The trade deadline is now less than a week away for Major League Baseball, as it is set for 6 p.m. ET on Monday, Aug. 3. A good number of teams are still in limbo, though, sitting within striking distance of a wild-card spot while also not really having the look of a strong contender. Something to watch in the coming days is the Tigers. They’ve lost three straight and sit four back of the last spot in the American League with four teams to jump over. If they end up as sellers, that means Tarik Skubal hits the market.
As for the rest of the rumors for the day, let’s get to it.
MLB trade deadline buyers and sellers: Where all 30 teams stand with one week to go
Matt Snyder With the Tigers having lost three straight games and their playoff odds dwindling, expect the rumors swirling around ace and two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal to pick up. Sure enough, The Athletic reports that “multiple teams planned to reach out” to the Tigers front office regarding a Skubal trade. Among those likely suitors are the Rays, Brewers, Braves, Yankees and Dodgers. Expect pretty much every contender to at least inquire about the asking price.
Skubal has won the last two American League Cy Young awards and is set to hit free agency after the season. So far this year, he’s 7-5 with a 2.70 ERA (160 ERA+), 0.92 WHIP, 110 strikeouts against 13 walks in 90 innings. In 15 starts, he’s posted 3.0 WAR. His season was interrupted by surgery for bone chips in his elbow, but he only missed about six weeks and he’s already back in prime form. In his two starts after the All-Star break, he’s given up just one run on nine hits in 14 ⅓ innings with 21 strikeouts.
Just a year after acquiring him, the Padres may be ready to deal All-Star closer Mason Miller for rotation help, according to ESPN.
Miller is arguably the best reliever in baseball and is under team control through 2029. He’s a perfect 27 for 27 in saves with a 0.82 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and 80 strikeouts in 43 ⅔ innings this season. It might seem crazy, but there’s rationale to dealing Miller for a starter or two. The Padres have a great and deep bullpen with Adrián Morejón, Wandy Peralta and Bradgley Rodriguez. Jason Adam is hurt but could be back and has closing experience, too.
Meanwhile, the Padres’ rotation is thin and not very good.
There’s a chance here that A.J. Preller could thread the needle and sell his star in order to improve this year.
We still can’t be sure if the Nationals intend to trade All-Star shortstop CJ Abrams or not, but something to consider here is that a lot of teams view him as a future second baseman or even center fielder, per ESPN. Maybe that’s immediately, maybe that’s down the road, as he’s under team control for two more seasons after this one.
Abrams is still a beast, of course, as he’s hitting .295/.368/.570 (156 OPS+) with 27 homers, an MLB-best 82 RBI and 4.4 WAR this season.
This is just something to keep in mind as we hear of teams interested in shortstops. Such as … The Red Sox are firmly in contention as their run of winning baseball continues. They are 55-50 and hold the second AL wild card. With Trevor Story and now Tsung-Che Chang on the injured list, Andrew Monasterio is holding down shortstop for the time being, but the Red Sox are searching the trade market for someone to man the position, reports ESPN.
Part of the problem, of course, is that there aren’t many — if any — shortstops known to be available via trade. Story will return, likely, at some point in August and it sure doesn’t seem like the Mets will trade Francisco Lindor.
Still, keep in mind the Red Sox are searching for middle infield help, even after acquiring Curtis Mead.
Part-time Mets catcher Luis Torrens is drawing interest on the trade market, specifically from the White Sox, but the team isn’t inclined to move him, reports the New York Post. Instead, the Mets are reportedly looking to hold onto Torrens for next season — he’s signed for $4.75 million — as they plan on contending rather than kick off a rebuild.
This could, of course, be posturing on the Mets’ part as they try to get better offers for the solid defensive backstop.
Both the Cubs and White Sox have been looking at Angels left-handed starting pitcher Reid Detmers, according to Yahoo.
The 27-year-old Detmers is under team control through 2028 and is 3-7 with a 4.05 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 136 strikeouts in 120 innings this season for the Angels. He continues to go through bouts of inconsistency while flashing big upside. As an example, from May 24-June 16, he was 4-1 with a 1.36 ERA in five starts. He followed that up with a 7.40 ERA in his next four starts and now has a 0.79 ERA in his last two.
The fit for either Chicago team is clear. They both need starting pitching and would love to have an arm that isn’t a rental and is locked up for a few more seasons, especially the White Sox as they rebound from some truly awful seasons and aren’t ready to fully mortgage the future for this season.
The Rays have shown interest in trade candidates Freddy Peralta of the Mets and Zach Neto of the Angels, per FanSided.
With Peralta, such a move would really solidify a strong four-man playoff rotation along with Nick Martinez, Drew Rasmussen and Shane McClanahan, enabling them to move Griffin Jax back into a bullpen role after serving as the fifth starter in the regular season. Keep in mind, Peralta is a rental, hitting free agency after this season.
Swooping in for Neto would be a Rays-like move. He’s under team control through 2029. The 25-year-old shortstop has a 117 OPS+ with 2.8 WAR this season after back-to-back 5+ WAR seasons. He’d mark a nice middle infield upgrade.
If the Angels are prepared to move Neto, one can’t help but wonder how much the Red Sox would be interested, too, given the above rumor. The Mets traded for Peralta this past offseason, grabbing him from the Brewers, along with Tobias Myers, for top prospects Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams. It’s been a disaster, as Peralta is 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in 22 starts this season. Last year for the Brewers, though, he went 17-6 with a 2.70 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 204 strikeouts in 176 ⅔ innings. He finished fifth in Cy Young voting and made his second All-Star team.
Would the Brewers bring him back? They are a bit thin in the rotation right now due to injuries and ESPN reports the two sides have been talking. This would be pretty fun.
Skubal rumors heating up
Padres could deal closer for starter(s)
Regarding the potential CJ Abrams trade market
Red Sox looking for shortstop help
Mets not planning on dealing catcher
Chicago teams in on Detmers
Rays showing interest in upgrades
More Peralta fodder
