Though dozens of quality Major League Baseball free agents remained unsigned as we approach the new calendar year, trades have been all the rage lately.

In the span of about a week, Andrés Giménez was shipped up to Toronto, Cleveland flipped one of the pieces from that deal (IF Spencer Horwitz) to Pittsburgh for a trio of pitchers, Texas sent Miami three prospects for Jake Burger, the A's traded for Jeffrey Springs, the Brewers sent Devin Williams to the Yankees for Nestor Cortes and a prospect, Kyle Tucker went to the Cubs, Cody Bellinger went to the Yankees and the biggest one was Boston giving up four prospects for Garrett Crochet.

Why stop there, though?

Crochet was the big one that pretty much everyone in the industry knew was going to be traded at some point this offseason, but there are plenty of other players already under contract who could/should be on the move before Opening Day.

Let's draw up trade packages for some of those players.

Brandon Lowe to the Angels

Signing a player to a back-loaded contract and then trading said player away before his salary balloons beyond their comfort level (which is usually the moment it becomes an eight-figure salary) is simply the Tampa Bay Rays' way.

They did it last week with Jeffrey Springs, did it last winter with Tyler Glasnow, did it a few years back with Evan Longoria and there are probably at least a dozen other examples of this budgetary approach that they're likely to take again this winter with Brandon Lowe—as well as possibly Yandy Díaz.

It's mostly just a question of which team is most interested in trading for an oft-injured, 30-year-old second baseman who is owed $10.5M in 2025 plus an $11.5M club option (or $500k buyout) for 2026.

When healthy, Lowe has been quite good.

He hit 21 home runs in each of the past two seasons, despite missing at least 50 games in each. He has a career OPS of .812, which is only slightly behind Francisco Lindor's mark of .818. And second basemen with this type of power certainly don't grow on trees, with only Ketel Marte and Marcus Semien hitting more home runs than Lowe did in 2024.

Could be a great fit with the Angels, if they're willing to spend another $10.5M, and assuming they're not expecting Anthony Rendon to have any type of renaissance, comeback player of the year campaign.

The Trade: Tampa Bay sends 2B Brandon Lowe to the Angels; Angels send RHP Barrett Kent and 3B Cole Fontenelle to Tampa Bay

Ryan Helsley to the Texas Rangers

Both Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported earlier this offseason that—despite St. Louis' stated plan of getting younger and building toward the future—the Cardinals are not expected to trade away closer Ryan Helsley unless they get an offer they simply cannot refuse.

The Rangers might be willing to make that offer, though, because they absolutely need the bullpen help after losing all of Kirby Yates, David Robertson, Andrew Chafin, José Leclerc and José Ureña as free agents.

With a payroll already north of $200M, the price tag on top free agents Tanner Scott and Carlos Estévez might not be doable for them.

Helsley, on the other hand, has a projected salary of $8.1M in his final year of arbitration eligibility, which is about half of what Scott's salary figures to be.

The two-time All-Star has a 1.83 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 12.1 K/9 since the start of 2022. Save for maybe Emmanuel Clase, he has been the best reliever in the game, and he could be headed for a huge contract next offseason if he delivers the goods again in 2025.

That part is a matter for another day, though. For now, he could be one heck of a one-year band-aid solution to the Rangers' need for a closer, which might be the missing link that makes them the AL West favorites and the top challenger to the Yankees in the American League.

He won't come cheap, but he's probably worth it.

The Trade: St. Louis sends RHP Ryan Helsley to Texas; Texas sends OF Alejandro Osuna and LHP Mitch Bratt to St. Louis

A Hot Corner Shuffle

Among position players, Alex Bregman is arguably the biggest name still available as a free agent. That's largely because he's reportedly seeking at least a $200M deal, but it might also partially be a product of both Nolan Arenado and Alec Bohm ranking among the top and most frequent names mentioned on the trade block.

Teams that think they can get three years of Arenado's services for a combined $58M or the final two arbitration years of Bohm might be feeling reluctant to sign Bregman to something like a seven-year deal at $30M annually.

At this point, it feels like Arenado is definitely going somewhere. It's not quite as inevitable as a Garrett Crochet trade was, but we've already gotten reports of where Arenado would be willing to go (he has a full no-trade clause) in addition to his willingness to play somewhere other than third base.

Pretty much a "whatever it takes to get off this sinking ship" type of plea.

One of the six teams on Arenado's initial list of preferred landing spots was the Philadelphia Phillies. For that to make sense, though, the Phillies trading away Bohm is a must, perhaps even in the same deal for a rare three-team swap.

Nearly one-third of the league could make a lot of sense as a candidate to trade for Bohm, but the Seattle Mariners might be the most eager of the bunch.

Thus far this offseason, the M's have done nothing to address their offensive woes from 2024, aside from outrighting Luis Urias and non-tendering Josh Rojas to make room for a TBD third baseman. They don't have much wiggle room in their budget for free agent acquisitions, but Bohm's projected 2025 salary of $8.1M should be more than fine.

The Trade: St. Louis sends 3B Nolan Arenado to Philadelphia; Philadelphia sends 3B Alec Bohm to Seattle; Seattle sends SS Colt Emerson (Joel Reuter's No. 35 overall prospect) to St. Louis

Luis Robert Jr. to West Sacramento

USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported in late November that the Athletics were feeling pressure from both the MLBPA and the other owners to increase their payroll to around $100M after opening the past three seasons with an average payroll of around $55M.

Thus far, they've signed Luis Severino to a three-year, $67M deal and traded for Jeffrey Springs, who is owed $10.5M in each of 2025 and 2026 before a $15M club option for 2027.

But with no one else projected for more than a $3.5M salary in the upcoming season, the A's remain nowhere close to that alleged goal of a nine-figure payroll. In fact, if they do nothing else in the next few months, they'd be at roughly $57.3M, which is about $4M below their 2024 Opening Day payroll.

Luis Robert Jr.'s $15M salary would be a considerable step in that direction, though.

JJ Bleday played darn near everyday in center last season for the A's, but he made 61 appearances in left field between 2022 and 2023 and could set up shop there in 2025 to make room for Robert's glovework in center.

At that point, the A's would look...kind of good?

They already had several breakout hitters last season, ranking eighth in the majors with 196 home runs. With any luck, rookie shortstop Jacob Wilson will somewhat harness the .433 batting average he had in 53 minor league games in 2024 and become a key cog for them this season.

Goodness only knows how healthy Robert (or Springs, for that matter) will be for them, but that could be a stout lineup, with theoretically another $25M or so to spend on adding one more starting pitcher to further spruce up the rotation. (Or, making another trade...)

The Trade: Chicago sends OF Luis Robert Jr. to A's, A's send OF Colby Thomas (Joel Reuter's No. 84 overall prospect) to Chicago

Rockies Also Help the A's Spend Money

Trying to predict anything that the Colorado Rockies will do (aside from not win the NL West) can be quite the futile adventure.

Here's the deal, though.

They have five veterans signed for at least $10M each, four of the five signed through at least 2027. However, they have little to no hope of contending within the next three years, and might as well try to turn those veterans into assets that might actually be helpful 3+ years from now when current top prospects Chase Dollander and Charlie Condon might join Ezequiel Tovar and Brenton Doyle as cornerstones of the franchise.

One of those veterans is 3B Ryan McMahon, with a $12M salary in 2025, followed by two years at $16M apiece. He has hit at least 20 home runs in each of the past five 162-game seasons, though career splits of an .814 OPS at home and .673 on the road might be enough to scare off most trade partners.

The Rockies also have starting pitcher Kyle Freeland at $16M this season, $16M next season and a possible $17M vesting option for 2027, as well as Antonio Senzatela for $12M in each of 2025 and 2026 before a $14M club option (with no buyout) for 2027. Freeland made 21 starts with a 5.24 ERA last season; Senzatela made three appearances after returning from Tommy John surgery.

Which brings us back to the A's, who arguably need a third baseman, who definitely need another starting pitcher and who theoretically want to spend another $25M-$28M even after our proposed addition of Luis Robert Jr. to the payroll.

Let's see how serious they are about that $100M goal.

The Trade: Colorado sends 3B Ryan McMahon and LHP Kyle Freeland to A's; A's send 3B Tommy White, RHP Steven Echavarria and OF Rodney Green to Colorado

NL Central Swap of Rhys Hoskins

When the Brewers signed Rhys Hoskins last winter, surely they were hoping he would play well enough on his $12M salary in 2024 to opt out of the rest of the $34M contract.

Instead, they are (unless they can trade it away) now stuck with his $18M salary for 2025, as well as the $4M buyout of the $18M mutual option for 2026.

By no means do we think they're tanking the upcoming season, this despite losing Willy Adames to the Giants and trading Devin Williams to the Yankees. But if they can move Hoskins and save a huge chunk of money, they'll happily take their chances on Tyler Black as an everyday first baseman to make it happen.

The tricky part is finding a team that would be willing to take on Hoskins' salary, when there are so many first basemen—Pete Alonso, Christian Walker, Paul Goldschmidt, Anthony Rizzo, Josh Bell and Carlos Santana—still available in free agency.

If the Brewers are willing to at least buy down the salary a bit, though, the Pirates could be an interested party.

They've become big fans of taking one-year flyers on guys coming off of disappointing seasons—see: Aroldis Chapman, Martín Pérez, Rowdy Tellez and Yasmani Grandal last winter, Rich Hill in 2023, Jose Quintana in 2022—and they could definitely use at least one more 1B/DH option, even after the recent acquisition of Spencer Horwitz.

Goodness knows they're probably sick of facing him, too. In 29 career games against Pittsburgh, Hoskins has a 1.000 OPS. Could be nice to have him hitting for the home team at PNC Park for a change.

The Trade: Milwaukee sends 1B Rhys Hoskins and $8M cash to Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh sends IF Tsung-Che Cheng to Milwaukee

Luis Castillo Shipped Across the Country

While the Seattle Mariners wouldn't need to trade away Luis Castillo's salary in order to make room for Alec Bohm in their payroll, it surely would help them in their quest to cobble together a more competent offense.

Castillo's name has been floating around as a trade candidate for the past week or so, as what is left on his contract—$24.15M salary in each of 2025-27, plus a $25M vesting option for 2028 if he logs at least 180 IP in 2027—has grown quite desirable against the backdrop of Blake Snell's five-year, $182M deal, Max Fried's eight-year, $218M deal and the impending monster contract that Corbin Burnes is going to receive.

The M's would still have one of the best rotations in the American League even if they were to move Castillo, so it makes sense for them to at least field calls of trade offers, even if they aren't necessarily actively shopping him.

And one potential trade partner that could make a lot of sense is Baltimore.

The O's did just sign Tomoyuki Sugano a few days ago, but that's much more of a "could be the No. 4 starter" type of acquisition than a "fills the hole of losing Corbin Burnes" move. They're still looking to add an ace-level pitcher to pair with Zach Eflin and Grayson Rodriguez, and Castillo's contract might work for their budget.

Baltimore also has a bit of a surplus of hitters, so they could send Seattle a quality bat in addition to the salary relief.

The Trade: Seattle sends RHP Luis Castillo to Baltimore; Baltimore sends 1B Ryan Mountcastle and RHP Alex Pham to Seattle