With less than two weeks to go before the MLB Trade Deadline, the Dbacks still don't know whether they will be buyers or sellers. After 95 games, the Dbacks are just one game above .500 making them a clear seller but only one game out of the second Wild Card spot making them a clear buyer.
One thing that seems almost certain no matter what direction the front office takes: Robbie Ray is going to be traded.
Its the perfect storm of Ray pitching well (1.46 ERA in 2 July starts with 15 K's to 7 BB's), few impact starters available and two heavyweight teams with deep farm systems potentially bidding against each other in the Yankees and Astros.
Ray is under team control through the 2020 season but will likely command close to nine figures guaranteed as a free agent, something the Dbacks almost certainly would not want to commit to. So his peak value is now as he'll impact two potential pennant races and give the new team a chance to develop a relationship with him before his free agency.
So what would the perfect trade be?
Dbacks trade Robbie Ray to the....Yankees.
In return, they get OF Clint Frazier a former top prospect who hit .283 with 11 HR's and a .833 OPS in nearly 200 at bats earlier this year with the Dbacks. He'd give the Dbacks a MLB ready starting OF to take over for David Peralta or Adam Jones assuming one of them is dealt. He's also under team control for 4 more seasons after this year, a perfect piece to go along with Ketel Marte and Carson Kelly as the foundation of the Dbacks young offense. He's also a red head, so its kind of a no-brainer.
The Dbacks could also ask for a lower level Yankees P prospect like Frank German (#20 Yankees prospect) or Yoendrys Gomez (#26 Yankees prospect per MLB.com).
In return the Yankees get a SP who can give them 5 dominant innings and then turn it over to their impressive bullpen.
Win/win for both teams.
Now lets see what the Dbacks decide to do.