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Last-Minute Blockbuster MLB Trade Pitches Before 2026 Season
Opening Day for the 2026 Major League Baseball season is at our doorstep, but let's put out one final plea for some blockbuster trades before the offseason officially draws to a close.
We know it's exceptionally unlikely that anything substantial will happen in these final hours before the season begins. However, one can always dream of a Rusty Staub type of last-minute blockbuster, traded from the Expos to the Mets in early April 1972 after five consecutive years as an All-Star.
If that's the bar, though, we've got to aim pretty high with these blockbuster trade pitches, each of which involves a player who was named an All-Star in either 2024 or 2025—or both, as is the case for Ketel Marte.
CJ Abrams to the Boston Red Sox
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The Trade: Washington Nationals send SS CJ Abrams to Boston Red Sox for LHP Connelly Early, LHP Jake Bennett and SS Hector Ramos
CJ Abrams is one of just five players to amass at least 50 home runs and 100 stolen bases over the past three seasons. The others are Bobby Witt Jr., Elly De La Cruz, Corbin Carroll and José Ramírez.
Abrams was quietly worth at least 3.4 bWAR in each of 2023, 2024 and 2025.
His defense at shortstop is far from great, and the career on-base percentage of .306 leaves much to be desired.
He's almost certainly available, though, under team control through 2028, but on a team that isn't looking likely to contend again before then. And from the moment the Nationals traded away MacKenzie Gore in late January, we've been just kind of waiting to find out where Abrams is headed.
Boston is probably the best fit.
Not only are there question marks throughout that Red Sox infield, but that's where Paul Toboni had spent the past decade before becoming Washington's president of baseball operations. He knows that farm system and that organization about as well as anyone, and the Red Sox clearly enjoy negotiating with their former executives, already acquiring both Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras from St. Louis since Chaim Bloom took the helm there.
What Washington could get in return is the great unknown, but they desperately need pitching. A package headlined by Connelly Early could grease the wheels.
Joe Ryan to the Arizona Diamondbacks
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The Trade: Minnesota Twins send RHP Joe Ryan to the Arizona Diamondbacks for OF Ryan Waldschmidt, IF Demetrio Crisantes and LHP Kohl Drake
If we were going to get anything close to a "White Sox traded away Dylan Cease in mid-March 2024" type of blockbuster deal during spring training, the likeliest culprit would have been Minnesota.
After all, the Twins did nothing of note this offseason to improve upon last year's 92-loss mess, and then they lost Pablo López to a torn UCL within the first week of spring training.
In any other division, they would already be effectively drawing dead heading into Opening Day. And we did enter the offseason rather expecting the Twins to continue the fire sale they began at last summer's trade deadline.
Then there's Arizona, who brought back Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly and Paul Sewald, brought in Mike Soroka, Carlos Santana and Nolan Arenado...and still has the 10th-best odds of making it into the National League's six-team postseason field.
Go get Joe Ryan, though, and that could change in a big way.
With Corbin Burnes (Tommy John surgery) not coming back until at least the All-Star Break (if at all) and Gallen likely to leave in free agency next winter, two years' worth of an ace-caliber pitcher like Ryan could be this team's saving grace. And with Kelly (back) expected to open the season on the IL, the Snakes might be a little desperate to shore up that rotation.
The problem is they don't have much in their farm system, but 2024 first-round pick Ryan Waldschmidt could be a solid headliner going the other way in a blockbuster.
Byron Buxton to the Houston Astros
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The Trade: Minnesota Twins send CF Byron Buxton to the Houston Astros for SS Xavier Neyens, C Walker Janek and RHP Miguel Ullola
Well, if we've got the Twins parting ways with Joe Ryan, better throw together yet another hypothetical Byron Buxton swap, too, as it wouldn't make a ton of sense for Minnesota to trade one of their two healthy stars while keeping the other.
Buxton does have a full no-trade clause that could keep him with the Twins through 2028. Can't very well talk trade block without at least mentioning that little detail.
If they're burning it all down, though, it's unlikely Buxton would insist upon remaining on a sinking ship.
And Houston could certainly use him.
Our Joel Reuter has spent more than a month ranking every team's starting (insert position here) for the 2026 season. The Astros ranked 21st in center field (Jake Meyers), 22nd in right field (Cam Smith) and 27th in left field (Joey Loperfido).
While they do have Yordan Alvarez as the primary DH and occasional left fielder as well as an infield logjam that figures to bump Jose Altuve to left field every now and then, the general state of this outfield isn't exactly the best. It's why those "Isaac Paredes to the Red Sox for an outfielder" rumors and speculations kept popping up all winter.
As with trying to get Joe Ryan to Arizona, though, the difficulty in drawing up a trade in which Houston is the buyer is the near-total lack of anything in the farm system for prospective trade partners to get excited about.
Buxton's $15M salary would also pose a problem for the Astros, so it would maybe need to be a three-team deal in which Houston could unload some payroll while having a different team help improve Minnesota's prospect haul. But a package headlined by 2025 first-round pick Xavier Neyens could be enticing enough.
Jasson Domínguez to the Kansas City Royals
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The Trade: New York Yankees trade LF Jasson Domínguez to the Kansas City Royals for LHP Kris Bubic, LHP David Shields and OF Asbel Gonzalez
Flipping the script a bit with this one, as the recent All-Star wouldn't be the one generating headlines.
In this case, the All-Star was Kris Bubic in 2025. He missed the final two months of the campaign with a rotator cuff strain, but he had a 2.55 ERA when he landed on the shelf and sure has picked up this spring where he left off last summer, logging 12 innings with 14 strikeouts and just one earned run allowed.
However, Bubic is making $6.1M in his final arbitration-eligible season before hitting free agency this winter, and the Royals have a deep enough rotation that they could move him if the right offer came along.
They would probably pounce at the opportunity to swap him for Jasson Domínguez: a league-minimum outfielder with a sky-high ceiling and five remaining years of team control.
He would perhaps immediately become their top outfielder. Because like Bubic, he has been marvelous this spring, batting .333 with three home runs and three stolen bases. However, after re-signing both Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham, the Yankees don't really have a home for him, optioning him to Triple-A on Friday.
Meanwhile, with Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón and Clarke Schmidt each unavailable to start the season, an established stopgap solution could be huge. And once their injured arms heal up, perhaps Bubic becomes a major trade chip to help address whatever becomes New York's biggest need four months from now.
Trevor Megill to the Texas Rangers
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The Trade: Milwaukee Brewers send RHP Trevor Megill to the Texas Rangers for RHP Caden Scarborough
One big thing at the heart of the Milwaukee Brewers' staying power on a budget has been A) their ability to develop All-Star closers and B) their willingness to trade away those closers with 1-2 years remaining before they walk for nothing in free agency.
They did it with Josh Hader.
They did it with Devin Williams.
Maybe next they'll do it with Trevor Megill, who has a 2.60 ERA and has saved 51 games over the past two seasons, named an All-Star in 2025.
They do have Abner Uribe as that next closer-in-waiting, and he won't reach free agency until after the 2030 season. So if the Texas Rangers are willing to give up a borderline top 100 prospect to get two years' worth of Megill, Milwaukee would probably at least hear them out.
On the Rangers side of things, not having a reliable closer was their undoing in 2025.
En route to going 81-81, they blew 29 saves and posted a 4.59 ERA in the ninth inning and beyond, compared to 3.35 in the first eight innings of ball games. Yet, their "big" offseason move on that front was taking a flyer on Alexis Diaz...who they've already cut, after he had more earned runs allowed than outs recorded in a few spring training appearances.
Thus, it's looking like it'll be Robert Garcia as the first option in a bullpen by committee. But they could address that with one phone call to the Brewers.
Randy Arozarena to the Cincinnati Reds
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The Trade: Seattle Mariners send LF Randy Arozarena to the Cincinnati Reds for IF Edwin Arroyo and LHP Brandon Williamson
In March 2022, Seattle sent Brandon Williamson to Cincinnati as part of the Eugenio Suárez trade. A few months later, Edwin Arroyo was part of the package the Mariners sent the Reds for Luis Castillo.
Wouldn't it be fun for them to bring those former top prospects back home?
Truth be told: No clue if we're overvaluing or undervaluing one year's worth of Randy Arozarena's services with this hypothetical swap.
What we do know is that Arozarena and José Ramírez are the only players to have amassed at least 20 home runs and at least 20 stolen bases in each of the past five seasons, that Arozarena hit a career-high 27 home runs last season and that the Reds would've loved to have had anyone on their 2025 roster reach at least 25 dingers.
Though they did bring back Suárez to help with that HR plight, Cincinnati's outfield situation heading into Opening Day is looking like Noelvi Marte in right, Spencer Steer in left and TJ Friedl in center with Will Benson and Dane Myers as the reserves—none of whom is exactly irreplaceable.
What we also know is there was some beef between Arozarena and Cal Raleigh over that snubbed handshake in the World Baseball Classic, and that there's really no question which of the two players the Mariners would toss onto the trade block if things aren't nearly as "water under the bridge" as they want us to believe.
Lastly, we know that Seattle's projected 26-man payroll is about $15M higher than last season, and that the M's are on the hook for $15.65M to Arozarena. If there's even an inkling of a continued clubhouse rift, they might seize the opportunity to save a considerable chunk of change.
Jarren Duran and Ketel Marte Swap Teams
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The Trade: Boston Red Sox send OF Jarren Duran and RHP Kutter Crawford to the Arizona Diamondbacks for 2B Ketel Marte
Similar to Sandy Alcantara, Luis Robert Jr. and Vladimir Guerrero at this time one year ago, it's not officially a hypothetical trades article until we've mentioned both Ketel Marte and one of Boston's outfielders.
Might as well go two birds, one stone, right?
Goodness knows there was plenty of speculation back during "Winter Meetings SZN" about Boston's interest in adding three-time All-Star Marte to a questionable infield.
Goodness also knows Arizona could use some help in the outfield in the form of 2024 All-Star Jarren Duran, as well as another option for its starting rotation—even if that option is Kutter Crawford, who missed all of 2025 due to both a knee and wrist injury and didn't pitch in a game in spring training.
Duran is making $7.7M this season. Crawford is making $2.75M. Both are arbitration-eligible through 2028. That's plenty doable for the Snakes.
Meanwhile, Marte is owed another $103.5M over the next six years, and his full no-trade clause goes into effect at some point in April. There actually might be a fair amount of "now or never" motivation for Arizona to make this happen.
What's up for debate is whether the trade would even help Arizona in 2026, or if it just shifts the big question mark in this lineup from LF to 2B while jettisoning a fan favorite. The Diamondbacks would perhaps also insist upon getting Kristian Campbell in the deal, which is perhaps why it never got very close to the finish line a few months ago.
