Does Elias dare trade Hays at the deadline?

[Sports Guy]

57 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

The problem with trading Hays is that the value is so minimal right now. It is unlikely that you can get anything useful for him.

I know the OP has framed things in a way to view Hays for what he was. But the problem comes because other teams will be assessing him on what he is, which is not very good. There is really nothing about his game that is special/elite.

Even in is Allstar season his offensive numbers fell off a cliff in the second half, just like in 2022. And he appears to no longer be a good defensive player. He doesn’t get on base, he doesn’t hit for a lot of power, no does he have good speed. He can’t really handle LF that well anymore, why would anyone put him in CF? You see the Orioles aren’t.

The time for extracting the most value from Hays in a trade has passed unfortunately.

Do we even need to get much for Hays?  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I want to cut him and lose him for free but if all we get is a lottery ticket or 2, is that some egregious thing?  Chances are, he will be non tendered in the offseason anyway.

[Aristotelian]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

Of course he's good enough to play for a contender.   He played for one all last year.   He got off to an outrageously slow start this year, but his OPS+ is at 100 now and climbing rapidly.   A team like Seattle absolutely could use him.   Their OPS in the OF is below average in all three spots and they are one of the worst teams in MLB vs. LHP.   Hays would have plenty of value to a team like that.

I would think a contender would want someone producing at higher than replacement level. Preferably above average offense at a corner OF spot. Hays did that for us last year but hasn't so far this year. I would think the Mariners would be targeting a better player.

[Philip]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

Of course he's good enough to play for a contender.   He played for one all last year.   He got off to an outrageously slow start this year, but his OPS+ is at 100 now and climbing rapidly.   A team like Seattle absolutely could use him.   Their OPS in the OF is below average in all three spots and they are one of the worst teams in MLB vs. LHP.   Hays would have plenty of value to a team like that.

Hays played for a contender last year because that contender already had him. It is highly unlikely that that contender would have gone out and traded anything meaningful to get him.

Seattle would like him because he’s better than what they have, but would they give anything for him that would help the 26-man roster now? Doubtful.

FWIW, I would be happy to trade him for a reasonable prospect that might be of benefit in a year or so, but I don’t think he’s going to bring anything back That’ll help the team right now.

[Bemorewins]

2 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Do we even need to get much for Hays?  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I want to cut him and lose him for free but if all we get is a lottery ticket or 2, is that some egregious thing?  Chances are, he will be non tendered in the offseason anyway.

Please don’t misunderstand. I don’t care if we release or trade Hays for relatively nothing.

I was trying to set a realistic expectation in terms of his trade value.

However, in order to get valuable pitching talent we need, we are likely going to have to part with actual valuable players (not Hays) but probably some young player(s)/prospect(s).