2024 MLB Trade Deadline: Big Board for Top Trade Candidates Who Weren't Dealt
Now that the 2024 MLB trade deadline has officially passed, the remnants of our big board serve as a rundown of the top players who were rumored to be on the move but ended up staying put.
Chicago White Sox stars Garrett Crochet and Luis Robert Jr., Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, Oakland Athletics slugger Brent Rooker and San Francisco Giants left-hander Blake Snell headline that group, as they will now be playing out the season with their respective clubs.
With no more August waiver trades, rosters are more or less set for the remainder of the season, though there could still be some maneuvering on the waiver wire.
Thanks for following along with our live trade candidate big board throughout Tuesday's action!
Nos. 21-17
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21. RP Chad Green, Toronto Blue Jays
With a 1.67 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and seven saves in 31 appearances, Green is having an excellent season after a pair of injury-plagued campaigns in 2022 and 2023. The 33-year-old adds some extra appeal for contenders with his wealth of playoff experience, as he has pitched in the postseason six times in the last seven years with a 3.95 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 9.2 K/9 in 19 appearances. He is under contract for $10.5 million in 2025, so trading for him as a bigger financial commitment than most of the other relievers on the market.
20. OF Miguel Andújar, Oakland Athletics
Andújar was a rising star for the New York Yankees in 2018 when he finished runner-up to Shohei Ohtani in AL Rookie of the Year voting, but he failed to duplicate that performance in the coming years and ended up designated for assignment in 2022. The 29-year-old has resurfaced this season with a 105 OPS+ and 16 extra-base hits in 230 plate appearances. And with a $1.7 million salary and club control through 2025, he is a nice low-cost offensive upgrade.
19. SP Cal Quantrill, Colorado Rockies
With a 4.09 ERA and 110 ERA+ in 114.1 innings this season, Quantrill has been a nice addition to the Colorado rotation. The 29-year-old does not miss many bats with just 86 strikeouts and a 17.8 percent strikeout rate, but his solid 46.4 percent groundball rate ranks 20th among qualified starters. He is making $6.55 million this year and has one year of arbitration eligibility remaining.
18. SP Zack Littell, Tampa Bay Rays
Even after trading Zach Eflin to Baltimore, the Rays still have an abundance of starting pitching and Littell is another name that has been floated in trade rumors. The 28-year-old has a 4.18 ERA in 114 innings, though he has also allowed an AL-high 132 hits and a .286 opponents' batting average. He threw seven shutout innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.
17. OF Kevin Pillar, Los Angeles Angels
Pillar is a clear target for teams looking for a boost against left-handed pitching, as he has batted a robust .375/.416/.625 with 11 extra-base hits in 77 plate appearances against southpaws. The 35-year-old is still capable of playing all three outfield spots, and he's the ideal fourth outfielder for a contender looking to shore up the bench.
Nos. 16-13
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16. SP/RP Nick Martinez, Cincinnati Reds
Martinez has been an effective swingman since returning from a four-year stint in the Japanese League, posting a 3.53 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 259 strikeouts in 290.2 innings spanning 24 starts and 115 relief appearances. The 33-year-old has a 3.77 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in 74.0 innings this year, and with a $12 million player option for 2025, there is a chance he could be more than a rental in the right scenario.
15. OF Taylor Ward, Los Angeles Angels
Ward finally broke through during his age-28 season in 2022 when he posted a 134 OPS+ with 22 doubles, 23 home runs and 65 RBI in a 3.6-WAR campaign. A gruesome hit-by-pitch that resulted in facial fractures limited him to 97 games last year, and he has a modest .227/.309/.401 line and 97 OPS+ this season. However, there is useful power in his bat with 18 doubles, 16 home runs and 51 RBI in 103 games.
14. C Elias Díaz, Colorado Rockies
One of the most unlikely All-Star Game MVP winners in history last season, Díaz is now a safe bet to be traded in the final season of a three-year, $14.5 million deal. The 33-year-old is hitting .275/.324/.389 with 15 doubles, five home runs and 31 RBI in 73 games, and he has also thrown out 29 percent of base stealers and graded out as a plus pitch-framer. With Danny Jansen already traded, he is the clear-cut top catcher on the market.
13. 2B Brandon Lowe, Tampa Bay Rays
During his seven seasons in the big leagues, Lowe has posted a 128 OPS+ while averaging 34 home runs and 98 RBI per 162 games. However, he has only topped 100 games played twice while dealing with a variety of injuries, including a right oblique strain earlier this year. With a $10.5 million club option for 2025 and an $11.5 million club option for 2026, the Rays will likely cut ties with him one way or another before the start of next season.
Nos. 12-9
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12. OF Mike Yastrzemski, San Francisco Giants
A late-bloomer who burst onto the scene as a 28-year-old rookie in 2019, Yastrzemski has put together a solid six-year run in San Francisco, posting a 115 OPS+ while averaging 24 home runs, 75 RBI and 3.6 WAR per 162 games. The 33-year-old is controllable for one more year via arbitration and has been his usual productive self this year with a 119 OPS+ and 2.1 WAR in 89 games.
11. RP Pete Fairbanks, Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays flipped setup man Jason Adam for a huge prospect haul in a trade with the San Diego Padres, and they will now look to do the same with Fairbanks. The 30-year-old is not missing as many bats this year with a career-low 22.9 percent strikeout rate, but he has still been extremely effective in the late innings, converting 20 of 22 save chances with a 3.11 ERA and 1.20 WHIP in 38 appearances. He has a $3.7 million salary for 2025 and a $7 million club option for 2026.
10. SP Tyler Anderson, Los Angeles Angels
The three-year, $39 million deal that Anderson signed with the Angels looked like a sunk cost last year when he struggled to a 5.43 ERA in 141 innings, but he has rebounded with an All-Star season. The 34-year-old has a 2.96 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 99 strikeouts in 130.2 innings, and while his 4.34 FIP is a bit of a red flag, he can still slot in as the No. 3 guy in a contender's rotation.
9. 1B Yandy Díaz, Tampa Bay Rays
Díaz hit .330/.410/.522 for a 159 OPS+ with 35 doubles, 22 home runs and 78 RBI in a 5.2-WAR season last year, winning the AL batting title and earning the starting nod at first base in the All-Star Game. Those numbers have regressed across the board this season to a .270/.326/.397 line and 108 OPS+ with 0.8 WAR in 97 games. His back-loaded three-year, $24 million deal will pay him $10 million in 2025, so it's not surprising the Rays are entertaining offers.
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Nos. 8-5
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8. SP Jameson Taillon, Chicago Cubs
With a 2.47 ERA over 51.0 innings and seven quality starts in his last eight outings, Taillon has been one of the hottest pitchers in baseball over the past two months. The 32-year-old is owed $18 million each in 2025 and 2026, so trading for him would be a significant financial commitment, but he is pitching like a No. 2 starter right now with the potential to be a difference-maker down the stretch. The Cubs look poised to take an opportunistic approach as both buyers and sellers.
7. IF Luis Rengifo, Los Angeles Angels
A versatile, offensive-minded utility player, Rengifo is hitting .300/.348/.421 for a 114 OPS+ with 20 extra-base hits and 23 steals in 75 games this season while splitting his time between second and third base. The 27-year-old also has significant experience at shortstop and can play the outfield, and he is controllable via arbitration through 2025. He is the type of player who would fit on almost any contender's roster.
6. RP Kyle Finnegan, Washington Nationals
The Nationals already traded setup man Hunter Harvey, and their closer could be next out the door. Finnegan, 32, has been a reliable late-inning option for the past four seasons with 78 saves since the start of 2021. An All-Star for the first time this year, he has converted 28 of 32 save chances with a 2.47 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 9.1 K/9 in 45 appearances, and he comes with club control through 2025.
5. SP Blake Snell, San Francisco Giants
Snell got off to an ugly start this season and then missed a month with a groin injury. But since returning to action on July 9, he has allowed just eight hits and two earned runs in 24 innings over four starts. He piled up a career-high 15 strikeouts over six scoreless innings against the Colorado Rockies last time out, sending interest soaring. That said, he is still owed roughly $10 million of his $32 million salary this year, and he has a $30 million player option for next year, so his financial situation is a complicated one.
4. OF/DH Brent Rooker, Oakland Athletics
5 of 9
Age: 29
Stats: 93 G, 173 OPS+, .296/.370/.587, 47 XBH (25 HR), 75 RBI, 3.7 WAR
Brent Rooker was a first-round pick in the 2017 draft but never quite found his footing with the Minnesota Twins, or in subsequent stints with the San Diego Padres and Kansas City Royals before landing in Oakland.
The A's gave him a long runway to produce last year, and he responded with a 127 OPS+ and 30 home runs in one of the biggest breakout performances of the season.
That proved to be just the tip of the iceberg, and with elite batted-ball metrics across the board this year, he's been one of the best offensive players in the sport with no reason to think he is due for regression.
The Oakland front office is "leaning toward not moving" him, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN, but in a market that is sorely lacking in impact bats, there just might be a team willing to blow the A's away with a huge offer.
3. LHP Garrett Crochet, Chicago White Sox
6 of 9
Age: 25
Stats: 22 GS, 3.23 ERA (2.41 FIP), 1.01 WHIP, 26 BB, 160 K, 114.1 IP, 3.7 WAR
The Chicago White Sox have one of the most attractive trade chips on the market in Garrett Crochet, but the team's breakout ace is not making things easy.
"Crochet, 25, wants a contract extension if he's traded in order to pitch in the postseason this year, according to sources familiar with the situation. Crochet also is making it known he has no desire to pitch out of the bullpen, citing health concerns for all of the above requests," Jesse Rogers of ESPN wrote.
Pitching in a starting role for the first time in his career, there were already some questions about how he would hold up down the stretch with a career high in innings already on his arm, and those demands have further muddied the waters.
With club control through 2026 and a team-friendly $800,000 salary this year, it's no surprise he would want to parlay his breakout into a long-term deal, but it might cost him a chance to pitch for a contender this October.
The White Sox can always hold onto him and wait until the offseason to deal him when there may be an even larger market for his services.
2. OF Luis Robert Jr., Chicago White Sox
7 of 9
Age: 26
Stats: 53 G, 101 OPS+, .210/.282/.440, 22 XBH (12 HR), 24 RBI, 13 SB, 1.0 WAR
Luis Robert Jr. showed last season the type of numbers he is capable of putting up when he stays healthy for the entire year, finishing with a 130 OPS+ while tallying 36 doubles, 38 home runs, 20 steals and 5.0 WAR in 145 games.
It was the first time in his career that he topped 100 games, and he missed significant time again this year when a hip flexor strain sidelined him for 53 games.
Robert has slugged 12 home runs in 220 plate appearances this season, but his overall offensive numbers are down across the board, so a team ponying up the prospect capital to acquire him would be banking on a change of scenery and a healthy final two months jump-starting his bat.
With a $15 million salary for 2025 and a pair of $20 million club options to follow, he is potentially controllable through 2027, though there is also a potential out if injuries continue to be a factor with a palatable $2 million buyout on those option years.
Trading Robert would be a true tear down to the studs for the White Sox, but that might be exactly what they need amid an all-time awful season.
1. LHP Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
8 of 9
Age: 27
Stats: 21 GS, 2.35 ERA (2.57 FIP), 0.92 WHIP, 154 K, 130.0 IP, 5.3 WAR
There is a good chance Tarik Skubal would be the AL Cy Young winner if the season ended today.
The left-hander leads the AL in wins (12), ERA (2.35), ERA+ (179) and pitcher WAR (5.3), and he is working on a run of six straight quality starts, during which time he has gone 4-0 with a 2.03 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and 49 strikeouts in 40 innings.
With club control through the 2026 season, teams would be getting two full seasons of his services on top of this year's playoff push, so the prospect return would need to be significantly higher than what the Baltimore Orioles gave up to acquire Corbin Burnes for his final year of club control.
The Tigers have no reason to back down from a sky-high asking price, and selling high is not a priority given the strength of his peripheral numbers backing up the sustainability of his performance.
If a team like the Orioles wants to offer up a package of Coby Mayo, Samuel Basallo and more, the Tigers would be silly not to at least listen, but they will need to be blown away to consider moving their ace at this point in his arbitration clock.
Nos. 21-17
9 of 921. RP Chad Green, Toronto Blue Jays
With a 1.67 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and seven saves in 31 appearances, Green is having an excellent season after a pair of injury-plagued campaigns in 2022 and 2023. The 33-year-old adds some extra appeal for contenders with his wealth of playoff experience, as he has pitched in the postseason six times in the last seven years with a 3.95 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 9.2 K/9 in 19 appearances. He is under contract for $10.5 million in 2025, so trading for him as a bigger financial commitment than most of the other relievers on the market.
20. OF Miguel Andújar, Oakland Athletics
Andújar was a rising star for the New York Yankees in 2018 when he finished runner-up to Shohei Ohtani in AL Rookie of the Year voting, but he failed to duplicate that performance in the coming years and ended up designated for assignment in 2022. The 29-year-old has resurfaced this season with a 105 OPS+ and 16 extra-base hits in 230 plate appearances. And with a $1.7 million salary and club control through 2025, he is a nice low-cost offensive upgrade.
19. SP Cal Quantrill, Colorado Rockies
With a 4.09 ERA and 110 ERA+ in 114.1 innings this season, Quantrill has been a nice addition to the Colorado rotation. The 29-year-old does not miss many bats with just 86 strikeouts and a 17.8 percent strikeout rate, but his solid 46.4 percent groundball rate ranks 20th among qualified starters. He is making $6.55 million this year and has one year of arbitration eligibility remaining.
18. SP Zack Littell, Tampa Bay Rays
Even after trading Zach Eflin to Baltimore, the Rays still have an abundance of starting pitching and Littell is another name that has been floated in trade rumors. The 28-year-old has a 4.18 ERA in 114 innings, though he has also allowed an AL-high 132 hits and a .286 opponents' batting average. He threw seven shutout innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.
17. OF Kevin Pillar, Los Angeles Angels
Pillar is a clear target for teams looking for a boost against left-handed pitching, as he has batted a robust .375/.416/.625 with 11 extra-base hits in 77 plate appearances against southpaws. The 35-year-old is still capable of playing all three outfield spots, and he's the ideal fourth outfielder for a contender looking to shore up the bench.
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