Predicting the Big Names Up for Grabs at MLB Trade Deadline 2025
Before Major League Baseball's 2025 regular season even began, rumors and speculations of eventual trades were already swirling.
Among the top candidates likely to be on the move, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Luis Castillo, Dylan Cease, Michael King and pretty much every single St. Louis Cardinal aged 30 or over featured prominently on most of those lists.
Suffice it to say—with Guerrero now signed through 2039, the Mariners, Padres and Cardinals each very much in the running for a playoff spot and the Baltimore Orioles in shambles—the names likely to be up for grabs this summer have changed considerably.
Not entirely changed, of course. Sandy Alcantara and Luis Robert Jr. remain top trade block candidates, even though neither one has been what you might call "good" through the first two months. But it's time to refresh the list now that we're halfway to the trade deadline.
Players are presented in alphabetical order by last name.
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The 'Not Yet Up for Grabs, But Stay Tuned' Tier
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Though we are now more than halfway to the trade deadline, buyers and sellers are far from set in stone.
At this time last year, the Mets and Astros were a combined 17 games below .500 before turning things around and making the playoffs. The year before that, the Mets were three games over .500 on June 1, only to crash and burn their way to the Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander fire sale.
With that in mind, in addition to the forthcoming top trade candidates from the eight teams who are well on their way to becoming sellers ahead of the deadline, here are eight other middling teams who could make things mighty interesting by making some of their impending free agents available to the highest bidders.
Can't imagine any of them would be selling if the deadline were today, but plenty of time for that pendulum to swing.
Arizona Diamondbacks: Zac Gallen, Josh Naylor, Merrill Kelly, Shelby Miller, Eugenio Suárez
Atlanta Braves: Marcell Ozuna, Raisel Iglesias
Boston Red Sox: Aroldis Chapman, Walker Buehler
Cincinnati Reds: Nick Martinez, Emilio Pagan, Taylor Rogers
Milwaukee Brewers: Rhys Hoskins, Aaron Civale, Jose Quintana, Brandon Woodruff
Tampa Bay Rays: Brandon Lowe, Yandy Diaz
Texas Rangers: Tyler Mahle, Jon Gray
Toronto Blue Jays: Bo Bichette, Chris Bassitt, Max Scherzer, Chad Green
Sandy Alcantara, RHP, Miami Marlins
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2025 Stats: 51.0 IP, 8.47 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, 7.1 K/9, -1.4 bWAR
Contract: $17.3M in 2025, $17.3M in 2026, $21M club option (or $2M buyout) in 2027
Heading into the season, Sandy Alcantara getting traded was a near certainty.
On his back-loaded contract, his salary was nearly triple what it was two seasons ago when he suffered his UCL injury. And, well, the Marlins simply do not spend that type of coin. Including the current season, they've ranked bottom five in Opening Day payroll in 10 of the past 13 years.
While it'd be one thing for them to temporarily pony up more dough than usual if a ring felt plausible, only the Rockies and White Sox had a worse preseason win total than Miami's line of 63.5. So, as soon as Alcantara demonstrated he was back to at least something close to what he used to be, the hypothetical trade packages were going to become almost inescapable.
The only problem is that has yet to happen.
Physically, he seems fine. His fastball velocity is on par with what it was pre-Tommy John surgery. He's going at least 100 pitches more often than not lately. And he's mixing in all five pitches from his arsenal on a nightly basis, just the same as he always did.
It just hasn't been working like it used to, and whether any team will be willing to give up the prospect haul necessary to pry Alcantara away from the Marlins is officially debatable, if not downright doubtful.
All along, though, the assumption (h/t USA Today's Bob Nightengale) has been that Miami wouldn't be moving Alcantara until "the final days before the deadline." That means there's plenty of time left for him to salvage his season and his trade value, while the Marlins continue their inevitable march toward selling in some way, shape or form in two months' time.
Tyler Anderson, LHP, Los Angeles Angels
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2025 Stats: 61.0 IP, 3.39 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 6.8 K/9, 1.5 bWAR
Contract: $13M in 2025, FA this winter
Already this season, the Angels have had some wild swings in momentum. After starting out 9-5, they lost 14 of their next 17 games. But an eight-game winning streak that began with a road sweep of the Dodgers brought them back to .500. Only to then immediately lose five straight (and counting).
It remains very likely they will be trade deadline sellers, though, presently +1800 to make the playoffs, per DraftKings. And should that be the case, Tyler Anderson will be a coveted target.
Though he has never reached 180 innings pitched in a single season, Anderson's durability is noteworthy, his only missed starts in the past half-decade coming during the final two weeks of the 2023 campaign. That will be a key selling point to the inevitable collection of buyers who are searching for any healthy starting pitcher at replacement level or better.
He's not just some rubber-armed batting practice pitcher, though.
An All-Star in two of the past three seasons, Anderson has a 3.78 ERA since the beginning of 2022. Among the 29 pitchers who have logged at least 500 innings pitched during that stretch, he's roughly middle of the pack in that regard—slightly behind Joe Ryan and Chris Bassitt, marginally ahead of Aaron Nola and Jameson Taillon.
Granted, he does have the worst xFIP (4.82) among those 29 pitchers, and it's not particularly close. It always feels like the other shoe is about to drop with Anderson, but he has managed to mostly keep that regression at bay for several years at this point. Perhaps he can do so for another four months.
Kyle Finnegan, RHP, Washington Nationals
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2025 Stats: 18.2 IP, 2.41 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 8.2 K/9, 15 saves, 0.7 bWAR
Contract: $6M in 2025, FA this winter
The Washington Nationals have eight impending free agents who they could put on the trade block, but they probably won't be able to give most of them away.
Kyle Finnegan is the exception to that rule, ranking third in the majors with 15 saves, this after also ranking third with 38 saves in 2024.
Given the state of the rest of their bullpen, it would probably be in Washington's best interest to just hang onto Finnegan and try to bring him back for at least one more year. If they make him available, though, they'd be sure to get more than a few nibbles.
With career marks of a 3.50 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 8.9 K/9, his numbers never have been spectacular. As far as closers go, Finnegan is much more of a Fernando Rodney or Jim Johnson type than a peak Craig Kimbrel or Aroldis Chapman force of nature.
But he gets the job done far more often than not, and there are several hopeful contenders out there—the Cubs and Rangers, perhaps most notably—who are already going through antacids by the handful when it's time to protect a one-run lead in the ninth inning.
For what it's worth, Angels closer Kenley Jansen figures to also be available. The 37-year-old has allowed nine earned runs in 8.1 innings pitched in May, though, and his salary is $4M more than Finnegan's. The Nationals probably have the most coveted closer as far as two-month rentals go.
Andrew Heaney, LHP, Pittsburgh Pirates
5 of 10
2025 Stats: 60.2 IP, 3.41 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 6.5 K/9, 1.3 bWAR
Contract: $5.25M in 2025, FA this winter
Five starts into the season, Andrew Heaney looked like one of the best budgetary acquisitions in recent history, and an immediate top trade candidate.
While Kyle Gibson also got a one-year, $5.25M deal in free agency and gave the Orioles 12.1 innings with a 16.78 ERA before they released him, Heaney had a 1.72 ERA and 0.77 WHIP, striking out 26.3 percent of batters faced in the opening month of Pittsburgh's campaign.
Since then, it has been a much different story, Heaney's ERA and WHIP ballooning to 5.22 and 1.70, respectively, while his K rate has plummeted to 9.6 percent over his last six starts.
Chances are high that the first month was the fluke and the second month is more in line with what to expect moving forward. After all, the velocity on his four-seamer, slider and changeup are all down at least 1.5 mph from last season's averages, when he posted an ERA of 4.15 or worse for the eighth time in nine years.
Simply put, there's a reason Heaney was available at a price tag on par with a decent middle reliever or a hitter trying to prove on a one-year deal that he can still do something good at the dish.
But that prorated salary of $1.75M for two months all but ensures that someone will take a flier on Heaney, hoping he'll find another dominant month or two somewhere in the proverbial tank.
Yoan Moncada, 3B, Los Angeles Angels
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2025 Stats: .228/.333/.478, 5 HR, 18 RBI, 0.6 bWAR
Contract: $5M in 2025, FA this winter
From 2022-24, Yoán Moncada was one of the biggest pain points in the Chicago White Sox's inevitable rebuilding situation.
His back-loaded, five-year, $70M contract looked awesome early on, when he was worth 4.1 bWAR in 2021 at a cost of just $7M. Over the subsequent three seasons, though, he missed 278 games while playing in just 208, giving Chicago a cumulative bWAR of 1.8 in exchange for $61M.
Moncada's contract was never quite as painful as Anthony Rendon's, but he was a staple in "top 10 most painful contracts" types of articles.
Now that he's back down to making just $5M, though, he has re-surfaced in Los Angeles as an intriguing trade chip.
The oft-injured Moncada did leave Wednesday night's game against the Yankees in the sixth inning with knee soreness, but he had played in 20 of the Angels' last 22 games up to that point, with five home runs and an .856 OPS. If it was just a precautionary move and he's good to go heading into June, the switch-hitting third baseman will remain one of the top infielders likely to be available this summer.
Cedric Mullins, CF, Baltimore Orioles
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2025 Stats: .232/.324/.448, 10 HR, 31 RBI, 8 SB, 0.4 bWAR
Contract: $8.75M in 2025, FA this winter
Toward the end of April, the "Cedric Mullins trade hype" was percolating something fierce. The combination of his putting up career-best numbers—.292/.432/.551 through the first 28 games—while the Orioles were unexpectedly but rapidly coming apart at the seams was a perfect storm for burgeoning speculation.
However, while Baltimore's summer fire sale has only grown more inevitable, now 16 games below .500, Mullins has come crashing back to earth, with nearly as many strikeouts (31) as total bases (32) dating back to April 29.
His year-to-date numbers remain plenty respectable, though. Only a handful of players can boast at least 10 home runs and eight stolen bases. And unless the Pirates are willing to move Oneil Cruz, Mullins is probably the only member of that club that will be available.
The price is certainly right, too. At a prorated salary of less than $3M by the time July 31 rolls around, this impending free agent could fit into any budget. At any rate, if you factor in Luis Robert Jr.'s $2M buyout for 2026, Mullins is less than half the monetary commitment of the other noteworthy center fielder on this year's trade block. (And is still putting up better marks than Robert, even with his poor play over the past five weeks.)
From 2021-24, Mullins was the fourth-most valuable (per fWAR) player whose primary position is center field. If he can rally in these next two months and get back on track for another 30/30 campaign, this could be a fun bidding war.
Ryan O'Hearn, DH/1B/OF, Baltimore Orioles
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2025 Stats: .338/.427/.550, 9 HR, 21 RBI, 2 SB, 2.1 bWAR
Contract: $8M in 2025, FA this winter
Most of the handful of players with an OPS north of .950 right now are, simply put, the usual suspects.
Aaron Judge. Shohei Ohtani. Freddie Freeman. Kyle Schwarber. Even Will Smith and Cal Raleigh can hardly be considered surprises in that club, the way those backstops have been hitting for a few years now.
But Ryan O'Hearn?
The same Ryan O'Hearn who entered 2025 with a career OPS of .726; who had not finished any of his previous seven seasons with more than 15 home runs?
Quite the unusual suspect there, with O'Hearn suddenly playing the best baseball of his career in his age-31 season, much like Jurickson Profar last year.
With the Orioles all but dead and buried, though, his breakout is going to become some other team's benefit before too much longer.
Though he has served as designated hitter more than anything else this season, O'Hearn is more than capable of playing first base or right field. He even occasionally sets up shop out in left field. And that means with very few exceptions, every tentative buyer has a weak point in its lineup that could be filled by O'Hearn.
And unlike the aforementioned Mullins who started red hot prior to a month-long rough stretch, O'Hearn is cooking with gas, with seven multi-hit games in the past two weeks, good for a .442 batting average since May 15.
Can't imagine he was on a single "trade deadline candidates" list heading into the season, but O'Hearn probably needs to be No. 1 if you're ranking them today. (And while they desperately need bats, it'd be a bit funny if it's the Royals bringing him back after he had a .683 OPS and a negative-2.6 bWAR in his five seasons in Kansas City.)
Luis Robert Jr., CF, Chicago White Sox
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2025 Stats: .190/.276/.307, 5 HR, 20 RBI, 21 SB, 0.4 bWAR
Contract: $15M in 2025, $20M club option (or $2M buyout) in 2026, $20M club option (or $2M buyout) in 2027
Much like Sandy Alcantara in Miami, this particular trade chip has been out of the bag for so long that it appears to have grown stale.
Had the White Sox traded Luis Robert Jr. away two winters ago—fresh off his 38 home runs, 20 stolen bases, .857 OPS, age-25 campaign of greatness—heck, they might have gotten so much back that their rebuild would be all but finished by now.
After a mediocre 2024 season and an even worse first two months of the present season, though, we shall see if they can even manage to trade him at all this summer.
Robert has at least been healthy, though. So healthy, in fact, that he somehow leads the majors in stolen bases despite possessing one of the worst batting averages among qualified hitters.
Moreover, center fielders worth anything close to a darn aren't exactly growing on trees and readily available at the trade deadline.
The Phillies and Mets could both use one. So could the Diamondbacks. And if the White Sox don't care about trading within the division, Cleveland's CF/RF situation has been so disastrous—dead last in the majors in fWAR for both "as CF" and "as RF" splits as of Wednesday morning—that even the Guardians almost certainly would be willing to spend some money and prospects to acquire Robert.
Tomoyuki Sugano, RHP, Baltimore Orioles
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2025 Stats: 64.0 IP, 3.23 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 4.9 K/9, 1.2 bWAR
Contract: $13M in 2025, FA this winter
Could we just take a moment now to pre-emptively thank the Baltimore Orioles for ensuring we get an interesting trade deadline?
They're probably not going to trade away anyone under team control beyond this season, as they surely anticipate being back in the October mix in 2026. But we've already discussed Cedric Mullins and Ryan O'Hearn. We're about to hit on Tomoyuki Sugano as one of the most coveted rental starting pitchers. They also have Zach Eflin, Seranthony Dominguez, Gregory Soto and maybe Andrew Kittredge to ship out to the highest bidder.
The O's have more intriguing trade chips than the Rockies, White Sox, Marlins and Pirates combined, so the content machine appreciates their sacrifice this season.
As far as Sugano goes, the 35-year-old's first season in the majors has gone about as well as the Orioles could have imagined.
He's not much of a strikeout pitcher, but they knew that when they signed him. He does have one of the lowest walk rates among starting pitchers, though, with excellent control over the six-pitch arsenal that he uses in its entirety against both right-handed and left-handed batters. He has pitched into the seventh inning in five of his last eight starts and could be quite the cavalry as the No. 3 or No. 4 starter in a playoff push.
His $13M salary is identical to Tyler Anderson's, who is making more than double what Andrew Heaney is. That price point shouldn't pose a problem, though, if he continues to produce at anything close to this same level for another eight or nine starts.
