Why not market Mateo as a SS to a Contender like the LAD/CLEV for an arm for this season?

[sportsfan8703]

Cleveland and the Dodgers both have holes at one of the Middle Infield starting gigs. The Dodgers always seem to have a plethora of SP types in AAA. The Guardians have a heckuva bullpen. 

Contenders would love his speed and defense.

We’re sort of wasting him a part time player. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true. We could replace his 26 man roster spot with Urias, Norby, Mayo, and/or Holliday. 

Could we see a rare Contender-Contender swap?

[forphase1]

He has very little value,  except on the OH and in the warehouse.   While he's been better than expected this year so far,  he's shown his usual signs of starting to cool off, and as we know,  once he cools off he's usually bad most the rest of the year.   Maybe he bucks that trend this year,  but I highly doubt any team will trade much for the opportunity for him to prove that for them.  Simply he's not good enough/consistent enough with the bat for a team to trade us back a key piece.  Could we possibly get a lottery pick or something?  Sure.  Could we get anything to help the team win now?  I don't see it,  not in a trade with Mateo being the centerpiece. 

[Sports Guy]

Yea I think Mateo or Urias will need to be traded but they won’t be the main cog in any deal unless it’s for a minor leaguer or 2.

But I could see them being the 3rd or 4th piece in a larger deal.

[sportsfan8703]

If it’s the Dodgers it could be names like Bobby Miller or Kyle Hurt. Two guys that are fringey SP options, but for them they can’t seem to crack the rotation and are bullpen options. Heck, they even have Walker Buehler in AAA. Buehler is a FA at the end of the season and makes $8 million this year.

Is Hurt and/or Miller even more valuable than McDermott?

How about these trades just for conversation…

Mateo + Bright/Forret for Miller/Hurt

Either one of Miller or Hurt.  Take your choice.  They both are in the same boat it seems.  We give them an arm back to offset the team control and that won’t need to be added to the 40 man this offseason.  The Dodger are always up against the 40 man.  That comes with winning for a long period.

 

Edited June 25 by sportsfan8703

[Aristotelian]

If they have interest, which I doubt, they would want to offer prospects not players currently helping their team

[ChosenOne21]

I doubt we'll get a pitcher that's much, if any, of an upgrade in exchange for Mateo. Best we could probably hope for is someone intriguing who's a year or two away and might be an upgrade then.

[Tony-OH]

Mateo's ability to backup shortstop, 2B, and CF gives him some value as a bench player as well as his late inning pinch running opportunities. 

I don't think teams will view him as a starter so his value is to the Orioles as a bench player. He did a nice job for awhile filling in as the everyday 2B, but we all knew he would eventually get exposed after playing too much.

I like Mateo as a bench guy. The fact that he can fill in well at SS, 2B and adequately in CF is a great bench player.

[RZNJ]

2 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Cleveland and the Dodgers both have holes at one of the Middle Infield starting gigs. The Dodgers always seem to have a plethora of SP types in AAA. The Guardians have a heckuva bullpen. 

Contenders would love his speed and defense.

We’re sort of wasting him a part time player. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true. We could replace his 26 man roster spot with Urias, Norby, Mayo, and/or Holliday. 

Could we see a rare Contender-Contender swap?

Those teams want offense and defense.  He only provides one.   No one is calling up the Orioles on Mateo and no amount of marketing is going to change that.

[Bemorewins]

It would be great to trade our worst players and get back useful pieces. Never have to trade away any good prospects and somehow piece together a rotation that is good enough to play deep into the Fall. I wish and hope all these things would happen. 

The problem is when I wake up from those dreams, I have to go back to the real world where that is much more fantasy/fiction than a real probability.

But I say wish away... Maybe this time it comes true?

[ScGO's]

Mateo is at 1.2 WAR.  If he ends up being a 2.0 - 2.5 WAR player, with one more year of control; there's some value there

[ChosenOne21]

I'd certainly market Mateo, but I doubt anyone is buying at a decent price.

[Hank Scorpio]

Hope I'm wrong, but I think he'll turn into the pumpkin he's always been. I doubt he's got any value.

[jabba72]

The O's just DFA'd Maton who is a SS with an .870 OPS in AAA, so if the Dodgers are truly desperate for a SS, one is available for free.

[LookitsPuck]

4 hours ago, forphase1 said:

He has very little value,  except on the OH and in the warehouse.   While he's been better than expected this year so far,  he's shown his usual signs of starting to cool off, and as we know,  once he cools off he's usually bad most the rest of the year.   Maybe he bucks that trend this year,  but I highly doubt any team will trade much for the opportunity for him to prove that for them.  Simply he's not good enough/consistent enough with the bat for a team to trade us back a key piece.  Could we possibly get a lottery pick or something?  Sure.  Could we get anything to help the team win now?  I don't see it,  not in a trade with Mateo being the centerpiece. 

He has more value than you're giving him credit for. He's a 1-2 win player with elite speed and (at times) elite defense at multiple premium positions. He's also making a pretty low salary relative to his performance with another couple years left (FA in 2026). 

A similar comp would be Jose Iglesias. He was traded by the O's for Jean Pinto and Garrett Stallings. Pinto was a "lottery ticket" and Stallings was a Top 20 prospect for the Angels. I think you can easily get a similar return.

That said, I do agree with your point that you most likely wouldn't get a player to help the team win now unless you swapped him with a team that had excess bullpen arms, but even then you're probably getting a middle reliever/setup man type, but noting premium. But hey...that might be useful.

 

[LookitsPuck]

13 minutes ago, jabba72 said:

The O's just DFA'd Maton who is a SS with an .870 OPS in AAA, so if the Dodgers are truly desperate for a SS, one is available for free.

Nick Maton isn't Jorge Mateo. But I do agree...he's free.