MLB All-Stars Who Could be on the Trade Block
The best of the best in Major League Baseball will be on the same diamond on Tuesday for the All-Star Game at Truist Park. And for some, it could be their last moment in the sun for their current franchise.
That's right. We're talking 2025 All-Stars who could be traded before the July 31 trade deadline.
It was a struggle to pick out even eight players for this list, and that much more so because it's wholly believable that the Atlanta Braves have "zero interest" in trading 2023 NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. He's their best player when he's healthy, after all, and he's on one of the most team-friendly deals in the league right now.
As for which All-Stars could actually become trade bait in the next few weeks, let's count 'em down according to how likely they are to go anywhere.
8. 3B Alex Bregman, Boston Red Sox
1 of 8
Age: 31
2025 Stats: 53 G, 234 PA, 11 HR, 1 SB, .298 AVG, .380 OBP, .546 SLG
Contract Status: Year 1 of 3-year, $120 million
It was the signing of Alex Bregman that initially triggered the series of events that led to the trade of Rafael Devers in June, so it would be darkly hilarious if Boston also moved Bregman this summer.
The idea had some traction not too long ago. He ranked No. 1 on Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan of ESPN's list of trade deadline candidates last month. And per Adam Jude of The Seattle Times, the Mariners will be interested if the Red Sox make the veteran available.
Of course, something funny has happened since then. Well, really two somethings.
For one, the 31-year-old is back off the injured list after missing roughly six weeks with a quad strain. For two, the Red Sox are red-hot after going into the break with a 10-game win streak. If the season was over, they would be in the playoffs.
Granted, a post-break cold streak could wipe out Boston's momentum and force chief baseball officer Craig Breslow to reconsider his plans. If so, trading Bregman would only make more sense if the Red Sox can't circumvent his upcoming opt-out by extending him.
For now, though, they have every excuse to rebuff anyone who's interested.
Trade Likelihood: Low
7. RHP Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers
2 of 8
Age: 29
2025 Stats: 20 G, 111.2 IP, 81 H (12 HR), 118 K, 37 BB, 2.66 ERA
Contract Status: Year 6 of 6-year, $22 million with 2026 club option
Freddy Peralta was on The Athletic's trade deadline big board once upon a time, but not anymore as of July 9.
What's changed isn't subtle. He and the Brewers have been hot, with 17 wins in 22 games to round out their first half. The right-hander has had a big role in their overall success this year, as that ERA is on track to be a new career low.
More so than with Bregman and the Red Sox, though, there's a financial reality at play with Peralta and Milwaukee. He's in the last guaranteed year of his contract, and his attempts to get a new deal have reportedly gone nowhere. It may be that the notoriously frugal Brewers are wary over making a deal they might regret.
If the Brewers traded Peralta in the middle of a contention run, it would surely be an unpopular move...but not an unprecedented one. Though the Josh Hader trade of 2022 didn't go over well, it happened all the same and the club is no worse off for it three years later.
Still, it would be a surprise if the Brewers dared to disrupt their clubhouse again if they're still holding the NL's top wild card. And since they have scored 81 more runs than they have allowed, a fall out of contention doesn't seem especially likely.
Trade Likelihood: Low
6. 2B Brendan Donovan, St. Louis Cardinals
3 of 8
Age: 28
2025 Stats: 89 G, 388 PA, 8 HR, 3 SB, .297 AVG, .367 OBP, .430 SLG
Contract Status: 1-year, $2.85 million with arbitration-eligibility through 2027
This is a long shot, as there haven't been any solid rumors or even any vaguely compelling chatter about Brendan Donovan getting traded this summer.
Not that this is surprising. He's been the Cardinals' best position player, and the team has risen above low expectations amid a 51-46 start to the year. They will begin the second half with only a 1.5-game deficit in the NL wild-card race.
However, St. Louis has also been treading water with a 15-18 record over its last 33 games. FanGraphs gives it a 28.5 percent chance of making the playoffs, which is barely better than where it began the year.
Though there has been nothing recently, Donovan has occasionally popped up in trade rumors in the past. Now would arguably be a good time to make him available, and not just because this is probably as high as his value is going to go.
It's a matter of public knowledge that the Cardinals will be undergoing a transition after 2025, with Chaim Bloom set to inherit the front office from John Mozeliak. If the team continues to fade in the NL playoff race, it would be wise to get a head start on the process.
The present isn't special, after all, and the future is clouded by a mediocre farm system. If nothing else, trading Donovan would help the latter.
Trade Likelihood: Low
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5. LHP Aroldis Chapman, Boston Red Sox
4 of 8
Age: 37
2025 Stats: 41 G, 38.0 IP, 19 H (2 HR), 58 K, 10 BB, 1.18 ERA
Contract Status: 1-year, $10.75 million
Even at 37 years old, Aroldis Chapman is still bringing it.
He's chucking his fastball at an average of 99.1 mph and has struck out 40.6 percent of the batters he's faced. And at 2.4 per nine innings, his walk rate is the lowest it's ever been.
It is nonetheless clear that other teams want to get their hands on Chapman. And unlike with Bregman, there is a solid case that the Red Sox should sell high on the veteran lefty.
Whereas they don't have another star third baseman to turn to, they have built up a pretty deep bullpen. If Chapman did go, Garrett Whitlock and Jordan Hicks are guys with closer-caliber stuff who could get a shot in the ninth inning.
Further, Chapman is almost certainly punching above his weight right now. Even if he is an eight-time All-Star, recent seasons have seen him play more in the 3.00-4.00 ERA neighborhood with a high walk rate. Regression may be inevitable.
Like with Bregman, though, Breslow can be in wait-and-see mode with Chapman. If the team does hold onto its playoff spot, it's going to want him closing games in October.
Trade Likelihood: Medium
4. 2B Brandon Lowe, Tampa Bay Rays
5 of 8
Age: 31
2025 Stats: 84 G, 343 PA, 19 HR, 3 SB, .272 AVG, .324 OBP, .487 SLG
Contract Status: Year 7 of 7-year, $34 million with 2026 club option
Brandon Lowe went on the injured list with left oblique tightness over the weekend, so his inclusion on this list comes with at least one asterisk.
If there's another one, it concerns how the Rays are in the American League playoff race. At 50-47, they're only 1.5 games behind the Mariners for the third wild-card spot.
And yet, you can never rule out the Rays from moving anyone who's making even a modest amount of money. Such is the case with Lowe, who's earning $10.5 million with an $11.5 million option for 2026.
Especially given they are deep on the infield, there is also the case that the Rays should sell high on Lowe while they can. The 19 homers he has this year are already just two short of the 21 he hit in 2023 and 2024, and his recent injury only underlines the question of how much he has left.
Further still, the Rays are slipping from contention. Fast. They went into the break as losers of 11 out of their last 14, with FanGraphs having lowered their playoff odds to 36.8 percent.
Trade Likelihood: Medium
3. RHP Joe Ryan, Minnesota Twins
6 of 8
Age: 29
2025 Stats: 19 G, 109.1 IP, 77 H (12 HR), 121 K, 23 BB, 2.72 ERA
Contract Status: 1 year, $3 million, with arbitration-eligibility through 2027
The Twins are ostensibly in the AL playoff picture, but what the team has doesn't exactly resemble momentum.
They won 13 games in a row in May, but are otherwise 34-49 on either side of that stretch. Go back even further to August 19 of last year, and only six teams have lost more games.
It therefore feels bullish that FanGraphs has Minnesota's playoff odds at 23.4 percent. You also have to wonder if a big organizational pivot is inevitable, as all signs point toward the Pohlads passing off ownership of the Twins in the near future.
Which brings us to Joe Ryan, who is starting to draw a crowd, according to MLB Network's Jon Morosi:
He doesn't get a ton of hype—All-Star selection notwithstanding, of course—but he has been one of the more interesting pitchers in MLB for a while now. He's a strikeout-to-walk ratio standout with a sneaky-good fastball, as he leads all pitchers in four-seamer run value even though his sits at a relatively modest 93.4 mph.
Between this and his remaining years of club control, the Twins stand to make a killing if they shop Ryan.
Trade Likelihood: Medium
2. DH Ryan O'Hearn, Baltimore Orioles
7 of 8
Age: 31
2025 Stats: 82 G, 319 PA, 11 HR, 3 SB, .286 AVG, .382 OBP, .458 SLG
Contract Status: Year 2 of 2-year, $11.5 million
The Orioles got as far as 18 games below .500, and that was as soon as May 24. At that point, they seemed almost inescapably doomed.
Well, emphasis on "almost." They have played strong ball since then, going 27-18 to pick themselves up by their bootstraps. If they keep it up, their season may not be lost just yet.
This is, of course, the overly optimistic take on the Orioles' situation. The reality is they're 11.5 games out of first place in the AL East, with FanGraphs putting their odds of making the playoffs in any capacity at 3.1 percent.
They're thus in prime position to cut their losses at the deadline, and trade chips don't come much more obvious than Ryan O'Hearn. He's a pending free agent who has "sell high" written all over him.
He was a solid platoon bat in 2023 and 2024, and he has thus far ascended to something more in 2025. He has a better OPS+ than Rafael Devers, so perhaps he would have been voted in as the AL's designated hitter even without the big trade.
Yet O'Hearn has been in a bit of a freefall with only a .649 OPS since May 28. So if the O's don't trade him, it could be only because interest in him dried up.
Trade Likelihood: High
1. 3B Eugenio Suárez, Arizona Diamondbacks
8 of 8
Age: 33
2025 Stats: 95 G, 391 PA, 31 HR, 1 SB, .250 AVG, .320 OBP, .569 SLG
Contract Status: Year 8 of 8-year, $79 million
As recently as June 29, Bob Nightengale of USA Today was reporting that the Diamondbacks were telling teams they weren't ready to sell.
Which made sense, given the 2023 National League champs boosted their fortunes a bit with a 15-11 record in June. For FanGraphs, they began July with odds of making the playoffs in the neighborhood of 30 percent.
Well, so much for that. The Snakes lost 12 of their last 18 before the break, and now Nightengale is singing a different tune: Arizona's doors are open.
If the D-backs trade absolutely nobody else, they should trade Eugenio Suárez. He's on an expiring contract and his bat has been scorching for a while now, with his last 162 games yielding 52 home runs.
Any team that acquires Suárez will also have to live with strikeouts and iffy defense at the cold corner, but his power is worth it. Beyond having a lot of it just in general, he knows when to tap into it. Of his 31 homers, 14 have come with men on base.
Trade Likelihood: High
Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.
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