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We've noted before that one of our favorite quotes about the cadence of Major League Baseball's season comes courtesy of Oakland Athletics executive Billy Beane. Beane once told scribe Peter Gammons that the first two months of the season are about finding out what you have, the next two are about getting what you need, and the final two are about playing with the team you really wanted in the first place. Today, June 1 for those unaware, marks two months until the trade deadline. In other words, it's time for executives across the land to start pursuing those players they need.

To honor the occasion, CBS Sports has chosen to highlight 20 players who we think could pop up in trade rumors this summer. Inclusion in this piece doesn't mean these players will be traded -- in some cases, we've outright acknowledged that they're unlikely to be moved -- but it does mean it's worth pondering their situation.

There are few things people like more around this time of the year than partaking in rankings and reckless speculation, so we've taken the additional steps of ordering these players based on their perceived impact and listing three potential destinations for each. Please, folks, we beg of you to keep in mind that there are more than three possible suitors for these players. Do not be the person who gets hot over something that can (and, for all you know, has) been dictated by a random number generator. 

With that out of the way, let's get to it. 

1. Shohei Ohtani, two-way player, Angels

Everyone knows the drill. The Angels don't want to trade Ohtani, and they certainly won't want to trade him if they're within walking distance of a playoff spot. Reality is often inconvenient, however, and that's why the Angels should answer the phone when it buzzes. In an ideal world, the Angels can hang onto Ohtani through the deadline with the hope that they'll make it to the postseason, and then make enough noise to convince him to stick around. That said, unchecked optimism is seldom an effective long-term strategy. The Angels need to be honest about their chances (or lack thereof) when it comes to beating out the glut of American League East teams jockeying for the wild-card spots (not to mention whichever West team finishes second), and, additionally, about their chances (or lack thereof) when it comes to winning the Ohtani sweepstakes, again. Maybe the offers they receive for Ohtani won't justify punting on their playoff aspirations. Fair enough. We just think they should keep an open mind about it. Potential fits: Dodgers, Mets, Padres

2. Lucas Giolito, RHP, White Sox

Giolito, an impending free agent, may be the top starter available this summer. He's rebounded from a rough go last year by making several notable tweaks, including emphasizing a new-look slider as his top secondary pitch. (This would be the first time in his career he throws more sliders than changeups.) Giolito's game has always been about verticality, mixing elevated heaters and changeups to keep batters off-balance. His new slider, featuring greater downward break, has fit in beautifully and has so far served as his top bat-missing pitch. It's to be seen what kind of contract Giolito fetches this winter, but we're not optimistic the White Sox would be in the running to keep him even if they were playing better. After all, Giolito would shatter the franchise record for richest contract by $25 million if he were to receive the same deal that Padres right-hander Joe Musgrove did last season: five years, $100 million. Potential fits: Astros, Phillies, Dodgers

3. Shane Bieber, RHP, Guardians

We don't know if the Guardians will consider trading Bieber at the deadline, but we think there's an argument to be made that they should -- and not just because of their poor start to the season, or his looming date with free agency in winter 2024. Not to get too far over our skis, but despite a shiny ERA, he appears to be in decline. His strikeout rate has fallen off a cliff, anchored by a four-seam fastball that has posted the second-worst whiff rate among pitchers with at least 300 thrown. What's more is that he also ranks near the bottom of the league in quality of contact surrendered. Bieber has shown the ability to make adjustments in the past, and we'll acknowledge that he might find a way to course-correct from here. We're not so sure the Guardians can afford to wait to learn the answer if they want to get a real return on him. Potential fits: Orioles, Diamondbacks, Padres

4. Eduardo Rodriguez, LHP, Tigers

The Tigers are technically a good week away from being in first place in the AL Central. We don't think it's realistic to expect them to remain in the running the rest of the way, though, and that means they should at least ponder making Rodriguez available -- provided, anyway, that he's able to make a timely recover from injured finger. After all, he's having a resurgent season and he has the ability to opt out of his contract (and the three years, $49 million left on it) this winter. That would've seemed like an improbable outcome as recently as last offseason. Now, with the way the upcoming free-agent starters have performed? It seems more likely than not that Rodriguez could find a richer deal -- provided, that is, he keeps pitching well. Potential fits: Astros, Red Sox, Phillies

5. Dylan Cease, RHP, White Sox

It's unclear how deep the White Sox are willing to push into a rebuild this summer. For that reason, and others, Cease appears to be more of an offseason trade candidate. He's under team control through the 2025 season, and his slow start may make the White Sox more conservative with shopping him, lest they sell low on last year's AL Cy Young Award runner-up. (As you'll see, Rick Hahn will have plenty else this summer to keep him busy.) The catch is Cease's slippage has been on more than a statistical front. His velocity and command have backed up compared to 2022, and that combination has him missing bats at a lower frequency than usual. Maybe a team will make it easy for the White Sox by coming in hot and offering a return suitable for an ace. Otherwise, we suspect they'll give Cease more room to repair his stock. Potential fits: Astros, Cardinals, Phillies

6. Tim Anderson, SS, White Sox

Anderson's availability, like Cease's, depends on the White Sox's appetite for a reset. He has another year remaining on his contract, a club option worth $14 million, that affords them the choice to punt the decision to the winter. Anderson hasn't played well in 2023, and it's fair to wonder how much he's been affected by a knee injury that sidelined him for most of April. He returned after just three minor-league rehab games only to enter a now-prolonged slump. Anderson is moving quantifiably slower (his average home-to-first time has swelled from 4.32 to 4.56) and his ground ball rate is up to 65%. That's not an ideal combination, no matter the cause. The paucity of shortstops may persuade a contender to overlook Anderson's blemishes all the same. Potential fits: Dodgers, Braves, Mariners

7. Yasmani Grandal, C, White Sox

It's always challenging to find help behind the plate. That's why Grandal makes the cut despite several alarming developments in his game. Let's put it this way: if you were to write down his three biggest strengths based on what you know about him, and without looking at his stats this season, you would probably have (in some order): framing, plate discipline, and power. Consider it problematic, then, that Grandal is grading far worse in framing than usual; that he's swinging far more and walking far less; and that both his average and maximum exit velocities are several ticks below his norm. Ruh roh. To be fair: it shouldn't come as a great surprise that a 34-year-old catcher is showing significant signs of decay. His overall slash line still looks good, though. We just wouldn't bet on it withstanding the test of time, in more ways than one. Potential fits: Padres, Astros, Yankees

8. Joc Pederson, DH/OF, Giants

Pederson is currently out with a hand injury he suffered after being hit by a pitch. Presuming he makes a full recovery in the interim, he could be one of the top available hitters, depending on what direction the Giants take at the deadline. We'll note that Pederson will be a free agent at season's end and that he's already been tagged with the qualifying offer. In so many words, that means the Giants would only keep him if they're in the playoff race and/or if they're serious about extending him. Potential fits: Mariners, Brewers, Mets

9. J.D. Davis, 3B, Giants

The Giants acquired Davis in what quickly became a lopsided deal last deadline -- to all you Mets fans who wanted to feel worse about their days, that was the trade that sent Darin Ruf to New York. Davis has since improved in an important way, upping his in-zone contact rate to a significant degree. Davis remains prone to swinging and missing, mind you, but he's no longer venturing near Joey Gallo territory. Even if the Giants sell, they would be within reason to hold onto him until at least the winter: he won't qualify for free agency until after the 2024 season. Potential fits: Yankees, Mariners, Brewers

10. Alex Cobb, RHP, Giants

If the Giants remain close to the race over the next two months, we could see Farhan Zaidi and crew buying. San Francisco's poor run differential makes us think they'll fade, though, and that's why we're including several Giants. Cobb is having a good season despite allowing a lot of hard contact because most of that contact is being absorbed by the ground. (As of this writing, his average launch angle was in the negatives.) Cobb turns 36 in October and has a checkered injury history, so we would understand if Zaidi and the Giants elect to trade him this summer rather than exercising their club option ($10 million) and waiting until next year. Potential fits: Cardinals, Brewers, Rays

11. Lance Lynn, RHP, White Sox

Another underperforming White Sox veteran. Lynn is in the final guaranteed season of his contract, with next year's club option (worth $18 million) carrying an affordable $1 million buyout. More pressing than the matter of who picks up that bill is whether or not Lynn can regain his form. He has uncharacteristically surrendered a lot of home runs this season, a nasty development for someone whose game is predicated on hitting his spots. Curiously, many of his component measures, such as his exit velocity and strikeout and walk rates, are in line with his past marks. A team confident that Lynn's performance will align with those measures, instead of his current topline numbers, could attempt to buy low on him as a veteran mid-rotation starter. Potential fits: Cardinals, Padres, Diamondbacks

12. Alex Lange, RHP, Tigers

One major philosophical clash between general managers and internet schmucks (i.e. this author) is how rebuilding teams handle their best relievers. Every summer, we implore the Pirates to move David Bednar, or the Royals to swap Scott Barlow on the grounds that relievers are fickle and it's worth maximizing the return while you can. And then the deadline passes and the teams haven't done it -- on account of, you know, there being more to generally managing a club than acting like a daytrader. As such, we suspect Lange will still be a Tiger come August. He throws the hardest curveball in the majors, a pitch that benefits greatly from seam-shifted wake. Factor in his mid-90s fastball, and he's turned into a late-inning demon for Detroit. Potential fits: Rays, Rangers, Diamondbacks

13. Alexis Díaz, RHP, Reds

What we wrote about Lange above applies to Díaz. He's been dominant since getting the call last year, torturing batters with elevated mid-90s fastballs that play even hotter thanks to his deep release point. Factor in his swing-and-miss slider, and it's no wonder why he's sporting an otherworldly strikeout rate. The Reds will probably keep Díaz, but he seems like the rare reliever who would bring back a lot in return. Potential fits: Rays, Braves, Phillies

14. Aroldis Chapman, LHP, Royals

Chapman wasn't in demand last winter, when he signed a one-year pact worth $3 million. He'd just completed the worst season of his career, and had followed it up by bailing on a postseason workout. (The Yankees subsequently ruled out placing him on their playoff roster.) It would've been fair to write off the possibility of him regaining a semblance of his old form -- fair, but also wrong. Chapman has long been known for his velocity, the byproduct of his extreme hip-shoulder separation, and he's back to throwing as hard as he has since 2017. That additional oomph has allowed him to suppress quality of contact at an elite level, to the extent that he's yet to surrender a home run. Chapman is still handing out a lot of free passes, but teams will overlook that aspect for as long as he's able to miss barrels and bats with this consistency. Potential fits: Phillies, Diamondbacks, Brewers

15. Joe Kelly, RHP, White Sox

Kelly seems like a slam-dunk trade candidate, even if the White Sox don't go all-in on a rebuild. He's a nearly 35-year-old reliever who happens to be in the final guaranteed year of his contract (his next employer will hold a $9 million club option on his services for 2024). Kelly hasn't thrown 50-plus innings in a season since 2019, but he's been dynamite this year, pumping upper-90s gas and generating an absurd amount of whiffs using a new-look gyro slider. Barring a miraculous turnaround over the next two months, there's no reason for him to remain with the Southsiders. Potential fits: Rays, Rangers, Brewers

16. Tyler O'Neill, OF, Cardinals

The Cardinals have been due to trade from their outfield surplus for a while -- why not make it happen over the next two months? O'Neill seems like the safest bet to go. He's a year-plus away from reaching free agency, as well as a year-plus removed from 2021, when he homered 34 times in an apparent faux breakout. O'Neill has continued to deal with his share of durability woes, amassing six injured-list stints over the last two and a half seasons. The Cardinals may find it hard to let go of him and his upside. At a certain point, though, promise turns into a four-letter word. Potential fits: Yankees, Astros, Mets

17. Seth Brown, OF/1B, Athletics

Brown only recently returned to the A's lineup after missing more than a month because of a strained oblique. He's established himself in recent years as a solid, if unspectacular three-corner option against right-handed pitching. Indeed, his wOBA with the platoon advantage since 2021 puts him in company with the likes of Anthony Rizzo, Rowdy Tellez, and Jake Cronenworth, among other starters on potential playoff squads. Brown will turn 31 in July, meaning the A's have no reason to hold onto him. Potential fits: Mets, Padres, Yankees

18. Randal Grichuk, OF, Rockies

Grichuk, an impending free agent, missed the start of the season recovering from sports hernia surgery. He's played well since returning, hitting the ball harder than usual and posting would-be career-best walk and strikeout rates. We don't think he'll maintain those marks (his contact rate is actually worse than it was last season), but he needn't in order to be a useful platoon player. Since 2021, he's generated a higher wOBA versus southpaws than Manny Machado, George Springer, J.D. Martinez, and José Abreu, among others. Granted, you can't trust Grichuk to face a right-handed pitcher in any kind of meaningful situation, but he has his uses all the same. The Rockies exist in their own reality -- one writer's preseason bold prediction was that they'd make a deadline trade -- so who knows, maybe they'll extend him. Potential fits: Rangers, Brewers, Yankees

19. Nick Senzel, 3B, Reds

Senzel hasn't lived up to the promise the Reds saw in him when they selected him second overall in the 2016 draft. He is having a tremendous season against left-handed pitching, however, and he brings some positional versatility to the table with his ability to either stand at third or in the outfield. The Reds have a ton of young infield talent either nearing or arriving to the majors, making this perhaps an opportune time to move Senzel for whatever they can get in return. The scarcity of left-side infielders on the open market won't hurt, either. Potential fits: Yankees, Dodgers, Astros

20. Brent Rooker, OF/1B, Athletics

Although Rooker has been one of the most productive hitters this season, it's highly unlikely that teams will value him to that extent. He was considered to be a Quad-A player entering the year, and it's not a given that he's negated that perception. Rooker has big-time raw power and a good eye, but he's swinging and missing at a higher frequency than even Joey Gallo does. It's hard to make that profile work on a consistent basis, which is why it shouldn't come as a surprise that he's cratered since launching nine home runs in April. Combine Rooker's volatile skill set with his advanced age (he'll turn 29 in November), and, as wild as it sounds, his chances of being waived later this year might be higher than those of him fetching a good return. Potential fits: Rangers, Mariners, Yankees