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I hope he and Franklin and Zunino don't break our hearts. But, one of the reasons I'm not clamoring for a Stanton trade is because it's easy to see all of these guys turning into average to plus major league regulars - kind of like Seager already has. A lineup of Kyle Seager - types with no holes and a good pitching staff wins a lot of games. Now, there may not be a "difference maker" in that lineup, but there will be a lot of athleticism and eventually consistency and I would rather have that than one guy surrounded by a bunch of replacement level fodder.
A couple of moves I would be looking at this offseason are to 1) upgrade the outfield and 2) look for an upgrade at 1B. The outfield upgrade could very well mean a deal for Stanton, but it doesn't need to. Ideally, we would find 2 players - one of whom was a true center fielder that could push Ackley to left. The other player needs to be an average to plus corner outfielder of some kind. Neither guy needs to be a superstar but they do need to be consistent, everyday players that are solid with the glove and the bat. In this scenario, Saunders likely becomes a 4th outfielder.
At 1B, it's slim pickings out there so maybe Smoak gets another year. But, I wonder if he'll show enough this season that he could be part of a pretty attractive package for - someone - I'm not sure who quite yet. I don't think we should trade all of our good prospects away, but it is nice that the cupboards aren't bare like they used to be.