2026-27 MLB Offseason Trade Candidates: Top Targets Ranked

Marte signed a third long-term deal with Arizona in early April 2025, coming off a season in which he finished third in MVP voting. That contract tethered him to the Diamondbacks for what could be the rest of his career, through 2031. At the time, his guaranteed salaries for 2027-31 totaled $87.5 million, which looked like a steal. Since then, though, Marte’s production has slipped, especially with regard to speed and defense; he’s been placed on the restricted list in consecutive seasons due to unexcused absences from the team; and playing-time escalators have pushed his guaranteed money for the next five years to $101.25 million, anyway. He could easily make over $108 million in that span. Suddenly, he’s an aging second baseman with a hefty contract and a de facto no-trade clause, thanks to his 10-and-5 rights, and if he stays healthy enough to avoid having the contract become an albatross, it will get even harder for him to outperform. For an exec on a budget as tight as Mike Hazen’s, that’s trouble, but for a team that needs a short-term infusion of offensive firepower and believes it can weather the personal hiccups, it’s a worthwhile gamble.

After a three-year stepwise climb through the minors, Ramírez had a sensational stint at Triple-A Iowa and broke through with the big-league team in 2026. He enjoyed a strong rookie campaign, showing modest but real plate discipline, pop and contact skills. He’s a switch-hitter who stands 5-foot-9, making it hard to pitch to him with an ABS strike zone in effect. A career infielder, Ramírez is also a good runner, and he might well fit at each spot across the outfield in a pinch. Though his future is more likely as a second-division regular than as a star, Ramírez is a positive contributor already. If squeezed out of a somewhat ossified Cubs positional corps, he would bring back a solid arm, at least.

In his second full big-league season, Edwards turned a corner. Taking advantage of a strike zone shrunk by ABS (an edge augmented by his diminutive 5-foot-9 stature), he became much more patient, which helped him walk more than 11% of the time and get on base at a .360 clip. From both sides of the plate, he got slightly more aggressive in terms of his actual swing: more bat speed, born not so much of big mechanical changes as of a go-get-it mindset that allowed him to catch the ball farther in front of himself. Few everyday players have less power, but Edwards can be a singles-and-walks offensive playmaker, and he steals bases efficiently and often. To move him, the Marlins will have to get a prospect with All-Star potential.