The 2024 MLB trade deadline is less than three weeks away! We’ve already seen a couple swaps in the past week — plus that out-of-the-blue early-May blockbuster — but the majority of the action will take place in the next 19 days. Today’s MLB front offices tend to wait until the last minute to make decisions of any note, be it with regard to the trade deadline, the non-tender deadline, the Rule 5 protection deadline, etc. Gone are the days of teams planting their flag in the ground in early July or late June — moving the draft to the All-Star break and thus pushing front offices to dedicate immense July resources to that event hasn’t helped — but that makes the final couple weeks of July all the more chaotic.
As is customary each year here at MLBTR, we’ll take multiple runs through the top names on the trade market. The ordering here is far from exact. To the contrary, it’s quite subjective. There’s no genuine way to place odds or determine the likelihood of an individual player being traded. Certainly, in some cases it’s quite clear that a deal is likely or borderline inevitable, but even in what look like blatantly obvious trade scenarios, sometimes a deal doesn’t come together. (Hey there, 2022 Willson Contreras and 2021 Jon Gray and Trevor Story!)
As such, the “ranking” here is more a blend of likelihood of a deal and impact of the player in question. The names atop the list are going to be those that both seem likeliest to move and carry the potential for significant impact on the acquiring team. We’ll have several relievers in the top 15 or so of the list — well ahead of Oakland’s Mason Miller, for instance. That doesn’t mean they’re better pitchers than Miller, just that they’re likelier to be traded than a 25-year-old who averages 101 mph and has five-plus seasons of club control remaining.
This list was a collaborative effort, so big thanks to both Anthony Franco and Darragh McDonald for helping to turn it out. All that preamble aside… onto the names!
1. Jack Flaherty, RHP, Tigers
Flaherty is the top rental arm, if not the top rental player entirely, on the 2024 trade market. The one-year, $14MM deal he signed in Detroit proved to be a jackpot addition for the Tigers, who’ve seen Flaherty turn the clock back to the dominant form he showed in the second half of the 2019 season and in the first half of the 2021 campaign. In 95 innings, he’s pitched to a 3.13 ERA with a scintillating 2.50 SIERA. Flaherty has an elite 32.1% strikeout rate and similarly dominant 4.3% walk rate. He’s been one of the best pitchers in MLB, and while some back discomfort served as a brief red flag, he avoided a trip to the IL and returned to the mound with six innings of two-run ball as this list was being finalized.
Flaherty is the type of playoff-caliber starter who should command a top-100 prospect (and then some) despite his rental status. The Tigers don’t need to feel obligated to move him, as Flaherty is an obvious qualifying offer candidate and could earn them a comp pick after the first round in 2025 after he rejects that QO and signs for more than $50MM — both of which feel inevitable.
2. Garrett Crochet, LHP, White Sox
There’s no trade candidate in recent memory like the unique case of Crochet. The former first-round pick skipped the minors entirely and debuted as a reliever late in the 2020 season, just months after being drafted 11th overall out of the University of Tennessee. He spent the 2021 season in Chicago’s bullpen, missed the 2022 season due to Tommy John surgery, pitched just 25 innings between the minors and big leagues combined last year while finishing off his rehab … and then broke out as the best pitcher on the planet atop an awful White Sox rotation in 2024.
Crochet’s long injury history gave him enough IL time to accrue enough service to reach arbitration this offseason — but his lack of innings limited him to a tiny $800K salary. That, paired with his jaw-dropping results and two remaining seasons of club control beyond the current season, make him one of the most appealing trade candidates in recent memory. However, Crochet has also already thrown more innings in 2024 than he did in his entire career prior to the current season. The Sox will price him like an ace — and rightly so. Interested teams may value him as such in 2025-26, but they’ll be wary of how many innings he can contribute down the stretch in ’24.
Still, the Sox broached the possibility of an extension with Crochet and were quickly rebuffed. They’re now reportedly focused on trading him. The unprecedented nature of Crochet’s career arc makes it impossible to forecast just what kind of return he’ll command, but it should be massive.
3. Carlos Estevez, RHP, Angels
Estevez should draw plenty of trade interest coming off his Reliever of the Month honors in June. The Angels closer is amidst a streak of 13 straight scoreless appearances. Aside from a rough couple weeks in mid-April, he’s been a force at the back of the Los Angeles bullpen. Estevez owns a personal-best 2.79 ERA across 29 innings. He’s striking out 26.2% of opponents while walking fewer than 4% of batters faced. After saving 31 games a year ago, he’s 16-19 in locking down the ninth inning this season. Estevez is playing on a $6.75MM salary and will head back to free agency next winter. He’s alongside Tanner Scott as the most appealing rental relievers available.
4. Tanner Scott, LHP, Marlins
Speaking of which: a flamethrowing closer who’s an impending free agent on a last place team? Scott might be the most quintessential trade candidate on the summer market. He’s not as good as his 1.42 ERA, as that belies a grisly 14.9% walk rate. Command has long been an issue for Scott, but he did walk a career-low 7.9% of hitters just last year while fanning more than a third of his opponents. Scott throws gas, keeps the ball on the ground and misses bats at a plus rate. His $5.7MM salary isn’t exorbitant. The Marlins are going to trade him, barring an injury. It’s just a question of where.
5. Jazz Chisholm Jr., OF/2B, Marlins
There’s reportedly a “growing belief” that Miami will move its infielder-turned-center fielder in the next few weeks. Chisholm has drawn plenty of national attention despite results that haven’t quite caught up to his reputation. He’s a collection of loud tools and big personality that give him star potential even if he’s more upside than results to this point. Chisholm has shown huge power and speed alike but also been too prone to strikeouts. He’s a .253/.317/.459 hitter dating back to 2022, and he’s clubbed 44 homers with 52 steals in that stretch of 996 plate appearances.
Injuries are a particularly big red flag, as Chisholm has only reached 100 games in a season once and has never topped 507 plate appearances in the majors. He learned center field on the fly out of necessity and hasn’t graded well there, but he was a plus defensive second baseman before that shift. Chisholm is earning just $2.625MM this season and has legitimate 30-homer, 30-steal upside if he can stay healthy. He’s never hit lefties particularly well but is still a potential everyday bat in the outfield or middle infield who’s controllable through 2026.
6. Erick Fedde, RHP, White Sox
It’s been quite the journey for Fedde, the 18th overall pick back in 2014. A longtime top prospect of the Nationals, his development was slowed by Tommy John surgery shortly after his draft selection. He reached the majors in 2017, pitched in parts of six seasons as a National while posting a mid-5.00s ERA, and went to reinvent himself in the Korea Baseball Organization. Reinvent himself he did. Fedde posted a flat 2.00 ERA in South Korea, won KBO MVP honors and returned to North American ball on a two-year, $15MM contract with the South Siders. It’s perhaps the best move of rookie GM Chris Getz’s tenure to date.
Brandishing a new split-changeup and harder, more horizontal sweeper than the slider he used in D.C., Fedde has burst back onto the MLB scene as not just a serviceable back-end starter but a playoff-caliber arm. In 111 1/3 innings, he’s pitched to a 2.99 ERA with a 21.6% strikeout rate (just shy of league-average) and a terrific 6.6% walk rate. He’s kept the ball on the ground at a 46.5% clip, avoided hard contact very nicely, and left little doubt that he can help any contender down the stretch.
Fedde’s deal is evenly distributed. He’s earning an eminently affordable $7.5MM both this year and next. He’s gone from MLB afterthought to bona fide deadline trade chip who should net the White Sox a legitimate top prospect (plus some secondary pieces). Not much has gone right for the Pale Hose this season, but the Fedde signing has proven to be one of the best moves made by any team this past winter.
7-8. Zack Littell, & Zach Eflin, RHPs, Rays
The Rays already dealt one starter, sending Aaron Civale to the Brewers last week. That was partially to make way in the rotation for Shane Baz, who is back from Tommy John rehab. With Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen also potentially returning in the second half, Tampa Bay could move another starter. Littell and Eflin are the likeliest options.
Littell is the much more affordable of the duo. Another of the Rays’ reliever-to-starter success stories, he’s playing on a $1.85MM salary. Littell is under control for one more season and looks like a decent #4 starter. He’s sitting on a 4.44 ERA over 95 1/3 innings — already a career high in terms of MLB workload. Littell has fanned an average 22.1% of batters faced and has pristine control, walking around 4% of opponents in consecutive seasons.
Eflin, on the other hand, is in the second season of a three-year deal he signed with the Rays going into 2023. The $40MM guarantee is backloaded, with $11MM salaries in the first two seasons and $18MM in 2025.
He had a career year in 2023, with a 3.50 ERA, 26.5% strikeout rate, 3.4% walk rate and 49.8% ground ball rate. Most importantly, he stayed healthier than ever before, getting to career highs with 31 starts and 177 2/3 innings. This year has been a bit of a step back but not by much. He had a brief stopover on the IL due to lower back inflammation but has logged 99 1/3 innings over 17 starts with a 3.99 ERA. His strikeout rate has fallen to 18.9% and his grounder rate to 42.8% but he’s also dropped his walk rate to a miniscule 2.2%.
9-11. Danny Jansen (C), Yusei Kikuchi (LHP), Trevor Richards (RHP), Blue Jays
The Blue Jays’ trio of most appealing rental pieces could all be in play with Toronto buried in the AL East and now 9.5 games back in the Wild Card hunt. Any of Jansen ($5.2MM salary in ’24), Kikuchi ($10MM), Garcia ($6MM) or Richards ($2.15MM) would be both affordable and impactful for a new club.
Jansen stands as the top catching option on the market. He slumped at the plate after a hot start and entered play today at a league-average 100 wRC+, hitting .217/.315/.377. (He upped that line to .222/.319/.398 with a solo homer as this was being written.) The 29-year-old has plus power for a catcher and high-end defensive skills. He’s been injured too frequently in his career, but dating back to 2021 he’s a .233/.317/.464 hitter who’s averaged 27 homers per 162 games played. It’s rare for starting catchers to change hands at the deadline, as learning a new pitching staff on the fly midseason is no small feat, but Jansen should still garner plenty of interest.
Kikuchi is one of the top rental starters on the market. After a dominant showing in March/April/May, he hit a roadblock in June. He’s bounced back with four runs and an 18-to-2 K/BB ratio across 13 innings (two starts) in July. Kikuchi has a flat 4.00 ERA this season but a strong 26.1% strikeout rate and outstanding 5.4% walk rate. Since incorporating a new-look curveball into his arsenal last June, Kikuchi has a 3.77 ERA, 27.1% strikeout rate, 5.9% walk rate and 40.8% grounder rate in 212 1/3 innings. That’ll play in any rotation.
Richards has been inconsistent year-to-year but is affordable and has been highly effective in ’24. He owns a 3.40 earned run average, 25% strikeout rate and 9% walk rate. At 92.4 mph on average with his heater, he’s not overpowering — but he’s never struggled to miss bats, either (career 25.8 K%).
12. Luis Robert Jr., OF, White Sox
Robert hits the trade market with an enviable three years of control remaining beyond the current season. He produced MVP-caliber numbers a year ago when he hit 38 homers and swiped 20 bags while playing elite center field defense, but he’s also been injured as much as nearly any high-profile hitter in the sport in recent seasons. That continued when a hip flexor strain wiped out two months of Robert’s 2024 season.
He’s caught fire at the plate recently (.280/.345/.580 over his past 55 plate appearances), and there’s little doubting that Robert is one of the most talented players in the sport … when his body allows him to take the field. Add in that he’s being paid $12.5MM this season and $15MM next year before the Sox (or another club) hold a pair of $20MM club options, and the appeal only grows. Since 2021, Robert is a .280/.327/.509 hitter. He’s been worth just shy of 12 WAR in just over two full seasons’ worth of games. Controlling him for 3.5 seasons and a total of $59MM is an unmitigated bargain. That said, Robert’s injury history is a major red flag.
The Sox can rightly seek a king’s ransom in a trade, knowing they’ll have several opportunities to market him in the future when Robert still has two or even three full seasons of contractual control remaining. Will someone pony up a big enough offer to make them budge?
13. Brent Rooker, OF/DH, Athletics
Rooker was traded from the Twins to the Padres in the Taylor Rogers/Chris Paddack swap and then passed from San Diego to Kansas City to Oakland via a series of DFAs and waiver claims. The Twins, Padres and Royals are kicking themselves to varying extents, as he’s broken out as one of the top sluggers in the AL since donning green and gold. A .260/.348/.509 hitter with 48 bombs in 875 plate appearances for the A’s, Rooker is controllable through the 2027 season. He’s a poor defender who’s limited to left field, first base or designated hitter. He’s always going to strike out a lot and is doing so at a 32.6% clip this year. He’s also raking at a .282/.362/.544 clip and walking at a career-high 10.4% rate. The former No. 35 overall pick has a plus hard-hit rate, barrel rate and exit velocity. For teams looking to add a middle-of-the-order bat, he might be the top name on the market — and with three-plus seasons of club control remaining, the ask could be steep.
14-15. Kyle Finnegan & Hunter Harvey, RHPs, Nationals
Both Finnegan and Harvey are under club control through the 2025 season. Finnegan, the Nationals’ closer, is earning a $5.1MM salary to his top setup man Harvey’s $2.325MM. After struggling with walks early in the season, the hard-throwing Finnegan has reined in his command and pitched brilliantly. Over his past 32 innings, Finnegan touts a 1.69 ERA, 28.3% strikeout rate and 5.8% walk rate. He’s saved 23 games already this year (after saving 28 last year) and averaged 97.2 mph on his heater. Finnegan does have a propensity for pitch clock violations, one of which led to a lamentable walk-off loss to the Rockies this season when it occurred with the bases loaded. Be that as it may, he’s a viable leverage option based on his repertoire and results.
Harvey had better rate stats than Finnegan for much of the season but has hit a rough patch of late, yielding 10 earned runs over his past six innings. His 4.40 ERA looks rather pedestrian as a result, but Harvey’s 25.1% strikeout rate, 6.6% walk rate, 45.8% grounder rate and 97.9 mph average heater all make him highly appealing. He’s battled considerable injury troubles in his career and has just 166 2/3 career innings since debuting in 2019, but there’s little doubting the talent in Harvey’s arm.
16. Michael Kopech, RHP, White Sox
A closer with a 5.31 ERA isn’t exactly the quintessential trade candidate, but Kopech is a former elite prospect who’s averaging 98.6 mph on his heater and punching out 29.7% of his opponents. He’s earning just $3MM this year and is controllable via arbitration through 2025. The 13.1% walk rate and 1.85 HR/9 mark aren’t going to do his trade candidacy any favors, but Kopech is the type of power-armed 28-year-old that a rival club will be convinced it can “fix,” which should lead to ample bidding.
As recently as 2021-22, the flamethrowing righty posted a 3.53 ERA and 26.7% strikeout rate in 188 2/3 innings split between the bullpen and rotation. Kopech has the makings of an elite reliever, and while he won’t command an “elite reliever” prospect package, he’ll pique the interest of plenty bullpen-needy teams.
17. Pete Fairbanks, RHP, Rays
Fairbanks has been Tampa’s closer for a while now, with 25 saves last year and 15 so far this year. But his track record as an excellent reliever goes back farther than that. Since the start of 2020, he has tossed 170 1/3 innings with a 2.75 ERA, 33% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate. He and the Rays signed a modest extension in January of 2023, one that pays him $3.666MM over the 2023-25 seasons with a club option for 2026. That option has a $7MM base salary but incentives and escalators, as well as a $1MM buyout. The Rays don’t need to trade him with that extra control but it would be in their M.O. to make him available before the contract expires.
18. Jesse Winker, OF, Nationals
After quietly being one of the game’s most productive bats against righties for the first several seasons of his career in Cincinnati, Winker’s 2022 season in Seattle and 2023 season in Milwaukee were severe disappointments. He underwent neck and knee surgery following that ’22 campaign and was likely never fully healthy with the M’s. Perhaps those procedures carried some lingering effects into the ’23 season with the Brewers as well.
Whatever the reason, Winker is back in vintage form. He’s hitting .264/.379/.430 this season with 10 homers and a career-high 12 steals. He’s walked at a 13.6% clip. After signing a minor league deal in free agency, he’s on a modest $2MM salary. Any team needing a lefty bat in its outfield/DH mix should have interest in Winker, who’ll be a free agent at season’s end.
19. John Brebbia, RHP, White Sox
After an awful stretch in mid to late May, Brebbia has been the Sox’ best reliever and quietly been one of the best relievers in the game. That might generate a few eye rolls, but it’s not hyperbole. Since June 1, he’s posted a 0.98 ERA with a gaudy 37.5% strikeout rate and 5.6% walk rate. It’s only 18 1/3 innings, but Brebbia has his season ERA down to 4.38, and the K-BB profile is genuinely interesting (29.6 K%, 5.9 BB%). He’s on a one-year, $5.5MM deal with a mutual option for 2025. Mutual options are almost never exercised, so he’ll be treated as a pure rental and perhaps a deceptively attractive one.
20. Randy Arozarena, OF, Rays
Arozarena is having the worst season of his big league career, though that’s mostly due to a terrible March/April that he has put in the rearview mirror. He came into this season with a batting line of .265/.351/.451 and a 128 wRC+ but is currently at .203/.311/.360 for a 99 wRC+ in 2024. He had a dismal line of .143/.220/.241 at the end of April but has mostly been his old self since then, having slashed .236/.358/.427 for a wRC+ of 131.
The Rays don’t need to trade him, as he can still be retained for two more seasons via arbitration. But he’s already making $8.1MM this year and that number will only climb in the seasons to come. Tampa has a long track record of trading such players for younger, cheaper and less-established alternatives and it’s plausible to see the same thing happening here.
21. Lane Thomas, OF, Nationals
Controlled through the 2025 season, Thomas has been a fixture in Washington’s outfield for the past three seasons. His .243/.306/.400 line is down from last year’s career-best .268/.315/.468 showing, wherein he popped a career-high 28 homers. Though the Nats use Thomas in an everyday role, many contenders will view him as a platoon option. Thomas has pummeled lefties at a .329/.405/.548 clip in 2024 and a .306/.367/.524 pace in his career. However, he’s hitting just .207/.260/.341 against righties this season and carries only a .223/.288/.390 line in right-on-right matchups throughout his career. He’s one of the fastest players in the game (21 steals, 94th percentile sprint speed), but Thomas isn’t a great outfield defender. He’s a very useful player, but the Nats might value him more than other teams will.
22. Tommy Pham, OF, White Sox
Unlike many of the White Sox other trade chips, Pham is a pure rental. The entire point of signing him was to hope he’d hit his way into trade candidate status. He’s faded after a hot start, but the 36-year-old’s .259/.332/.355 line is still roughly league average. He’s sporting a .239/.375/.413 slash against lefties (129 wRC+). Pham has settled in as a mercenary of sorts late in his career, signing a series of one-year deals and frequently changing hands at the trade deadline. This year will be no exception.
23. Kevin Pillar, OF, Angels
Pillar has had a resurgent season. The veteran outfielder was released by the White Sox 17 games into the season. He latched on with the Angels after the Mike Trout injury opened a spot on the grass. Pillar has seized the opportunity, hitting .287/.340/.485 with six homers through 147 plate appearances. The 35-year-old recently told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale that this is likely to be his final season. He’s hitting well enough to get a fourth or fifth outfield role with a contender.
24-25. Elias Diaz & Jacob Stallings, C, Rockies
Colorado’s catching duo are both impending free agents. They’re having solid seasons that could attract interest from teams looking to shore up their depth behind the dish. Diaz is hitting .296/.340/.417 over 259 trips to the plate. While he’s not likely to maintain a .347 average on balls in another home park, he puts a decent number of balls in play and has double-digit home run power. Diaz is making $6MM in the final season of a three-year extension.
Stallings is playing on a $1.5MM salary and is due a $500K buyout on a ’25 mutual option. While Stallings struggled with the Marlins between 2022-23, he has turned in a .265/.365/.434 slash across 160 plate appearances in a backup role. Stallings no longer rates as the elite defender he was at his peak — he won a Gold Glove with Pittsburgh in 2021 — but he’s affordable and outperforming the backup catchers on some contenders.
26-27. Cal Quantrill (RHP) & Austin Gomber (LHP), Rockies
Quantrill and Gomber are each in their second-to-last seasons of arbitration. Colorado could hold both pitchers into 2025, but that’d arguably bypass a chance to capitalize on a thin rotation market. The Rox have generally been resistant to trading players under control for multiple seasons. They’re reportedly open to discussions on their pair of back-end starters, even if its an open question whether they’ll get the kind of offer that convinces them to pull the trigger.
Of this duo, Quantrill has higher trade value. The Rockies bought low on the former #8 overall pick in a trade with the Guardians last offseason. That has proven a nice acquisition for GM Bill Schmidt and his staff. Quantrill sports a 4.13 ERA across a team-leading 102 1/3 innings. He hasn’t had any issue acclimating to Coors Field, turning in an even 4.00 earned run average over eight home starts. Quantrill has never missed many bats, but he has strong control and is getting ground-balls at a 46.4% clip. He owns a 3.88 ERA in nearly 700 career innings. The Stanford product is playing on a $6.55MM salary.
Gomber is more affordable but hasn’t been as effective. The 30-year-old southpaw owns a 4.47 ERA through 94 2/3 innings. Gomber attacks the zone but doesn’t throw especially hard (90.4 MPH average fastball speed) and hasn’t recorded a strikeout rate better than 18% over the past three seasons. The pitch-to-contact approach has led to a decent amount of volatility over the years. It has been more of the same this year, as Gomber was blitzed for a 9.39 ERA in June around otherwise solid performances in April, May and to this point in July. He’s making $3.15MM.
28. Trevor Rogers, LHP, Marlins
One of two former Rookie of the Year runner-ups on this list (Miguel Andujar being the other), Rogers’ stock has diminished a great deal since his sensational 2021 campaign. He dealt with some horrific, harrowing family issues and multiple serious injuries along the way — including a lat strain, left biceps strain that required a 60-day IL stint, and back spasms.
Rogers’ fastball is now down about two miles per hour from his breakout showing. His strikeout rate has dipped 10 percentage points, from 28.5% to 18.3%. His current 10% walk rate is a career-high. But while all of that, coupled with a 4.82 ERA in 89 2/3 frames this season, is rather underwhelming, Rogers is a former first-round pick, top prospect and decorated rookie who is still only 26 years old. He’s controllable through 2026 at salaries that won’t be prohibitive, as he’s earning just $1.525MM in 2024 and owed two more arbitration raises. A team with a knack for maximizing pitching performance might view Rogers as an affordable buy-low candidate based on his pedigree.
29. Brendan Rodgers, 2B, Rockies
Partially because of injury, Rodgers has never developed into the star player the Rockies expected when they drafted him third overall in 2015. Park-adjusted metrics have pegged him as a below-average hitter in every season of his career. It’s a similar story in 2024, as Rodgers hasn’t drawn many walks or hit for a ton of power. He owns a .272/.313/.388 slash line over 294 plate appearances. Still, he’s a former Gold Glove winner who could draw some attention in a market light on middle infield talent. Rodgers is making $3.2MM this season and comes with one more season of arbitration control.
30. Austin Adams, RHP, Athletics
Adams’ slider-spamming tactics are back in full force this season — he’s throwing more than three-quarters sliders — and the results are interesting. A 4.60 ERA is pretty easy to gloss over, but Adams has 16 holds and a 26% strikeout rate. He’s walked nearly 13% of his opponents and plunked 12. Hitters aren’t ever going to be comfortable in the box against Adams, who’s hit 43 batters in 145 2/3 career innings. Those are every bit as much a red flag as his high walk rates, but Adams can miss bats in droves (career 31.5% strikeout rate) and can dominate opposing lineups when his command is at its best. Walks and hit batters will always be part of his game, but he has the stuff to succeed despite poor command … it’s just a frustrating ride for fans to watch at times. Adams won’t command a huge haul, but he’s only making $800K this season and is controllable through 2025.
31. Andrew Chafin, LHP, Tigers
Chafin is owed the balance of a $4.25MM salary plus at least a $500K buyout on a $6.25MM club option for 2025. He’s bounced back from an ugly 2023 season so far, pitching to a 3.72 ERA with a big 28.8% strikeout rate versus an inflated 10.6% walk rate. His walk and grounder rates were once both plus marks but now sit below average. Still, Chafin is an established, experienced lefty who can be controlled through next season.
32. Luis Garcia, RHP, Angels
Garcia has been the best of the Angels’ various free agent signings to overhaul their bullpen. The hard-throwing sinkerballer is getting grounders at a 50.5% clip. He’s striking out a solid 22.5% of batters faced against an 8.8% walk rate. An atypically low strand rate has led to a pedestrian 4.30 earned run average, but the peripherals point to a decent middle innings arm. The 37-year-old righty is an impending free agent who is playing on a $4.25MM salary.
33. Dylan Floro, RHP, Nationals
Rental relievers are always in demand, and Floro has both pitched well. The 33-year-old is earning $2.25MM and has pitched to a 2.06 ERA with a 20.5% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate. He’s not going to last the whole season without allowing a home run, as is currently the case, but even with some HR/FB regression, Floro has looked solid.
34. Jalen Beeks, LHP, Rockies
The Rockies grabbed Beeks off waivers from the Rays around the non-tender deadline. The southpaw agreed to a modest $1.675MM salary for his final year of arbitration. In 45 innings, Beeks carries a 4.40 ERA. His 17.8% strikeout rate is a personal low, which isn’t especially surprising for a pitcher during his first season in Coors Field. Beeks has decent walk and ground-ball numbers and can work multiple innings out of the bullpen.
35-36. Scott Alexander & T.J. McFarland, Athletics
Oakland’s rental lefties Alexander and McFarland are both cheap and have both been effective. Alexander is earning $2.25MM on a one-year deal and has turned in a 3.24 ERA in 16 2/3 innings since missing the early portion of the season with a ribcage injury. He’s never missed many bats (13.6% strikeout rate in 2024, 17.8% career), but Alexander has solid command and a mammoth 67.8% grounder rate in his career. McFarland is cut from a similar cloth. He’s fanned just 13.8% of his career opponents but has a 62.5% grounder rate in a dozen MLB seasons. He’s earning $850K and has a 4.24 ERA but a more palatable 3.51 SIERA. Neither will cost much. Both seem likely to move.
37. Derek Law, RHP, Nationals
Law doesn’t have the track record or huge power arsenal that teammates Finnegan and Harvey bring to the table. He’s pitching well and is controlled through the 2025 season via arbitration, however. Law’s track record is that of a true journeyman, bouncing around the league via a series of DFAs and minor league deals. But, he’s posted a 3.35 ERA, 21.2% strikeout rate and 6.2% walk rate in 53 2/3 innings of relief this season already. He’s on a $1.5MM deal, making him affordable for any team.
38. Paul DeJong, SS, White Sox
Another South Side rental, DeJong is hitting .229/.280/.438 on the season as Chicago’s primary shortstop. The average and OBP are characteristically unimpressive, but DeJong has belted 16 dingers and tallied a dozen doubles. His once-premium defensive grades have tanked, but he has a strong track record as a plus defender. That, plus this year’s power surge, should get the White Sox a modest return.
39. Gio Urshela, INF, Tigers
Urshela isn’t the solid, 20-homer regular he once was. He missed the bulk of the 2023 season following a pelvic fracture and is hitting just .257/.294/.335 in 231 plate appearances with Detroit. But, he’s also on a cheap one-year, $1.5MM deal and can play all around the infield while making plenty of contact at the plate. He’s a decent bench addition for a contender but isn’t likely to net the Tigers substantial prospect help.
40. Miguel Andujar, OF, Athletics
Andujar never matched the 27-homer pace he set in his Rookie of the Year runner-up campaign back in 2018, thanks in large part to shoulder surgery that ruined his 2019 season and pushed him down the depth chart with the Yankees. The Yanks only gave Andujar a combined 516 plate appearances in the four seasons following his second-place finish in ROY voting, and he didn’t do much in 130 plate appearances with the Pirates either. He’s settled into Oakland’s left field spot, though, slashing .299/.327/.408 (112 wRC+) with three homers in 165 plate appearances. Andujar has never walked much and isn’t a great defender, but he’s typically hit when healthy. He’s earning just $1.7MM this season and is controlled through 2025. Teams in need of right-handed corner bats could have interest.
41. Josh Bell, 1B, Marlins
Bell’s name will pop up on a lot of trade candidate lists, but he’s included here more because the Marlins will be trying to unload him than because other teams will be trying to pry him loose. The switch-hitting slugger has been a plus hitter at multiple times in his big league career, but his grounder-heavy approach in the box makes the plodding 6’4″, 261-pound Bell too inconsistent. He’s hitting only .227/.289/.350 in his first full season with Miami and is being paid $16.5MM this year. No one is touching that contract unless the Fish eat the majority of it or take back another bad contract. Still, Bell has enough track record that if Miami pays him down to league minimum (or close to it), another club might take him on as a change-of-scenery flier. Bell did rake following last year’s trade from Cleveland to Miami, so he’s hardly far removed from a productive stint.
42. Jason Adam, RHP, Rays
As has happened so often before, Adam bounced around the league before finally putting it all together in Tampa. After stints with the Royals, Blue Jays and Cubs, he signed with the Rays going into 2022 and has since tossed 157 1/3 innings with a 2.12 ERA, 29.7% strikeout rate, 8.4% walk rate and 44.8% ground ball rate. His $2.7MM salary is affordable even by Tampa standards and he has two seasons of club control remaining, but his late-bloomer trajectory means he will turn 33 next month. As time goes on, he’ll get older while his salary will grow and his window of club control will shrink, which could tempt the Rays to move him now.
43. Taylor Ward, OF, Angels
The Angels are reportedly hesitant to move players with multiple years of team control. That could lead them to hang onto Ward, who is eligible for arbitration for another two seasons. If the Halos more seriously consider moving controllable players, Ward should be a target for teams seeking outfield help. The former first-round pick has hit 14 home runs in 89 games. A diminished average on balls in play leads to a fairly modest .235/.320/.415 slash, but Ward has posted above-average offensive numbers in four straight seasons. Since the start of 2021, he’s a .258/.340/.440 hitter in more than 1400 plate appearances. Ward is a solid defender in left field who is playing on a $4.8M arbitration salary.
44. Tyler Anderson, LHP, Angels
Anderson is headed to his second All-Star Game at age 34. That’s largely a reflection of the veteran southpaw’s excellent 2.81 ERA over 112 innings. This is the kind of production the Halos envisioned when they signed him to a three-year, $39MM free agent deal over the 2022-23 offseason. Anderson’s first season in Orange County was much tougher, as he allowed well over five earned runs per nine. All 29 other teams passed on the chance to take on the remainder of Anderson’s contract via waivers last August.
While the run prevention and the All-Star nod have raised Anderson’s stock over the past few months, he probably has less trade value than fans might anticipate. Anderson has mediocre strikeout (16.8%) and walk (10.3%) rates. He’s averaging a career-low 89.2 MPH on his fastball. There’s certainly value in the kind of stability Anderson has provided, though teams aren’t likely to surrender much prospect capital if they’re also taking on his $13MM salaries for the next year and a half.
45. Griffin Canning, RHP, Angels
Canning is a potential buy-low target in the rotation market. The former second-round pick has struggled to a 4.84 ERA over 19 starts. His strikeout rate has plummeted from last season’s 25.9% clip to only 15.7% this season. He has lost a tick on his fastball as well, though his 93.7 MPH four-seam speed is still respectable.
The UCLA product is only one season removed from looking like a viable fourth/fifth starter. He’s a former top prospect who is still showing decent raw stuff. In a market light on healthy starters, Canning could still get some interest. He’s making $2.6MM and is under arbitration control for another season. The Angels may not want to sell low because of the extra year of control, but it wouldn’t be a complete surprise if he moves in a change-of-scenery deal.
46-47. Mason Miller & Lucas Erceg, RHPs, Athletics
Miller is the envy of every bullpen-hungry contender at this year’s trade deadline. Armed with a fastball that averages a comical 101.1 mph and a devastating slider, he’s punched out a ridiculous 46.5% of his opponents this season. Miller’s 9.9% walk rate is higher than average but not egregiously so, and he’s kept the ball on the ground at a 40.3% clip while yielding only 0.72 HR/9. He’s also controllable all the way through the 2029 season. This type of player just isn’t traded in today’s MLB, but the A’s are in circumstances unlike any other club in the sport. Demand for Miller could be so high they receive an offer they feel they can’t overlook.
Erceg draws less fanfare but is similarly interesting. Formerly an infield prospect with the Brewers, he only converted to the mound in 2021. The 6’3″ righty may be new to pitching in pro ball, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at his 3.09 ERA, 27.6% strikeout rate, 8.2% walk rate, 50% grounder rate and 0.84 HR/9. Erceg is averaging 98.4 mph on four-seamer and 98.5 mph on his sinker, coupling those fastballs with a mid-80s slider and low-90s “changeup.” At 29, he’s four years older than Miller despite having similar service time and identical windows of club control. The asking price won’t be as high as Miller, who’s simply been a more dominant reliever, but it’s also hard to believe the A’s plucked Erceg from Milwaukee in exchange for only cash last year. His trade value has exploded since then.
48-49. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. & Bo Bichette, INFs, Blue Jays
Toronto will be one of the most fascinating clubs to watch as the deadline draws nearer. Both Guerrero and Bichette have been core pieces during the Jays’ recent run of contending seasons, but both are now just a year and a half from free agency with no indication an extension is close on either front. Guerrero has recovered from a poor start to post a mammoth .327/.389/.508 line across his past 275 plate appearances. That’d be strong in any season but is extra-potent (55% better than average, per wRC+) in a season where the ball doesn’t appear to be traveling as far and where offense is down across the board.
Bichette, on the other hand, is still mired in a career-worst funk. He looked to be on the upswing in May when he hit .280/.321/.410 on the month, but his bat has cratered once again in the five weeks since. He’s hitting just .222/.275/.321 on the season. That said, Bichette was a star-caliber bat from 2019-23, slashing a combined .299/.340/.487. He’s never been a great defensive shortstop, making the offensive downturn all the more alarming. He’s also now dealing with a calf issue that’s left him day-to-day for the time being.
Guerrero is earning $19.9MM in 2024 and eligible for a raise — likely to the $25MM+ range — in 2025. Bichette is signed for $11MM this year and $16.5MM next year. Both will be free agents in the 2025-26 offseason. The Jays are reportedly likely to deal primarily rental players if they sell, but teams will come calling about their pair of star infielders — particularly Guerrero, given his elite production dating back to late April.
50. Tarik Skubal, LHP, Tigers
The odds of the Tigers trading the current AL Cy Young favorite are long, to say the least, but Detroit’s 2024 season hasn’t catapulted the team back into contention and they’re hungry for controllable, big league-ready bats. Skubal is earning an eminently affordable $2.65MM this season and is controlled two more years beyond the current season. As a Scott Boras client who’s emerged as one of the game’s elite names at his position, he’s unlikely to sign an extension.
The Tigers hope to be in the postseason mix in earnest next season, and Skubal should be a big part of that. In order for them to even consider parting ways with the dominant southpaw, they’d need a genuinely franchise-altering haul — if not on par with the Nationals’ Juan Soto bounty then something not too far below it. A win-now club that’s deep in high-end, MLB-ready hitting prospects (e.g. Orioles) could put together an offer that makes the Tigers think long and hard, but Detroit would likely need to feel the trade package is strong enough and carries enough immediate value that it doesn’t wholly derail their 2025 chances.
Ultimately, it’d be a shock to see someone offer enough to pry Skubal away. He is, after all, sitting on a 2.37 ERA with a huge 30.5% strikeout rate, a tiny 4.6% walk rate, a strong 46.7% grounder rate and just 0.74 HR/9. Still, teams are going to do their best to make president of baseball operations Scott Harris and his staff consider it, so buckle up for several weeks of Skubal chatter as teams take their best shot.
Others to watch if their teams drop in the standings
Cubs: Jameson Taillon, Nico Hoerner, Christopher Morel, Hector Neris, Drew Smyly
D-backs: Christian Walker, Paul Sewald, Joc Pederson, Randal Grichuk, Ryan Thompson
Giants: Michael Conforto, Taylor Rogers, Tyler Rogers, Mike Yastrzemski, LaMonte Wade Jr.,
Pirates: Aroldis Chapman, Martin Perez, Michael A. Taylor, Rowdy Tellez, Yasmani Grandal, Connor Joe
Rangers: Michael Lorenzen, Andrew Heaney, Nathan Eovaldi, David Robertson, Kirby Yates, Jon Gray, Jose Leclerc, Jose Urena
Reds: Frankie Montas, Nick Martinez, Jonathan India, Justin Wilson, Brent Suter, Buck Farmer, Lucas Sims, Austin Slater
Currently on the Injured List
David Bednar, Cody Bellinger, Paul Blackburn, Mike Clevinger, Alex Cobb, Joey Gallo, Yimi Garcia, Braxton Garrett, Trevor Gott, Merrill Kelly, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Jesus Luzardo, Tyler Mahle, Jordan Montgomery, Luis Rengifo, Ross Stripling, Mike Tauchman, Abraham Toro, Trevor Williams, Alex Wood
