3 Very Unpopular Trade Ideas for National League Teams

With only four teams left in the fight for World Series supremacy, the other 26 major league teams are already taking stock of their rosters and their plans for the offseason. Trades will be on the front burner of the hot stove for the next few months, and with that, a number of rumors will emerge.

But Zachary Rymer of Bleacher Report has proposed a number of what he calls "unpopular trade ideas" for teams around the National League, and we take a look at three of the most unpopular trade possibilities here:

1. New York Mets Should Trade Edwin Diaz

There was dancing in the streets of Queens when the Mets dropped $102 million on Diaz after the 2022 season. Then the closer suffered an injury in the World Baseball Classic that wiped out his entire 2023, and this season he was back, but not as dominant as in the past. He blew seven save opportunities, almost as many as he had in his previous two seasons combined. His ERA was over two full runs higher than his 2022 season.

Diaz will be going into his age-31 season next year. If there's any way that they could get out from under that massive contract, they should pull the trigger, says Rymer.

2. Atlanta Braves Should Trade Marcell Ozuna

This guy was persona non grata as recently as 2022 after some sordid off-field domestic issues, but in the past two seasons he's become indispensable for the Braves, pounding 79 home runs and 204 RBIs over that span.

The problem, according to Rymer, is that he clogs up the DH spot on a nightly basis—all 162 games in 2024, to be exact—and Atlanta already has another player under contract for a couple more seasons whose best position is also DH, that being Jorge Soler. He was acquired later in the season, and Atlanta was forced to use him in the corner outfield. Not ideal. Ozuna, as Rymer notes, has far more value right now in a trade, and is a year older than Soler. He figures they should capitalize while Ozuna's trade return would be sky high.

3. Chicago Cubs Trade Jameson Taillon

Yes, the right-hander was a key part of the Cubs' rotation and had a tremendous season—his best, in fact, in six years, with a 3.27 ERA and a 12-8 mark. But, as Rymer notes, there's plenty of unsustainability in Taillon's season, as his numbers finished much better than his "expected" stats predicted, per Baseball Savant. And then there's that career ERA that's 60 points higher than it was this season.

Time to strike while the iron is hot, goes the old saying, and with two seasons left at an $18 million annual stipend, plenty of teams would be interested in that type of cost-certainty and potential performance.