1 hypothetical trade each AL West team should make

While the coronavirus pandemic has caused MLB to institute a roster freeze, theScore editors have dreamed up one hypothetical trade each team should make once business gets back to normal. Here is the AL West.

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Oakland Athletics

The A's have been ousted from the playoffs in the wild-card game in two consecutive seasons. They'll hope to avoid that in 2020 by adding Merrifield.

The 31-year-old is an upgrade over Tony Kemp at second and has $14.5 million left on his contract over the next two seasons - an affordable cost for a two-time major-league hits leader who has stolen 107 bases over the past four seasons.

In order to pry Merrifield away from the Royals, Oakland takes on Duffy and the $30.75 million remaining on his deal while providing Kansas City with a prospect haul that includes former top-100 prospect Mateo and Jefferies, a 2016 first-rounder.

Mengden replaces Duffy in the Royals' rotation and comes cheap - he's still pre-arbitration. Fowler could turn into a nice find for Kansas City. In 130 Triple-A games last season, the 25-year-old hit 25 home runs and 89 RBIs.

Houston Astros

Archer is in need of a resurrection, and no team has a better track record in recent years in either turning pitchers around (Charlie Morton) or pushing them over the top (Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander) than the Astros.

Houston is in need of a rotation starter after the departures of Cole and Morton over the last two offseasons. Archer, who's gone 6-12 with a 4.92 ERA in 33 starts since being acquired by the Pirates, would benefit from a change of scenery. If the two-time All-Star can turn it around, he has a no-brainer $11-million team option for 2021.

And the cost isn't prohibitive, either. Toro is probably limited to utility duties in Houston if he even cracks the roster, so he is not an essential piece. And though Lee has some upside behind the dish, that's a position the Pirates will be looking to address in any deal.

Texas Rangers

The Rangers entered spring with a rebuilt rotation that looked like it could be one of baseball's best. However, the offense left much to be desired.

At first, Texas was slated to start Ronald Guzman, a negative-win player last season whose only competition was the oft-injured Greg Bird and ex-Red Sox burnout Sam Travis. At third, the Rangers wound up with Todd Frazier after missing out on Anthony Rendon and Josh Donaldson.

Belt would provide the Rangers with a first baseman that comes with a championship pedigree after winning titles in 2012 and 2014, and one that ranks fifth among qualified NL first basemen in WAR since 2013.

While Longoria is not an offensive upgrade over Frazier based on their 2019 stats, he is far superior defensively and will likely show increased power hitting away from Oracle Park, where he only managed six homers last season.

By trading Belt and Longoria, the Giants shed heavy dollars off of the payroll and acquire Palumbo as an additional sweetener. The 25-year-old left-hander looked solid in the minors last year (3.01 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 12.0 K/9) before struggling in the bigs.

Los Angeles Angels

The Angels need pitching. Boyd was rumored to be available during his first-half breakout in 2019, and if he's available again, these two sides make solid trade partners. Armed with a lethal curveball, Boyd's 11.56 K/9 last year was superior to every Angels pitcher that notched at least 50 innings. He'd add some much-needed swing-and-miss stuff.

Rengifo was the lone piece going to the Dodgers in the Joc Pederson deal before it fell through. Including long-gestating prospect Jones to the trade helps give the Angels an extra bat in Goodrum, who offers positional flexibility and a decent bat (.318 OBP, .745 OPS in two seasons with the Tigers).

Detroit desperately needs to bolster its offense, and Boyd is expendable with Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, and Matt Manning all on the verge of reaching the majors. Goodrum is 28, and while he is still pre-arb, he may not figure into the Tigers' long-term plans.

Seattle Mariners

Fedde could immediately slot into the Mariners' rotation, as he's seemed on the verge of entering Washington's starting staff since making his debut in 2017. Antuna is a glove-first, 20-year-old infield prospect who missed most of 2019 due to injury.

They're both lottery tickets - especially Antuna, who may not hit well enough to stick - but if either pays off, it'll be a worthwhile return for Seager, especially if the Nationals agree to take on the remaining two years and $37 million on his contract.

The most logical trade chip remaining on the Mariners is either Seager or Dee Gordon, but the third baseman represents a more obvious need for a team like the Nationals, who don't have the prospect capital to go after a Kris Bryant or a Nolan Arenado after losing Anthony Rendon in free agency.