The MLB trade market is red hot leading into the Aug. 3 deadline, with over two-thirds of teams probably considering themselves contenders for a playoff spot. Here are six trade matches that make a lot of sense. So much so, they need to happen.
Major League Baseball’s annual trade deadline is a few days later this year – Aug. 3 instead of July 31 – which gives teams a welcome few more days to procrastinate, er, decide on their moves.
Wins and losses between now and then will be amplified. Teams will choose whether they’re sellers or buyers, or maybe both, as the Tampa Bay Rays have done many times. Entering the new week and games of July 27, there were 11 teams in both the AL and NL that could consider themselves contenders for a playoff spot.
Every team has its own goal. Is it to win the World Series? For some, that’s the only option.
For others, just getting to the playoffs for the first time in a while would be a welcome nod to the fan base.
We’ve seen lots of trade scenarios bandied about, from reasonable to flat-out ridiculous. Here are six that make a lot of sense. So much, in fact, that they need to happen.
Tarik Skubal to the Brewers
Please, Detroit Tigers, trade your ace. I’m begging you, your team is not good enough to win the World Series. Yeah, it’s a down year in the AL – no denying that truth. But your team is six games under .500 in this down year – six! – mired in the squirming middle of rampant mediocrity.
Looking at the wild-card standings, it’s not just that you’re 3.5 games back of that third and final wild-card spot, but there are four teams between you and that playoff berth.
If the conversation was whether to trade a fifth starter who was a pending free agent, the decision-making process would be different. Sure, roll the dice and keep him around. Why not? The risk could be worth the tempered return. But Tarik Skubal? Trading him, if done right, has the potential to bring back the type of return that jump-starts a franchise for the next several years.
It’s true, you don’t get many opportunities to win a World Series. But you also don’t get many opportunities to trade a player like Skubal, the reigning two-time Cy Young winner who almost certainly won’t be around next year. (Side note: If, by miraculous chance, the plan is to announce an extension after the trade deadline, kudos! Scrap everything I just said. But we both know that’s not happening, so get with the trading.)
The Milwaukee Brewers, on the other hand, are absolutely good enough to win the World Series – ranked No. 1 in TRACR. Imagine a playoff rotation that starts with Skubal and Jacob Misiorowski. (Skubal trailed only Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes in RV- (raw value) last season, the Miz is No. 1 in MLB this season.)
Justin Verlander won the 2022 AL Cy Young Award with Houston, then signed in the following offseason with the New York Mets but was traded back to the Astros before the 2023 MLB trade deadline.Obviously, trading for Skubal would harken back to the deal that brought CC Sabathia to Milwaukee. That was so much different, though. In 2008, the Brewers hadn’t made the playoffs since 1982 and hadn’t even finished above .500 since 1992. That franchise just needed something positive like a playoff push, and Sabathia delivered. October was basically an afterthought, if we’re being honest.
This Brewers franchise is playoff-tested and on the precipice of greatness, and Skubal would help them go toe-to-toe with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL playoffs. The Brewers have the pieces Detroit wants, with a strong, deep farm system (ranked as high as No. 2 in baseball by some outlets) and plenty of young starters in the bigs with multiple years of club control remaining.
Clay Holmes to the White Sox
Holmes, who owns a $12 million player option for 2027 that he’s likely to decline, recently revealed there have been no substantial conversations about a contract extension with the new York Mets. He’s currently rehabbing from a fractured right fibula but is on track to possibly make one big-league start before the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
He’s been really good as a starter with the Mets, posting a 3.26 ERA in 218 1/3 innings over the past two years before the leg injury in mid-May. If/when he officially becomes available, lots of teams will look to him as a rental option.
Meanwhile, the Chicago White Sox surprise continues to roll on, with a strong trio of starters but lots of rotation questions after that. Trading for Holmes would bring a veteran presence to the rotation, and a guy who’s had lot of success on the biggest stages.
As a reliever for the New York Yankees, Holmes had a 1.35 ERA in 19 career playoff games. And the plus: Maybe, just maybe, if the Sox trade for Holmes and it’s a match, they could convince the right-hander to stick around for a couple years, with an extension or completely new deal this offseason.
At 33, he wouldn’t necessarily be part of their long-term plans, but having him in the mix the next three years would go a long way to proving this success is more of a new normal than a fluke good season.
Luis Arraez to the Rays
The Rays, doing Rays things, have rolled out to the best record in the AL this season, and they’ve done so with very little production (putting it kindly) from their up-the-middle infield positions.
It’s only natural they will look to upgrade at one of the two spots.
Arraez feels like a perfect fit; as has been written about often this year, his hard work with the glove in the offseason and in spring training with the San Francisco Giants helped him transform from an unplayable second baseman to one of the better defenders at the position this year.
He also fits the Rays’ offensive profile; no team has struck out fewer times than the AL East leaders, and Arraez has only 19 strikeouts in 438 plate appearances through the weekend.
Don’t be surprised if Tampa Bay makes a couple of moves heading up to the deadline; this one makes so much sense.
Tyler Stephenson to the Dodgers
Catchers aren’t always the hottest commodity at the trade deadline, but there are needs this year and there are options available. One of those came off the table, though, when A’s catcher Shea Langeliers went down with torn meniscus.
That means more teams are going hard after Colorado’s Hunter Goodman – his offensive numbers are better than you probably realize, especially away from Coors Field – Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers.
Tyler Stephenson is another name, but the Cincinnati Reds backstop won’t cost nearly as much as those other two. A veteran catcher with some pop in his bat – he’s batting .333 with a .910 OPS over his past 30 games – he would fit well in Los Angeles, where the Dodgers’ only goal is, of course, winning a third consecutive World Series.
The #Dodgers begin spring training as one of 11 teams in MLB history to capture back-to-back World Series.But four other teams won 3+ consecutive titles, and the Dodgers will seek to join them. pic.twitter.com/5uZiydJ1Gy
— Opta Analyst US (@OptaAnalystUS) February 12, 2026To do that, the champs don’t need a full-time starter; they’ll need their primary catcher, Will Smith, back healthy and rested. He’s currently on the IL and has been there for a while; he was recently transferred to the 60-day list, meaning he’s not even eligible to come back until mid-August.
Trading for Stephenson (a right-handed hitter) to pair with Dalton Rushing (a left-handed hitter) would help the Dodgers weather the storm until Smith eventually returns, while giving him all the time he needs.
Mason Miller to the Yankees
Sure, maybe adding a closer isn’t the New York Yankees’ top priority (the offense has struggled with Aaron Judge on the IL), but when have you known general manager Brian Cashman and the Yankees to miss a chance to add to their bullpen as the playoffs approach?
There’s no bigger bullpen prize than Miller, who’s putting up an all-time great season, and is still under club control for a couple more years. And the Yankees have the pieces to make this interesting, with young starters such as Will Warren or Clarke Schmidt (who is working his way back from Tommy John surgery), along with a tempting slugger such as Spencer Jones and former uber-prospect Jasson Dominguez, who is still only 23 but hasn’t gotten many opportunities in New York, to headline a big return.
Maybe big-armed prospect Carlos Lagrange gets thrown in the mix as some sort of package involving a few of the aforementioned names, too? The Yankees could make it hard for the Padres to say no.
Shane Bieber to the Braves
This season has been a massive disappointment in Toronto, and it’s time for the Blue Jays to cut their losses. Bieber is a free agent after the season, and though he’s dealt with injury issues the past couple seasons, he’s healthy and looking like Peak Bieber again.
In his two most recent starts, the right-hander’s thrown 13 sparkling innings, allowing just six hits and one run while striking out nine batters.
Atlanta Braves fans love their team but understand the benefit of another playoff-caliber starter if they’re going to make a deep October run.
The 31-year-old Bieber probably won’t command as high of a price as some of the other starters on the trade market, which makes him a perfect fit for a franchise that’s been averse to making splashy in-season deals lately. If Bieber shoves in his next scheduled start on Tuesday and the Jays get a few teams interested and it turns into an all-out bidding war, the Braves likely won’t win that, which is why they should lock down this deal now.
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