One of the beautiful things about baseball is how difficult it is to predict what's going to happen, and every year there are dozens of players who turn in surprise performances that very few saw coming.

Inevitably, there are always at least a few players who enter the season well off the radar who wind up emerging as valuable trade chips.

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed what looked to be a washed-up José Quintana to a one-year, $1 million deal prior to the 2022 season and ended up flipping him for a pair of quality prospects at the deadline when he returned to peak form.

The Seattle Mariners turned an out-of-nowhere breakthrough from catcher Austin Nola during the 2020 season into Ty France and Andres Muñoz in a seven-player trade with the San Diego Padres.

Ahead we've highlighted seven players who are emerging as surprise trade chips this season, and while they will need to continue performing at a high level over the next few months, these players could be at the heart of trade rumors leading up to the deadline.

LHP Aroldis Chapman, Kansas City Royals

The first time Aroldis Chapman reached free agency, he signed a record-setting five-year, $86 million deal with the New York Yankees, and when he exercised an opt-out after the third year of that contract, he re-signed on a new three-year, $48 million deal.

His second trip to free agency came with far less fanfare.

After struggling to a 4.46 ERA and 1.43 WHIP with 28 walks in 36.1 innings during the 2022 season and eventually being relegated to middle relief work, he found limited interest on the open market and eventually signed a one-year, $3.8 million deal with the Kansas City Royals.

Through 16 appearances, he has a 3.68 ERA and 14.1 strikeouts per nine innings, and he has also seen a resurgence in his fastball velocity (97.5 to 99.6 mph) and spin rate (2,362 to 2,491 rpm).

As a result of that strong start, the Royals are already receiving calls on his availability, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.