Trade Blue Chip to dump contract?

[Gregg]

Yeah, I was hesitant to just give Severino. I think he is just playing hardball and will take Severino eventually, but the longer I think about it, the colder my feet get. I guess part of it is that I think Severino may be a bit overhyped right now.

Now that I look at it more closely, I have room to keep Lackey either way. My other keepers are

Top 13:

Kris Bryant $5
Francisco Lindor $5
Michael Brantley $5--due for extension
Chris Davis $21 (last year)
Carlos Gomez $21 (last year)
Lucas Duda $5 (due for extension--thoughts?)
Corey Kluber $20
Jacob DeGrom $5 (due for extension--thoughts?)
Patrick Corbin $3
Kenley Jansen $19
Wade Davis $5 (due for extension--thoughts?)
Jon Lackey $7
Randal Grichuck $5 (late fade is injury relate I think, so I like him a tad more than Taylor and Maybin--right call?)

Maybes that trading Lynn and Holland would make room for:

Michael Taylor $5
Cameron Maybin $5
Erik Johnson $5
Daniel Murphey $19

I also have Severino, Matz, and Daniel Norris in my minors all under our generous call up cap for starters of 75 IP, so I can call them up for free right after the auction.

If it was my team I would extend deGrom and Brantley each a year. I would not extend Duda or Davis.

I like Michael Taylor this year and moving forward quite a bit and would be trying to find a way to roster him. That said not at the expense of trading Severino to get the other contracts off my roster.

[Controller Jacobs]

If the original question isn't exhausted, why not just wait until the season gets rolling and trade the prospect to the first dumping team?
That lets you wait to see if your other players are doing well first, and you are likely to get something bigger than $30 at that point.

[Sour Masher]

If it was my team I would extend deGrom and Brantley each a year. I would not extend Duda or Davis.

I like Michael Taylor this year and moving forward quite a bit and would be trying to find a way to roster him. That said not at the expense of trading Severino to get the other contracts off my roster.

Should I keep Taylor over Grichuk?

[Sour Masher]

If the original question isn't exhausted, why not just wait until the season gets rolling and trade the prospect to the first dumping team?
That lets you wait to see if your other players are doing well first, and you are likely to get something bigger than $30 at that point.

Folks usually don't dump early, but yeah, when they do, I would definitely get a lot more than $30 of talent, but 2/3 of the season will be gone, so it would even out I think.