Ranking the Top Rental Bats on the Trade Block

10. OF Lane Thomas, Kansas City Royals

In his first and likely only season on the Royals, Thomas has been performing well for his standards. The 30-year-old has raised his walk rate, lowered his strikeout rate, and has a 103 wRC+ through 92 games. While he’s not a star-caliber option, Thomas is at the very least a productive bat that can offer value in a few different ways to interested teams.

Not only is he finding ways to improve his rate stats, but he’s hitting for more power (.170 ISO, highest since 2023) than he has in years, and he’s been outstanding against left-handed pitching. While his 87 wRC+ against righties is a bit below league-average and leaves little to complain about, Thomas’ 122 wRC+ and .799 OPS against left-handers is one that catches your eye.

Defensively, Thomas can competently man all three spots in the outfield, but his advanced stats will tell you that he’s merely faking it as a center fielder for the Royals right now. A team in need of a corner bat who rakes against lefties could do a whole lot worse than this rental.

9. OF Luis Robert Jr., New York Mets

After missing a considerable amount of time this year with a herniated disc in his spine, Robert is back on the field in his primary center-fielder role. It’s been a few years since we’ve seen him at his peak, but Robert has shown glimpses of promise.

All told, the 28-year-old has four home runs with 10 RBI, a 14% walk rate (and a sub-20% K-rate for the first time since 2022), and a 95 wRC+ through his first 30 games this season. He’s been decent-but-not-great out in center for the Mets, but his ailment kept him out for nearly three months and he’s clearly working on finding his footing on both sides of the ball.

Robert has reportedly already begun receiving trade interest, and he’ll need to continue to perform well to boost that value before the deadline comes. Moving him will allow the Mets to hand the keys over to a youngster like A.J. Ewing, which is undoubtedly something the team is eager to do now that they’re being forced to embrace a youth movement.

8. C Tyler Stephenson, Cincinnati Reds

Already in his seventh season on the Reds, Stephenson is nearing the end of his initial professional contract and will be a free agent in the coming months. He’s turned himself into a respectable backstop behind the dish and remains right around league-average with the bat, so there’s some value there for teams.

In 80 games this season, the 29-year-old has eight home runs with 28 driven in, a 93 wRC+ and .712 OPS at the plate.

It remains to be seen if Stephenson would keep his grip on a starting gig post-deadline, but there are a handful of teams out there with eyes on contention and obvious needs behind the plate. To see a team like the Tampa Bay Rays or New York Yankees make a play at Stephenson wouldn’t be surprising in the least.

7. DH Joc Pederson, Texas Rangers

The Rangers are currently leading the AL West, but they’re also just one game above .500 as we kick off the final week before the deadline. An epic meltdown between now and the deadline could lead to them moving rentals, and Pederson would top that list.

In his 13th season in the big leagues, the two-time All-Star is enjoying a really nice turnaround at the dish. Thus far, he’s hitting 17 home runs with a 132 wRC+ and 1.3 fWAR in 94 games played. He’s completely unplayable defensively, but what he’s doing with the bat is more than enough to show that there’s value.

Currently filling the role of unorthodox leadoff hitter, the 34-year-old is thriving. In 48 games as a leadoff hitter this season, he’s hitting .288 with a .983 OPS and 171 wRC+. He doesn’t fit your typical leadoff hitter mold, but he’s been making it work very well.

Again, the Rangers aren’t necessarily going to move Pederson unless there’s an unfortunate slide in their immediate future. If they do, however, he could actually bring them back a pretty nice package in a deal.

6. INF Ty France, San Diego Padres

One of the more surprising hitters this year, France is enjoying the best season of his career in his second go-round on the Padres. The 31-year-old was brought aboard this past offseason on a miniscule $1.35 million contract, and he’s been worth every single penny and a whole lot more. Unfortunately, he’s been doing it on a team that might just have to start selling off assets.

Through his first 80 games this year, France has 16 home runs, 46 RBI, a .548 SLG, and 142 wRC+. His 2.1 fWAR is the most he’s had since 2022, and he’s been outstanding against both righties and lefties this year, making him a solid all-around threat.

Against lefties in particular, France is hitting .319 with a .903 OPS and 147 wRC+. While he’s not a qualified hitter and isn’t featured on any of the leaderboards in these categories, he’d be comfortably around the 20-25 range in each of them.

With such a low contract and the numbers speaking for themselves, France is another player that could warrant a deal that’ll have people saying, “wow, they traded that much for him?!”.

5. C Ryan Jeffers, Minnesota Twins

Durability concerns pushed Jeffers further down the list than many people would’ve liked to have seen, but even that made it a tough sell to keep him all the way down at No. 5. The 29-year-old has been holding things down behind the plate for the Twins for years now, and he’s nearing his first trip through free agency.

The Twins, like so many others around the league, are just one game under .500 but remain just 3.5 games out of first place in the AL Central. That makes it far from certain that they’re going to pull the trigger on selling, but they need to at the very least move Jeffers while he’s been as hot as he is.

Yes, he’s missed some time again, but the slugging catcher has nine home runs and 35 RBI with an excellent 160 wRC+ and 2.0 fWAR in just 46 games played this season. His .293 batting average, .395 OBP, and .535 SLG are all easily career-highs, and he’s one of the very best offensive catchers in the game when he’s healthy.

In Jeffers, the Twins have the most valuable trade candidate behind the plate in all of baseball. Now that Shea Langeliers is injured and not being moved, it’d be foolish for Minnesota to just sit on their hands.

4. OF Daulton Varsho, Toronto Blue Jays

After making it within a few outs of a World Series win last year, the Blue Jays are now 10 games under .500 and heading for a busy trade deadline in a week. The team has wildly underperformed, and it feels likely that we’re about to see the band broken up a bit.

Varsho, 30, is one of the more obvious candidates to change uniforms. After a highly successful first three years in Toronto, he’s struggled in the current campaign, posting a 94 wRC+ and .693 OPS through 93 games so far. Unfortunately for all involved, Varsho has also seen his defensive numbers dip a bit, but he’s still got 1 DRS and 4 OAA in center field.

At his best, Varsho is one of, if not the best defensive center fielders in all of baseball. When he was pairing the defensive prowess with 10-15 stolen bases and 20+ home runs, his value had skyrocketed. There’s still plenty of baseball left to be played this year, but it’s unlikely the Blue Jays are going to get as much for him this year as they would’ve a year or even two ago. Still, you never do know what supply and demand will do for a player of his type.

3. 2B Gleyber Torres, Detroit Tigers

Mr. Consistency over in Detroit, Torres has seen nearly all of his power vanish, but that hasn’t stopped him from continuing to be a productive regular as he nears 30 years old.

A three-time All-Star, Torres has four home runs and 18 RBI with a 121 wRC+ and .760 OPS through 49 games this year. He’s struggled to stay on the field, but he’s performed well when he’s available. One of the more surprising elements of his game this year is his increased walk rate, which is now closing in on 16% for the first time in his big league career.

Does he have his limitations? Sure, he missed time earlier this year and has an expensive contract. Is he still providing value in other ways, though? Absolutely.

2. OF Taylor Ward, Baltimore Orioles

Speaking of players who randomly don’t hit for power, Ward has been extremely valuable in his first year on the Orioles, even though he’s got just seven home runs and his ISO has dipped all the way down to .105.

Suddenly a contact-oriented hitter who draws a boatload of walks and never chases bad pitches, Ward has a 120 wRC+ and .743 OPS in 105 games for Baltimore this season. He’s eighth in the AL in runs scored (63) and is yet another lefty-masher on this list. His .864 OPS and 148 wRC+ against southpaws would help out a long list of teams. While he’s a few months away from his 33rd birthday, he’s showing little signs of slowing down at this point.

The Orioles aren’t looking to have this window of sub-.500 ball last for very long, and Ward is the type of player they could continue to benefit from employing. It wouldn’t be a complete shock to see them either keep him and sign him to a one- or two-year extension, or trade him and re-sign him to a short-term deal in the coming offseason.

1. INF Luis Arraez, San Francisco Giants

Suddenly one of the best defensive second basemen in baseball after being a defensive eyesore for so long, Arraez is bringing value to the scuffling Giants in so many ways this year. Still, they’re so far under .500 and are headed for an obvious sell-off, so moving their top trade chip couldn’t be more of an obvious move.

Arraez, 29, made the fourth All-Star Game of his career this year, and deservedly so. To date, he’s hitting .327 with an .814 OPS and 123 wRC+ through 99 games. He continues to carry the increasingly rare ability to walk more than he strikes out, and he’s already been worth a career-high 3.8 fWAR in the current campaign.

The market could be thin for a rental second baseman this summer, but the Giants need to cash in where they can, and Arraez is certainly going to be moved. Now the question is, which team is going to pony up and snag him?