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Top targets Tarik Skubal, Kevin Gausman and Freddy Peralta are off the board entering Major League Baseball's trade deadline day Monday, with plenty more players expected to be dealt by the 6 p.m. ET deadline.
Sellers to keep an eye on include the San Francisco Giants with Luis Arraez and Robbie Ray, as well the New York Mets holding major trade chips in Luke Weaver and Clay Holmes. The Los Angeles Angels are another team likely to sell off, with contenders interested in shortstop Zach Neto as well as starting pitchers Reid Detmers and Jose Soriano.
What will the MLB playoff race look like when the smoke clears on Monday night?
Here's a look at our top players left on the trade market, based on their possible impact, the likelihood of their availability and the fit of their contracts:
USA TODAY Sports will update the best players available as Monday goes on:
He just keeps hitting, leading the majors with a .328 average and highly respectable .810 OPS. That ability to move the baseball takes on significant value in the playoffs.
Simply, the kid is different, giving up one earned run in his last 29 games, with a 36-7 strikeout-walk ratio. He’s signed for next season, has “New York playoff closing experience,” if you give a darn about that, and solves all kind of bullpen problems.
Proverbial big veteran innings-inning lefty, but with a dash of quality, too: Ray has given up three or fewer runs in 18 of his 21 starts. Perhaps not a Game 1 playoff starter, but a key stretch drive piece who can fold into the back of a playoff rotation.
He has limited no-trade protection and makes a reasonable $15 million in 2027 and is a workhorse veteran of five previous postseason runs.
Is this the sort of offensive punch the Red Sox seek? Neto is on track for 30 home runs this season, though that comes with a massive strikeout total as well. And his minus-9 outs above average would not dovetail with Boston’s run prevention ethos. Still, a dynamic figure the Angels decide to let John Mozeliak mess around.
A big climber on our list in light of the Nationals’ three-game losing streak that threatens their potential playoff push. Yep, the deadline margins are that razor-thin. His club is now 55-56 and 2 1/2 back of a playoff spot. A pending free agent, an extension candidate, a potential Game 1 playoff starter with a seven-pitch mix, Griffin’s plight is fascinating.
Yet another fast mover thanks to a solid rehab start and the possibility Holmes can help a contender almost immediately. He should be good for eight starts plus the playoffs. Barring any health hiccups, Holmes will likely opt out of a player option for 2027 that would otherwise add value to a transaction.
Well, they scratched him from his last start, so they must be serious about dealing him, right? Mize has battled groin woes all season but at his best can be a solid No. 2 in any playoff rotation. A pending free agent, you wonder if the Tigers would be better served holding him for a qualifying offer and draft pick compensation.
Detmers comes with two additional years of club control and has been on a two-month heater, with a 3.18 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 65 innings of his last 11 starts. His ranking is mildly depressed by the Angels’ potential to deal him and a profile that’s been inconsistent to date.
Yep, there’s position players on this list, somewhere. McCarthy has found his groove in Colorado, with a career-best .816 OPS (111 adjusted) and playable defense in center field. He and the Astros have been a natural match for months (years?), and now the Astros are over .500 and, for now, in firstp lace.
A switch-hitting outfielder with a .342 OBP, speed and a slightly above average adjusted OPS. He won’t “win you the trade deadline,” but he might help win you a championship.
Everybody needs a catcher, right? Stephenson is one of the few coming from a selling team who offers some offensive upside. Not the guy who hit 19 homers with a .782 OPS in 2024, but he’s healthy and a near league average hitter and, the Yankees will notice, bats right-handed.
Speaking of the Yankees, Nootbaar wouldn’t be the splashiest add, particularly after he missed the first 60 games after offseason surgery on his heels. He’s been adequate in his return, with a .698 OPS that’s just below league average. He comes with an additional year of club control.
Williams posted a 10.29 ERA in his first nine outings as the Mets’ season fell apart early, and a 2.73 ERA in 22 games since. (Along with a 2.83 FIP, if you’re interested). Signed for two more years and $26 million, and whether that’s a plus or minus is in the eye of the beholder.
The third of the Tigers’ pitching triplets should they burn the ships, Flaherty was traded in 2024 and then the Tigers staged a wild rally for a playoff berth. He went on to get a World Series ring with the Dodgers.
He was near the top of our list after two sterling starts indicated he was fully back from arm woes that delayed his 2026 debut – and then he walked six batters in the first inning of his next outing. Still, he’s a pending free agent who won Game 4 of the 2025 World Series, with a low odometer this season.
Sure, he’ll occasionally pitch you out of a game – he’s had five outings of at least five earned runs – but will also dominate on occasion. May might not crack the circle of playoff rotation trust but would be a useful arm down the stretch and on the back end of a playoff roster.
Stung in World Series Game 7 last year and bit by hard luck this year, Hoffman is beginning to round into form, posting scoreless innings in 18 of his last 19 outings. Hoffman wants to stay, but an acquiring team would control him for $12.6 million next season.
Like McCarthy, Moniak is a serviceable lefty-swinging bat, though he doesn’t bring the defensive optionality McCarthy does. Moniak has 17 homers and a 126 adjusted OPS for the Rockies.
Just doing our due diligence, as every contending team is surely performing, as well. Yet the Padres are a game out of a playoff berth. Prying Miller away with top 100 prospects while scorching a Padres playoff run is probably a bridge too far for GM A.J. Preller.
Who wouldn’t want to see another iteration of Playoff George? The man is magic in October, but also has full no-trade protection and loves it in Toronto. Still, this baby wil go right down to the wire as team and player consider their futures. One downside: He’s only played one game in the outfield this season.
This remains unlikely, as the Orioles are again within sight of playoff position. Yet Rogers is a pending free agent who has been dominant (2.21 ERA, 51-14 strikeout-walk ratio in 10 starts) the past two months. Might make sense if Baltimore is in buy-and-sell mode.
Tricky one here. Burleson is one of their best players, yet perhaps lacks the runway (two years team control after 2026) to be considered integral to the Cardinals’ true future. If they put him firmly on the block bump Burleson (15 homers, .803 OPS) up about 15 spots.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB trade deadline's 23 best players still available
Continue reading...
Sellers to keep an eye on include the San Francisco Giants with Luis Arraez and Robbie Ray, as well the New York Mets holding major trade chips in Luke Weaver and Clay Holmes. The Los Angeles Angels are another team likely to sell off, with contenders interested in shortstop Zach Neto as well as starting pitchers Reid Detmers and Jose Soriano.
What will the MLB playoff race look like when the smoke clears on Monday night?
Here's a look at our top players left on the trade market, based on their possible impact, the likelihood of their availability and the fit of their contracts:
USA TODAY Sports will update the best players available as Monday goes on:
1. Luis Arraez, 2B, Giants
He just keeps hitting, leading the majors with a .328 average and highly respectable .810 OPS. That ability to move the baseball takes on significant value in the playoffs.
2. Luke Weaver, RP, Mets
Simply, the kid is different, giving up one earned run in his last 29 games, with a 36-7 strikeout-walk ratio. He’s signed for next season, has “New York playoff closing experience,” if you give a darn about that, and solves all kind of bullpen problems.
3. Robbie Ray, SP, Giants
Proverbial big veteran innings-inning lefty, but with a dash of quality, too: Ray has given up three or fewer runs in 18 of his 21 starts. Perhaps not a Game 1 playoff starter, but a key stretch drive piece who can fold into the back of a playoff rotation.
4. Michael Wacha, SP, Royals
He has limited no-trade protection and makes a reasonable $15 million in 2027 and is a workhorse veteran of five previous postseason runs.
5. Zach Neto, SS, Angels
Is this the sort of offensive punch the Red Sox seek? Neto is on track for 30 home runs this season, though that comes with a massive strikeout total as well. And his minus-9 outs above average would not dovetail with Boston’s run prevention ethos. Still, a dynamic figure the Angels decide to let John Mozeliak mess around.
6. Foster Griffin, SP, Nationals
A big climber on our list in light of the Nationals’ three-game losing streak that threatens their potential playoff push. Yep, the deadline margins are that razor-thin. His club is now 55-56 and 2 1/2 back of a playoff spot. A pending free agent, an extension candidate, a potential Game 1 playoff starter with a seven-pitch mix, Griffin’s plight is fascinating.
7. Clay Holmes, SP, Mets
Yet another fast mover thanks to a solid rehab start and the possibility Holmes can help a contender almost immediately. He should be good for eight starts plus the playoffs. Barring any health hiccups, Holmes will likely opt out of a player option for 2027 that would otherwise add value to a transaction.
8. Casey Mize, SP, Tigers
Well, they scratched him from his last start, so they must be serious about dealing him, right? Mize has battled groin woes all season but at his best can be a solid No. 2 in any playoff rotation. A pending free agent, you wonder if the Tigers would be better served holding him for a qualifying offer and draft pick compensation.
9. Reid Detmers, SP, Angels
Detmers comes with two additional years of club control and has been on a two-month heater, with a 3.18 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 65 innings of his last 11 starts. His ranking is mildly depressed by the Angels’ potential to deal him and a profile that’s been inconsistent to date.
10. Jake McCarthy, OF, Rockies
Yep, there’s position players on this list, somewhere. McCarthy has found his groove in Colorado, with a career-best .816 OPS (111 adjusted) and playable defense in center field. He and the Astros have been a natural match for months (years?), and now the Astros are over .500 and, for now, in firstp lace.
11. Isaac Collins, OF, Royals
A switch-hitting outfielder with a .342 OBP, speed and a slightly above average adjusted OPS. He won’t “win you the trade deadline,” but he might help win you a championship.
12. Tyler Stephenson, C, Reds
Everybody needs a catcher, right? Stephenson is one of the few coming from a selling team who offers some offensive upside. Not the guy who hit 19 homers with a .782 OPS in 2024, but he’s healthy and a near league average hitter and, the Yankees will notice, bats right-handed.
13. Lars Nootbaar, OF, Cardinals
Speaking of the Yankees, Nootbaar wouldn’t be the splashiest add, particularly after he missed the first 60 games after offseason surgery on his heels. He’s been adequate in his return, with a .698 OPS that’s just below league average. He comes with an additional year of club control.
14. Devin Williams, RP, Mets
Williams posted a 10.29 ERA in his first nine outings as the Mets’ season fell apart early, and a 2.73 ERA in 22 games since. (Along with a 2.83 FIP, if you’re interested). Signed for two more years and $26 million, and whether that’s a plus or minus is in the eye of the beholder.
15. Jack Flaherty, SP, Tigers
The third of the Tigers’ pitching triplets should they burn the ships, Flaherty was traded in 2024 and then the Tigers staged a wild rally for a playoff berth. He went on to get a World Series ring with the Dodgers.
16. Shane Bieber, SP, Blue Jays
He was near the top of our list after two sterling starts indicated he was fully back from arm woes that delayed his 2026 debut – and then he walked six batters in the first inning of his next outing. Still, he’s a pending free agent who won Game 4 of the 2025 World Series, with a low odometer this season.
17. Dustin May, SP, Cardinals
Sure, he’ll occasionally pitch you out of a game – he’s had five outings of at least five earned runs – but will also dominate on occasion. May might not crack the circle of playoff rotation trust but would be a useful arm down the stretch and on the back end of a playoff roster.
18. Jeff Hoffman, RP, Blue Jays
Stung in World Series Game 7 last year and bit by hard luck this year, Hoffman is beginning to round into form, posting scoreless innings in 18 of his last 19 outings. Hoffman wants to stay, but an acquiring team would control him for $12.6 million next season.
19. Mickey Moniak, OF, Rockies
Like McCarthy, Moniak is a serviceable lefty-swinging bat, though he doesn’t bring the defensive optionality McCarthy does. Moniak has 17 homers and a 126 adjusted OPS for the Rockies.
20. Mason Miller, RP, Padres
Just doing our due diligence, as every contending team is surely performing, as well. Yet the Padres are a game out of a playoff berth. Prying Miller away with top 100 prospects while scorching a Padres playoff run is probably a bridge too far for GM A.J. Preller.
21. George Springer, DH, Blue Jays
Who wouldn’t want to see another iteration of Playoff George? The man is magic in October, but also has full no-trade protection and loves it in Toronto. Still, this baby wil go right down to the wire as team and player consider their futures. One downside: He’s only played one game in the outfield this season.
22. Trevor Rogers, SP, Orioles
This remains unlikely, as the Orioles are again within sight of playoff position. Yet Rogers is a pending free agent who has been dominant (2.21 ERA, 51-14 strikeout-walk ratio in 10 starts) the past two months. Might make sense if Baltimore is in buy-and-sell mode.
23. Alec Burleson, INF, Cardinals
Tricky one here. Burleson is one of their best players, yet perhaps lacks the runway (two years team control after 2026) to be considered integral to the Cardinals’ true future. If they put him firmly on the block bump Burleson (15 homers, .803 OPS) up about 15 spots.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB trade deadline's 23 best players still available
Continue reading...
