AL Wild Card: Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, New York Yankees

As things currently stand, there's no chance the Yankees would trade away Paul Goldschmidt. He has been one of the four most valuable bats in their lineup. Opponents probably already should be intentionally walking Aaron Judge on a regular basis, but it would become a much more common practice if Goldy's bat vanished tomorrow.

If a handful of things go in New York's favor, though, flipping Goldschmidt for a starting pitcher could be on the table. The biggest one is that the 37-year-old first baseman needs to continue hitting well.

While he doesn't need to stay "borderline batting title" good, Goldschmidt does need to be good enough for a prospective trade partner to feel it's actually getting an upgrade at first base. Any signs of regressing to last year's .716 OPS would keep the likes of Seattle and San Francisco from even checking in on Goldy's availability.

Next is either that Ben Rice (.255/.361/.559, 8 HR) also continues playing well and becomes the primary first baseman in Goldschmidt's stead, or that Cody Bellinger (.200/.276/.364, 4 HR) snaps out of his cold start well enough to take Goldy's place. Otherwise, why would the Yankees even consider getting rid of Goldschmidt?

If Rice is still hot when Giancarlo Stanton returns from his elbow injuries in a month or two, that's when the trade wheels could start to turn here. There's not enough room for all three of Goldschmidt, Rice and Stanton to start on a near-daily basis.

New York could play it safe and keep all three given Goldy's age, Stanton's injury history and Rice's limited track record of not even 300 plate appearances in the majors. What's more important, though? Injury insurance at 1B/DH or having someone other than Max Fried and Carlos Rodón who can be trusted even a little bit as a starter in October?