MLB trade deadline: Who needs to sell?

The MLB Trade Deadline isn’t until July 31, but there are some teams that must understand their position. While clubs like the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks seemed destined to reach the postseason, there are ample organizations completely out of the race midway through the campaign.

One such team includes the Oakland Athletics. Oakland is not going to get anywhere near the America League playoffs despite sweeping the Chicago White Sox over the weekend. The A’s are 34-42, only better than the aforementioned White Sox and Detroit Tigers. General manager David Forst and president Billy Beane should be attempting to move some tradeable assets in hopes of returning younger pieces for the future.

Oakland actually has some nice, young talent already up on the big-league club. Franklin Barreto came up on Saturday and was terrific, garnering a home run as one of his four hits in two games. Ryon Healy has 17 home runs in his first full season, while Bruce Maxwell is a fine caching prospect hitting over .300 in limited action. Forst would do well to trade Yonder Alonso and Jed Lowrie — two veterans having excellent seasons — for either prospects or young starters.

Another club that should be focused on the future is the New York Mets. New York was supposed to compete for its third consecutive playoff appearance, but injuries and poor play has scuttled that dream. The Mets should consider Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz and Michael Conforto untouchable, but everyone else should be totting a “For Sale” sign around. If general manager Sandy Alderson gets a good offer for Asdrubal Cabrera, Matt Harvey, Jay Bruce, Yoenis Cespedes, Neil Walker or any other veteran, the move needs to be made. The Mets can quickly turn this around, but 2017 seems like a pipe dream with the Nationals already 11 games ahead of them.

Then there are the Cincinnati Reds. Cincinnati is sitting in last place of the NL Central with a 31-43 mark. The Reds have struggled to get anybody out, allowing an NL-worst 405 runs on the year. Only the Baltimore Orioles have surrendered more across the Major Leagues.

Cincinnati should be shopping Joey Votto aggressively, hoping someone will take on his massive contract before the talent dries up. Votto’s name should be accompanied by shortstop Zack Cosart, outfielder Adam Duvall and speedster Billy Hamilton. Some Cincinnati fans might contend that both Hamilton and Duvall could be part of the team’s rebuilding efforts, but each could net some nice pitching in return, something of much greater importance.

With July looming, it’s time to start thinking about the future. For Cincinnati, Oakland and New York, the future is now.