Early MLB Trade Targets

            The MLB season is already flying by and there are teams that are looking into selling some assets. A lot can change in a span of a month. But in the meantime, let's take a look at which of these valuable pieces could be expendable come late July.

1. Sonny Gray, Oakland A's: Sonny Gray's name has been thrown around quite a bit regarding trade talks. Oakland can fetch a sizable package for Gray before the deadline in spite of not having the best year. Gray's K/9 is an adequate 8.09 and his BB/9 is 2.83. His ERA's 4.57 and his groundball rate's 59.3%, so teams will have to be cautious of Gray throwing meatballs. 
2. J.D. Martinez, Detroit Tigers: In just 22 games (72 at-bats), Martinez has ten homers, 22 RBIs, an OPS of 1.201, and an average of .292. Martinez is perhaps the only Tiger who can garner a quality return in trade talks. The one problem is that the Tigers are teetering between contending and selling and this is the last year of Martinez's contract.
3. Zack Cosart, Cincinnati Reds: Cosart has been another trade target for teams. The Reds can at least get one MLB Top 100 prospect for Cosart, who's batting .344 this year with nine homers and 33 RBIs. Cosart is also a stellar defensive shortstop, which will help his asking price quite a bit. 
4. Eric Hosmer, Jason Vargas, and Lorenzo Cain, Kansas City Royals: Hosmer's having another solid season at first base, batting .305 with a decent OPS of .796. Cain has an OPS of .736 and is a threat on the basepaths (12 steals this season). Vargas has seven wins this year to go with an ERA of 2.08. It appears that the Royals are going to be sellers by the trade, so Kansas City will have to start selling and making moves in a month (Maybe sooner). 
5. Yu Darvish, Texas Rangers: Surprise! Jose Quintana's not on the list since he's not having the best of seasons. So here's a look at Darvish. Although Darvish has allowed three runs in his last two starts, Darvish still is a valuable pitcher. Capable of striking out double-digits with a nice fastball and decent breaking ball stuff, Darvish has a K/9 of 9.64 and an FIP of 4.01. His ERA's decent as well, standing at 3.13. Darvish is more of a flyball pitcher and is often prone to allowing home runs and walks, but that shouldn't deter teams from trading for him considering how many strikeouts he racks up along with how many guys he leaves on base (84.6% this year). 

Photo Courtesy of MLB.com. Stats courtesy of Fangraphs.com