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Originally Posted by dallaschiefsfan
If they don't get Hosmer signed, I would still say it's less likely they unload everything. That's just not the way you "rebuild". You always keep some key pieces - especially affordable ones and guys that can positively influence club-house culture. Would Duffy, Salvy, Merrifield or Hererra get traded? Maybe one of them. It's more likely we would see smaller deals for vets like Hammel, Maurer, Buchter, Soria or even younger guys like Cuthbert, Alexander, Bonifacio and Soler, because we have alternatives in the minors.
Keep in mind, "focused on re-stocking" the minor leagues does not necessarily mean trading every marketable player for top-5 prospects from other orgs - especially if you've paid attention to Dayton's recent history. It would likely be some combination of smaller deals, trading for draft pool and international money along with maybe one "big" deal.
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That's not the way teams have 'rebuilt' since the implementation of the present draft rules.
Teams rebuild now by absolutely gutting their squads, losing 105 games, getting themselves huge draft pools so they can go over slot on talent in the middle rounds and squirreling away their top assets in the minors for as long as they can to clump their service time into identifiable windows.
Many teams will focus precisely on moving their 'core' assets because those are the guys who are going to be gone by the time that window arrives or leaving their prime. They'll also get the best return.
Some teams refuse to engage in it and I think they'll suffer for it (the Cardinals). Others embrace it fully and they'll be rewarded for it, IMO (The White Sox are the most recent example; the Cubs and Astros are the most obvious).
If you're going to rebuild, you tear it down to the studs. I'd hold onto Duffy until the trade deadline if I were them; let him re-establish his value. Perez? I'd absolutely shop him around as catchers are tough to find. The problem is that most contenders have one. I'd give the Angels a call and see what's left in that barren system of theirs. They're going to make a hard push now that Otani is there and they can't keep wasting Trout. Maldonado...sucks.
That system is so bad it might be hard to put a deal together with them, but Adell, Canning and Thaiss might makes sense; a big-time toolsy OFer in Adell, a good 'pitchability' righty in Canning that's probably gonna be in an MLB rotation by 2019 and a 1b with helium and an advanced approach in Thaiss. If you could convince them to include Chris Rodriguez in there - huge tools but short on results as a HS pick - you'd have to pull the trigger.