The 10 Best MLB Trade Chips for 2025 Season
The 2025 Major League Baseball season is barely a week old, but it is never too early to start thinking about who might be available as a trade chip at some point in the next four months.
The Miami Marlins made sure to remind us of that fact last spring, trading away Luis Arraez for a quartet of prospects not even a quarter of the way through the campaign, that deal going down on Star Wars day (May the Fourth).
It's only a matter of time before the likes of Luis Robert Jr. and Sandy Alcantara start floating around in trade rumors.
Of course, not all trade chips come from teams who are hopelessly destined to battle for draft position. In fact, four of the 10 players on this list (granted, two of them are prospects) play for teams that are likely to reach the postseason. Moving them could make a lot of sense when it comes to putting together the final pieces of a championship puzzle.
Players are presented in alphabetical order by last name.
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Sandy Alcantara, RHP, Miami Marlins
1 of 10
This is the first of three gigantic names certain to appear in MLB trade banter for the foreseeable future.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the biggest name of the bunch, but good luck finding anyone who truly believes he is likely to be traded, unless the Blue Jays are just completely dead and buried in late July. Even then, they may well hang onto him, hoping it helps them re-sign him this winter.
Luis Robert Jr. is also a big one, and he's on a team fully expected to be dead and buried in late July. However, we'll see if the only thing close to a star left on the White Sox roster can stay healthy for a change.
Sandy Alcántara kind of splits the difference: Miami just about destined to be a hot mess and the 2022 NL Cy Young winner destined to be an extremely popular trade target if he continues to establish that he has fully recovered from the Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire 2024 campaign.
From 2019-22, only a handful of pitchers were more valuable than Alcántara. And even in what was a "down" year for him in 2023, he was still worth either 3.0 WAR or 3.9 WAR depending on whether you prefer FanGraphs or Baseball Reference.
If he's on track for something in that range while re-emerging as the rubber-armed ace of yore, there will be a long list of teams mighty interested in acquiring him and his absolute bargain of a remaining contract, owed $55M through the end of 2027.
Nolan Arenado, 3B, St. Louis Cardinals
2 of 10
Nolan Arenado is going to be the only Cardinal singled out on this list, but you would be correct to assume that he represents the potential for an entire garage sale in St. Louis.
If the Cardinals move Arenado, chances are they'll burn it all down and try to unload basically everyone 30 or older. Ryan Helsley, Erick Fedde, Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz and Phil Maton are the impending free agents in that age tier. Sonny Gray is owed $35M in 2026 plus a $30M club option (or $5M buyout) for 2027. Willson Contreras has up to three years and $54M left on his contract after this season. But the entire lot could be on the move in the name of getting younger and building toward the future.
Arenado is the big one, though, and the one that was almost traded a bunch of different times this offseason.
The 10-time Gold Glove, eight-time All-Star, six-time Platinum Glove and five-time Silver Slugger third baseman is owed $21M this season, $16M in 2026 and $15M in 2027. And though he turns 34 later this month, Arenado still has something left in the tank, opening the season on a six-game hitting streak with a 1.109 OPS.
No one in their right mind expects him to continue hitting like that, but if he can bounce back even a little bit from what was just about a career-worst campaign in 2024, there would be quite a few interested parties here. And perhaps by this summer, he'll be a little more willing to waive his full no-trade clause, after that seemed to cause several hiccups over the winter.
Luis Castillo, RHP, Seattle Mariners
3 of 10
Luis Castillo on the trade block was a big narrative for a hot minute over the winter, but it did always feel a bit like something everyone was saying the Mariners ought to consider more so than a thing they were seriously considering.
The thinking behind it was that Seattle has starting pitching depth, it needs bats and it doesn't exactly have a sack of rainy-day money lying around.
Though he does have a full no-trade clause through the end of this season that they would need to navigate, moving Castillo before the season began would have saved the M's more than $72M from 2025-27—with which they could have been more realistically in the market for a Pete Alonso or Alex Bregman.
While that ship has sailed, the 32-year-old ace could still be on the trade block this summer, if managing a grand total of eight runs during the season-opening four-game series against the Athletics is a sign of what's to come once again from this offense.
Now, whether they'll be able to find a trade partner who A) needs a starting pitcher, B) can afford what's left on Castillo's contract and C) has a surplus bat that would actually help the Mariners is a different story. It probably needs to be a three-team deal to make that happen.
(Of course, that's assuming Seattle still has a playoff pulse in late July. If the Mariners are toast and looking to dump salary for a quality prospect, that's a much less complicated negotiation.)
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B, Toronto Blue Jays
4 of 10
If you're not already tired of hearing about Vladimir Guerrero Jr., where he'll be playing in August and where he'll be signing this winter, fear not.
You will be tired of it soon enough, because it's going to be the inescapable narrative of this season.
Perhaps it won't be quite as big and bad as it was with Shohei Ohtani in 2023, unless Guerrero all of a sudden toes the rubber and starts pitching like a Cy Young candidate. But it's the same general blueprint for constant discussion: Clear-cut top impending free agent playing for a team likely going nowhere fast, which would mean plenty of speculating leading up to the trade deadline, followed immediately by speculating of where he'll end up signing his gigantic contract.
The X-factor is the possibility that Toronto will be a contender. The Blue Jays only won 74 games last year, but after a fairly busy offseason, PECOTA standings on Opening Day had them virtually tied with the Yankees as the AL's projected No. 6 seed.
They've gotten out to a 5-2 start with help from a home sweep of the Nationals, but let's see if that holds up through an upcoming gauntlet of: at Mets, at Red Sox, at Orioles, vs. Braves, vs. Mariners, at Astros, at Yankees, vs. Red Sox. 5-2 could turn into 12-20 in a hurry here.
If they have even a little bit of a playoff pulse in late July, they won't be trading away Guerrero. (Nor fellow impending free agents Bo Bichette, Chris Bassitt, Max Scherzer and Chad Green.)
Should they crash and burn, though, they might wave the white flag like the Baltimore Orioles did with Manny Machado in 2018, shipping Guerrero to the highest bidder. (Early guess at who that bidder would be: Seattle Mariners.)
Starling Marte, RF, New York Mets
5 of 10
It's surprising that the Mets still have Starling Marte, right?
As soon as they signed Juan Soto for a bajillion dollars, this already somewhat expendable, $20.75M, 36-year-old right fielder became basically pointless on a roster that currently has six outfielders.
Worse than pointless, frankly, because his $20.75M salary is more like $43.575M to the Mets.
As a luxury tax offender for a third consecutive year, they are paying an additional $1.10 for every dollar spent over $301M. They are presently a projected $27.4M over that mark, so they could've saved (and could still save) quite a bit of unnecessary spending by convincing someone to take Marte off their hands.
Surely that convincing is the hard part, as Marte was worth 0.3 fWAR and 0.0 bWAR over the past two seasons. That's a hefty price tag for replacement-level production.
Eventually, though, someone might get desperate enough to help the Mets out a bit, either due to injury or ineffectiveness in right field or at DH. Even if New York has to retain most of the contract, every $1M that the next team agrees to take on saves the Mets $2.1M.
For what it's worth, Jeff McNeil—$15.75M this year, $15.75M in 2026, $15.75M club option (or $2M buyout) in 2027—could be on the chopping block, too. He's currently on the IL (oblique), which is giving Brett Baty one more chance to prove he belongs. The Mets also have Luisangel Acuña and can't forget about Ronny Mauricio.
Baty and Acuña have gone a combined 3-for-25 with no RBI, though, and Mauricio hasn't appeared in a game at any level since the fall of 2023. Their struggles could make trading McNeil less likely.
Freddy Peralta, RHP, Milwaukee Brewers
6 of 10
This is one name that probably wouldn't have been on the list in the preseason, but let's talk about Freddy Peralta.
You never want to overreact to the first 2.5 percent of the season. However, after the Brewers were outscored 47-15 through their first four games, we have to at least consider the possibility that they're going to be just plain not very good. (It's not like expectations were through the roof in the preseason, listed at +125 to make the playoffs just before Opening Day.)
And should the Brew Crew fall hopelessly out of contention, trading away Peralta could be one heck of a way for them to expedite a rebuild that they have somehow been postponing for a few years now.
Peralta is making just $8M this season with an $8M club option for 2026, which is a preposterously low price point for one of the three pitchers (along with Zack Wheeler and Dylan Cease) who has recorded at least 200 strikeouts in each of the past two seasons.
If Milwaukee thinks it will bounce right back into the postseason mix next year, the underpaid ace of this staff won't be going anywhere.
But if it's willing to move a very good pitcher a year before it won't be able to re-sign him anyway—a la Corbin Burnes last offseason—let's just say there would be a lot of interested parties here. Peralta has made two starts, going 13.0 innings with a 2.08 ERA, 0.54 WHIP and 11.1 K/9, with an 0-1 record to show for it.
Maybe a reverse CC Sabathia trade, with Milwaukee sending the star pitcher to Cleveland for a hearty platter of prospects?
Luis Robert Jr., CF, Chicago White Sox
7 of 10
As previously mentioned, the big question with Luis Robert Jr. is the health. He lasted all of seven games into last season before missing two months with a hip injury.
Once he returned, though, he appeared in 93 of Chicago's final 102 games, this after playing in 145 games in 2023.
Was he healthy, though? Robert was a mess at the plate last season, posting a .657 OPS one year after hitting 38 home runs en route to an .857 mark. He wasn't remotely the same in center field, either, going from 13 outs above average and a run value of 12 in 2023 to one and zero, respectively.
So it's more than just games played that prospective buyers will be interested in here. The former All-Star needs to re-establish that he can both play and play well on a regular basis.
Provided he does so, he'll get the trade that everyone (including Robert himself) assumed was going to happen this offseason.
No matter how well he plays, the White Sox aren't going to be a contender. They're not going to be a contender any time soon, either, so hanging onto a player costing $15M this season with $20M club options for each of 2026 and 2027 just doesn't make much sense.
As far as a trade partner goes, the Phillies, Mets, Astros and Royals could all be in the mix here, given their respective center field situations.
Dalton Rushing, C/1B/OF, Los Angeles Dodgers
8 of 10
There was a time not so long ago when teams would trade top prospects without worrying too much about what they might become one day down the road. But at this point, just about every club has been burned enough times that no one wants to part with a top-100 player for anything less than multiple years of a sure thing.
The best prospect dealt ahead of the 2023 deadline was probably Kyle Manzardo going from Tampa Bay to Cleveland, and he was busy posting an OPS (.783) for the year that was 260 points below where he had finished the previous season (1.043).
Last year, it was probably Robby Snelling going from San Diego to Miami in the Tanner Scott deal, but he was absolutely torpedoing down the prospect rankings list with a 6.01 ERA. At any rate, he's no longer anywhere close to the top 100.
But don't be surprised if the Dodgers buck that trend if they feel the need to do anything at the deadline, seeing as how they would be more than happy to just spend more money to make up for trading away someone who might have helped in a few years.
Including Roki Sasaki (who absolutely is not going anywhere), the Dodgers had six players in MLB.com's top 100 prospects list heading into the season.
Atop their non-Sasaki division is Dalton Rushing, a versatile second-round pick in the 2022 draft who hit 26 home runs in 115 games played across Double-A and Triple-A in 2024. He's already 24 and should probably be in the majors by the end of this season, but good luck finding a spot for him on the Dodgers' roster unless they are destined for as many catcher injuries as they had pitcher injuries last season.
If the Hyeseong Kim experiment at second base doesn't pan out, maybe they dangle Rushing to bring in a top 2B (or top CF, and cement Tommy Edman at 2B).
Sebastian Walcott, SS/3B, Texas Rangers
9 of 10
All of that Dalton Rushing preamble about teams being reluctant to trade away top prospects applies here, too. The Rangers aren't just going to be out there shopping Sebastian Walcott to the highest bidder.
He only made a handful of appearances in spring training, but Walcott hit a home run in late February, a few weeks before celebrating his 19th birthday. The Bahamian wunderkind might not make the big leagues this season, but bet he makes his MLB debut before he's old enough to legally celebrate with a drink in this country.
Could he be expendable for the right price, though?
For a franchise that already has Corey Seager, Josh Jung, Josh Smith and Ezequiel Duran under team control and clogging the SS/3B depth chart through at least 2028?
There has been talk of moving him to right field. Maybe that would help. But Texas also has Adolis García, Wyatt Langford and Leody Taveras locked up for multiple years, plus Evan Carter ideally returning to the mix before too long. Might not be much opportunity there, either.
Again, we don't expect the Rangers to be actively seeking to trade Walcott. He was a top-25 prospect for all of Baseball America, MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus—No. 10 on the latter's 2025 preseason list.
But while we do expect Miami's Sandy Alcantara to be on the trade block this summer, the Marlins aren't exactly going to give away 2.5 years of the 2022 Cy Young winner for a handshake and cash considerations.
And with three-fifths of Texas' rotation consisting of guys who made exactly three starts each last season, needing to acquire a starting pitcher ahead of the trade deadline might be just about inevitable here.
Taylor Ward, OF, Los Angeles Angels
10 of 10
Opening the season against the White Sox and Cardinals, the Angels have gotten out to a decent enough start.
If and when things unravel, though, and the Halos find themselves as one of this year's trade deadline sellers, Taylor Ward is probably going to be their top trade chip.
They do have a bunch of two-month rentals to throw to the wolves, including Tyler Anderson, Kenley Jansen and Luis Rengifo. They probably aren't going to get much for those guys, though.
Ward, however, has one year of arbitration eligibility remaining after what has already been a respectable three-year run in Los Angeles. He hit .260 with 62 home runs from 2022-24, including a career-high 25 home runs last season. He was never going to be able to keep up the ridiculous pace he was on for the first two months of 2022, but he has continued to provide good value for several years running.
Ward may well be this year's version of Lane Thomas on the trade block, provided he can stay moderately healthy.
Thomas wasn't even having a good season last year, but after he hit 28 home runs in the previous season, the Guardians were willing to buy low on 1.5 years of his services, giving up three prospects to make the trade happen. (And reaped the benefits when he posted a .917 OPS in the ALDS against Detroit.) Could see a similar package in an exchange for Ward in a few months' time.
