Latest MLB Trade Rumors Ahead of 2025 Winter Meetings

Along with a red-hot free agent market, the trade market in Major League Baseball is heating up ahead of the 2025 Winter Meetings, with several high-profile players' names coming up in conversations with both contending teams and others looking to claw their way back into playoff contention after long droughts.

Starting pitcher Joe Ryan, former All-Star outfielder Teoscar Hernández, and the Pittsburgh Pirates' starting rotation are all garnering interest, according to reports from the game's top insiders.

Dive deeper into each topic with this collection of trade rumors.

Mets Interested in Joe Ryan

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The New York Mets need starting pitching help, and according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, they are intrigued by the prospect of trading for Minnesota Twins starter Joe Ryan.

Ryan is an All-Star who accumulated a career-low ERA in 2025 at 3.42, pitched a career-high 171 innings, and struck out 194 batters, all for a 70-92 team.

Heyman's report noted that the Twins are interested in Jonah Tong, one of the bright young pitchers who made his Major League debut last season after wowing in the minor leagues.

Tong went 10-5 with a 1.43 ERA while playing for the Mets' double- and triple-A teams. He flashed the assets that made an exciting call-up, even as he struggled in five appearances for New York, where he achieved a 7.71 ERA in 18 innings.

While some would denounce the idea of trading for a pitcher whose career-high WAR is 4.4 games in return for a young righty who could hold down a spot in the rotation for the next decade, the Mets organization has done a fine job of developing pitchers, with Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat playing meaningful games for the team at the tail-end of the year.

That development has afforded them the opportunity to even entertain the idea of a trade. It means the Mets can realistically trade Tong for a proven starter who was the only bright spot in a miserable season for Minnesota, a move the organization should absolutely pull the proverbial trigger on.

Would the Dodgers Trade Teoscar Hernández?

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In his two season thus far with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Teoscar Hernández has won two World Series, was an All-Star, a Silver Slugger, and received MVP consideration.

According to Ken Rosenthal and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic, the idea of the team trading him is "not without logic."

"Hernández's name is coming up in trade conversations, according to league sources," they reported while noting that the team views a deal as unlikely.

The veteran ranked near the bottom of the majors in outs above average (-9), and the organization possesses one of the older crops of position players in the game. For the long-term future of the team, the front office would likely look to acquire or promote younger talent. Trading Hernández would be a step toward achieving that goal, creating playing time for said young talent.

So-so defense and diminishing returns offensively down the stretch has made a potential MVP candidate expendable. An affordable contract makes him a more attractive option for a potential trade partner.

Nothing suggests Hernández cannot rediscover his form from two seasons ago, when he was key in fueling the Dodgers to the first of their consecutive World Series wins. Perhaps that is why the team does not foresee a trade actually happening.

That his name has been mentioned, though, should be enough to make interested teams throw out an offer and see what comes of it.

Pirates Open to Dealing From Their Rotation

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The Pittsburgh Pirates traded Johan Oviedo and two prospects to the Boston Red Sox on Thursday for outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia and right-handed prospect Jesus Travieso, and they may not done dealing from their rotation.

Rosenthal reported, "Yet, even after parting with Oviedo, the Pirates are open to trading another starting pitcher not named Paul Skenes, according to team sources. The return would need to be a hitter who would go directly into their lineup."

That includes Mitch Keller.

The Pirates scored the fewest runs in MLB in 2025 with 583, so it makes sense that the front office would be looking to add offense to their lineup, especially after Toronto and Los Angeles played a World Series in which their fire power was on full display.

Keller remains a talented pitcher who, in 32 starts last season, accumulated a 4.19 ERA and allowed 21 home runs, both his lowest since 2022. An All-Star in 2023, he still has strong stuff and could be a difference-maker for a contending team willing to give up a quality bat and a prospect or two.

According to Rosenthal, the team is already considering adding Jorge Polanco, Ryan O'Hearn and Kazuma Okamoto in free agency, while Brandon Lowe of Tampa Bay and Jeff McNeil of the Mets are potential additions via trade.

"Pretty much every hitter available is on the Pirates' radar," he wrote.

While Pittsburgh wants to put an end to seven straight losing seasons, trading Keller or any starter from their rotation may prove to be a more immediate help for their partner than the team itself, which has one too many holes to fill before it can make a legitimate push toward the playoffs.