1. Adam Duvall - Boston Red Sox
Adam Duvall is no stranger to the Atlanta Braves as he was traded to the team from Cincinnati in exchange for Lucas Sims, Matt Wisler, and Preston Tucker in 2018. Duvall had a rough start for the Braves as he didn't transition well as a bench player.
He started the 2019 season with Gwinnett and hit 32 homers before being brought up to Atlanta due to a Nick Markakis injury. He was a different player and became an offensive force for the Braves. His 2020 wasn't the best but he did hit 16 homers in that season but a strained oblique knocked him out of the NLCS and ended his season early.
He landed with the Marlins after the Braves declined to tender a contract to him in 2021. However, that was short-lived as he was brought back to Atlanta after Ronald Acuna Jr's season-ending knee injury forced the team to make a move. Duvall was with the team from that point on until his season ended in 2022 due to a wrist injury.
Adam Duvall OBLITERATED this baseball. 7th homer of the season.
— Tyler Milliken ⚾️ (@tylermilliken_) July 15, 2023
Red Sox now up 2-0 after a couple of solo shots.
Love the offense coming out like this. pic.twitter.com/1aCwiTF4CK
Duvall signed this off-season with the Red Sox on a one-year deal worth $7 million. His season got off to a roaring start as he slashed .455/.514/1.030 and a 1.544 in 37 plate appearances. This included 10 extra-base hits and 14 RBI combined in March/April.
A wrist injury knocked him out for over a month and he has struggled since returning.
In June, he had a .167/.265/.283 slash line and the month of July hasn't been much better with a .185/.226/.444 slash line but his slugging percentage and OPS increased during that time frame.
His contract isn't terribly expensive and he brings valuable defense and also can leave the yard at any moment. Getting back into familiar territory could be very beneficial for both sides.
2. Randal Grichuk - Colorado Rockies
The former Cardinal and Blue Jay has been up and down offensively in his career. He's always been pretty good at providing some power to a lineup. He missed the first month of 2023 due to surgery for a hernia in February.
When he did make it back on the field, he hit the ground running with a 12-game hit streak to start the season. His power hasn't really returned yet as he has just 5 of them through 203 at-bats so far. But to be fair, he had the same amount of homers at that point in 2022 and he finished the season with 19 of them. His career high is 31 homers back in 2019 with Toronto.
His batting average sits at .300/.364/.473 on the season with those aforementioned 5 home runs, 22 RBI, 17 walks, and 47 strikeouts. Oh, and he can make some pretty good plays in the outfield as well.
He's been excellent when it comes to getting singles and doubles, however, as he has 61 total hits so far in 2023 with 18 of those hits being doubles. He had just 21 doubles all of 2022 so something seems to be going right for Grichuk so far. He currently carries a .837 OPS, 116 OPS+, and a .360 wOBA.
That's a player that fits in well on a Braves team that makes a lot of contact and gets a lot of extra-base hits. Definitely an intriguing trade for the front office to consider making especially with the Rockies being so bad this season.