athletics
Laureano has averaged 4.2 WAR per 162 games over the course of his career, but between injuries and a performance-enhancing drug suspension, he has only played more than 100 games once in five years in the big leagues. His mix of power, speed and center field defense gives him solid upside, and entering his second year of arbitration he's an obvious trade candidate for the penny-pinching Athletics.
23. RHP Kyle Finnegan, Washington Nationals
The Nationals have stripped their roster to the studs, but they do still have an attractive trade chip in Finnegan. The 31-year-old has club control through the 2025 season, and he posted a 3.51 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 9.5 K/9 with 11 saves and 14 holds in 66 appearances in 2022. A low-cost option with late-inning experience is always an in-demand profile for teams looking to improve the relief corps.
22. SS Isiah-Kiner Falefa, New York Yankees
With Oswald Peraza impressing in a cup-of-coffee and Anthony Volpe quickly rising the ranks, shortstop is a crowded position for the Yankees. Kiner-Falefa logged an 84 OPS+ with 24 extra-base hits and 22 steals in 142 games in his first season in New York, tallying 2.9 WAR on the strength of his defensive tools. The 27-year-old has one year of control remaining, and he could be a nice consolation prize for teams that miss out on the offseason shortstop sweepstakes.
21. RF Max Kepler, Minnesota Twins
With Byron Buxton locked in as the starting center fielder and Alex Kirilloff, Trevor Larnach and Nick Gordon all in the mix for playing time at the corner outfield spots, the Twins could consider moving Kepler this winter. The 29-year-old is owed $8.5 million in 2023 in the final guaranteed season of his five-year contract, and that's a reasonable enough figure for teams to roll the dice on him returning to the 36-homer, 4.0-WAR form he showed in 2019.