Byron Buxton, Taylor Ward and 8 Potential Surprise MLB Trade Candidates

Given that Mike Trout has hit 11 home runs and posted a .966 OPS so far this season, there's already speculation that the Los Angeles Angels should or will trade the future Hall of Fame in advance of the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

Here's the question we would counter with: Why?

Trout has a full no-trade clause and has never shown any indication that he wants to play elsewhere. He was a massive fan of Derek Jeter growing up, and Jeter spent his entire 20-year career with the New York Yankees. Granted, Trout wasn't drafted by as successful of a franchise. Still, there's always been a feeling he wants to try to emulate Jeter and spend his entire career with one team.

Even from the perspective of the Angels, why would they want to move him at this point? Sure, they could offload the nearly $150 million he's owed over the next four seasons, but the trade return for a relatively expensive 34-year-old with a lengthy injury history would likely be underwhelming. They've blown the chance to make the best of his peak years, but in keeping Trout, they could have him hit his milestone homers in an Angels uniform and spend his whole career with the Halos.

Obviously, if Trout finally decides he's had enough, that will change the calculation. We're just not particularly convinced he's ever going to do that.

While Trout may not end up being in play, here's eight relatively surprising options who could become trade fodder in the coming weeks and months.

Bryan Abreu: RHP, Houston Astros

Olivia Vanni/Getty Images

If the Astros don't turn things around after an ugly 16-23 start, there will surely be teams who try to pry Yordan Alvarez—who has reclaimed his spot as one of the league's premier hitters—away from them.

It just seems unlikely that general manager Dana Brown and the Astros would part with a 28-year-old superstar that's signed through the 2028 season, even if they are willing to waive the white flag on 2026.

However, Bryan Abreu could very well become coveted by contending teams. Granted, the impending free agent has had a disastrous start to the 2026 season, with a 9.49 ERA through his 13 games. But he was one of baseball's best relievers from 2022-2025, posting a 2.30 ERA over 275 appearances. He's got a 2.49 ERA in 21 career postseason games.

Assuming the 29-year-old is healthy and starts to hit his stride, he'll be in high demand this summer for teams looking to add a top set-up man. It remains to be seen whether the Astros will be willing to do a minor sale.

Sonny Gray: RHP, Boston Red Sox

Winslow Townson/Getty Images

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow believed the Red Sox were underachieving under Alex Cora, and they have won seven of their first 12 games with Chad Tracy as their interim manager. The thought process in Boston definitely doesn't seem to be that this is going to be a team subtracting come late July and early August.

With that said, the AL East has five teams with legitimate playoff aspirations, and if the Red Sox aren't able to get into the playoff conversation, they're going to have some veterans that contending teams have interest in.

Obviously, there's long been talk of Jarren Duran getting a change of scenery given how many outfield/DH types the Red Sox have. He has just a .584 OPS this season, so Boston would be selling low on him, but there would definitely be suitors.

Ditto for Sonny Gray, who the Red Sox acquired in a trade from the St. Louis Cardinals this past offseason. Across his first six outings for the Red Sox, Gray has a 3.54 ERA.

There are a few factors that could limit his market. First of all, his 4.31 FIP does suggest he could see some regression moving forward. A bigger impediment is that the 36-year-old has a full no-trade clause in his contract. While he waived that to be dealt from the Cardinals to the Red Sox, would Gray be interested in moving again?

Contending teams are always in need of starting pitching, though. If Gray—who is in the final guaranteed season of a three-year, $75 million contract—becomes available, he'll garner interest.

Byron Buxton: CF, Minnesota Twins

Evan Yu/MLB Photos via Getty Images

For the majority of his time in the league, Byron Buxton has indicated a desire to spend his entire career with the Minnesota Twins, the team he's played all 12 years with to this point.

However, Buxton indicated in Spring Training that he didn't appreciate that the Twins didn't squash his name as a trade candidate in the winter.

"All it takes is for somebody at the top to go to the media, 'We're not trading you,'" Buxton said, per MLB.com's Matthew Leach. "Trade rumors stop. Now we don't have those conversations. That's how simple this could get. But as I stated, it's different, it's different."

The Twins are 16-23, and don't have a path to competing in the near future. If the 32-year-old is healthy—obviously, that's a big if—and the Twins approach him in the summer about waiving his no-trade clause, you wonder if he would be willing to consider the possibility of going to a contending team.

Buxton—signed through 2028 to an incentive-heavy deal that includes base salaries of $15.14 million—is a Georgia native, and given how hot of a start the Braves are off to, there will be plenty of speculation about him getting traded to Atlanta to play left and/or center field.

The truth is that while the Braves would make a ton of sense and Buxton could tell the Twins he only wants to be traded to Atlanta or he won't waive his NTC, there would likely be other attractive landing spots available to the two-time All-Star.

CJ Abrams: SS, Washington Nationals

Alyssa McDaniel/MLB Photos via Getty Images

At the time of publication, the Nationals are actually in second place in the NL East. However, that's a distant second place behind the Braves, and it's fair to be skeptical that the Nats are going to have staying power.

Even if the Nationals make the calculation that they probably won't grab a wild-card spot in 2026, first-year president of baseball operations Paul Taboni might opt to hold onto some of the more talented players on the roster thinking Washington is only a year or two away from contending.

Then again, Abrams is off to a scalding-hot start, with a .931 OPS. He's going to start to get more expensive through the arbitration system, and can become a free agent after the 2028 season. If the Nationals don't see themselves giving the 25-year-old a long-term contract, this summer could be the ideal time to maximize the trade return for Abrams.

How the Nationals proceed with Abrams will be an interesting test of where they think they're at as an organization. What's important to remember here is that Taboni didn't acquire Abrams in the August 2022 trade that sent Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres. So he's probably less tied to Abrams being part of the next great Nationals team than his predecessor, Mike Rizzo, was.

Clay Holmes: RHP, New York Mets

Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images

It's still hard to think that the Mets—a team with a staggering payroll—isn't going to play their way into at least contending for a wild-card spot in the National League.

Yet, the Mets are tied with the San Francisco Giants for the worst record in the senior circuit at 15-23. They have a minus-26 run differential, so it's not as though this is a team that's had bad luck to this point. At least so far, the Mets are just a bad team.

While we're not ruling out the possibility they heat up, it's certainly not unreasonable right now to think of them as a possible trade deadline seller, though Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor aren't going anywhere. Even Bo Bichette, who is going to want to trade for him now, knowing he has a .571 OPS and will opt into his $55 million salary for 2027 if he continues to struggle, but opt out and return to free agency if he heats up?

So even if president of baseball operations David Stearns is willing to consider being a seller, there are going to be complications.

Clay Holmes is one of the pieces on the Mets roster who could be a relatively straightforward trade candidate. The 33-year-old righty has a 3.15 ERA across 208.1 innings since joining the Mets in 2025. His transition from a reliever to starter has been overwhelmingly successful.

Holmes would likely a rental, because he can opt out of the final season of a three-year, $38 million contract next offseason, something he likely will do in search of a new multi-year pact with a higher average annual value. That might up the ante for the Mets to get some return for him this summer, unless they either get back in the playoff picture or sign him to a new deal.

Taylor Ward: OF, Baltimore Orioles

Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

Obviously, the Orioles hoped to contend when they traded Grayson Rodriguez to the Angels in November to acquire just one guaranteed season of Taylor Ward. Even with a 17-22 start and a minus-38 run differential, that may still happen.

There is a reality, though, that the AL East will still likely prove to be baseball's toughest division and if the O's don't end up having a path to the postseason, president of baseball operations Mike Elias will likely have a hard time not trading Ward before he walks in free agency.

In today's game, there's a dearth of right-handed hitting outfielders. Ward has only hit one home run so far this season, which seems like it would be disappointing considering he hit 36 for the Halos a year ago. But he leads the AL with 13 doubles and has an .806 OPS, so he's still been really effective at the plate. History tells us the home runs are going to come.

The ideal scenario for the Orioles would be that Ward is part of a lineup with Gunnar Henderson, Pete Alonso, Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo that hits Baltimore into being a playoff contender, at the very least.

If that doesn't happen, however, Ward is going to become one of the most coveted players on the trade market. Elias has made his name as a great talent evaluator, so he could very well get a future impact player or two in return for a few months of Ward given how desperate teams are for right-handed hitters with pop.

James Wood: OF/DH, Washington Nationals

Kelly Gavin/MLB Photos via Getty Images

This is more of a long shot than the aforementioned Abrams, but here us out.

When the Nationals traded Soto to the Padres in August of 2022, he was in his age-23 season, and had two-and-a-half years until free agency. James Wood is 23 years old. Given that he can't become a free agent until after the 2030 season, the Nationals might not feel inclined to move him right now, even if they aren't sure they'll want to meet his long-term asking price. That likely won't stop contending teams from calling this summer.

Wood is still probably best-suited as a DH, but has seen time at both corner outfield spots this season. And he's a special enough hitter that teams are going to be fine with him as an entrenched DH if that's what ends up being the arrangement. He's going to strike out, as he led baseball with 221 punchouts last season and already has 60 K's this year. However, he also leads the NL with 34 walks, has homered 10 times and has a career .821 OPS.

This is probably more of a discussion for a year from now, but again, Taboni didn't acquire Wood in the 2022 Soto trade. Taboni has an ownership group that's shown no recent inclination to spend money, so if he's offered a king's ransom of prospects for Wood before he starts to get expensive through the arbitration system, perhaps he would be tempted.

Ketel Marte: 2B, Arizona Diamondbacks

Zach Gardner/MLB Photos via Getty Images

The Diamondbacks openly flirted with trading Ketel Marte in the offseason, before general manager Mike Hazen ended up deciding to hold onto the three-time All-Star. That alone makes him worth watching if the 17-20 DBacks fade out of contention.

One complicating factor is that Marte reached 10 years of service time in April, which gives him 10-and-5 rights, meaning he now possesses a full no-trade clause. So Marte could block any potential trade, or try to force his way to a specific destination if the Snakes shopped him this summer.

First things first, Marte has to get his season on track. After hitting .283 with an .887 OPS between 2023 and 2025, Marte is hitting just .209 with a .614 OPS so far in 2026. At 32 years old, it's hard to think Marte is hitting a wall just yet.

There's a lot of moving parts here, which make it more likely Marte will remain in Phoenix moving forward. Still, the former NLCS MVP would be one of the most impactful players available if the Diamondbacks were willing to move him this summer, so he's worth keeping an eye on.