10 Fresh MLB Trade Ideas 1 Month from 2026 Trade Deadline
With one month remaining until MLB's August 3 trade deadline, there are only five teams more than six games out of playoff position: Mets, Giants, Angels, Royals and Rockies.
In all likelihood, those five will be sellers at the deadline. But who will join them?
The Red Sox, Tigers, Reds and Orioles are all teetering on the brink, but as we've seen from the Rays' seven-game winning streak and Yankees' seven-game losing streak in recent days, things can swing in a big way in the 25 or so games remaining until a decision needs to be made.
As we wait for those lines in the sand to become more clear, though, we've got 10 fresh ideas for trades that could transpire, including an upside-down world in which Tampa Bay becomes the most aggressive buyer of them all.
Statistics current through the start of play on Thursday, July 2. All contract data courtesy of Spotrac.
Marlins Infuse Lineup With Some Power
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The Trade: Miami Marlins acquire 1B Willson Contreras from Boston Red Sox for IF Starlyn Caba and LHP Nate Payne
There's nothing close to a 2025 Eugenio Suárez—two-month rental in the mix to lead the majors in home runs—on this year's trade block. In fact, it's hard to see anyone currently in the top 20 in home runs getting dealt this summer, unless the Rockies are going to move Hunter Goodman with three years of control remaining. (More on that shortly.)
Willson Contreras is likely to be the cream of the crop in that department, with 18 home runs and two years of team control left on his contract with a team that is 11 games under .500.
Wouldn't it be fun if Miami was the team who made it happen?
For months, we had been cooking up Sandy Alcantara trade possibilities for if and when the Marlins ended up selling at the deadline. But after a 20-6 run through June, they are instead right in the thick of the wild card race, possibly one big bat away from becoming a real deal contender.
At present, they only have one player with more than 10 home runs—Liam Hicks with 13—and even he has only homered twice since Memorial Day. They also recently demoted what had been their primary first baseman (Connor Norby) and they definitely don't have an everyday designated hitter, meaning there's plenty of room for Contreras in that lineup.
There's also plenty of room in that budget for Contreras' contract, as Miami currently ranks 30th in payroll and has virtually no figures on the books beyond this season, aside from Alcantara's $21M club option for 2027. And if they're not trading him away this summer, they might as well be adding some multi-year solutions.
White Sox Bolster Underwhelming Rotation
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The Trade: Chicago White Sox acquire LHP Robbie Ray from San Francisco Giants for LHP Shane Murphy and RHP Duncan Davitt
Two years removed from setting a modern-day futility record with 121 losses, the White Sox are legitimately contending well ahead of schedule, perched atop an exceedingly winnable AL Central.
Because they are essentially playing with house money, they may well opt to just let it ride—similar to when the Orioles broke through in 2022 after a miserable four-year stretch, only to do more selling than buying at that deadline.
But if the White Sox are in it to win it, upgrading a rotation that gets ugly after Davis Martin and Sean Burke is a must.
Even if they're buying, they are presumably going to be keeping their eyes on the long-term prize and reluctant to part with any key pieces of the farm system for a short-term solution. That's going to make it nearly impossible for them to win the bidding wars for Tarik Skubal, Freddy Peralta or Joe Ryan.
An $8M rental of Robbie Ray, though? That might be doable.
The veteran southpaw has been on fire lately, going 22.1 innings across his last three appearances without allowing any earned runs. In fact, if you take out the 10-run calamity in Arizona last month, he has a 2.66 ERA for the year and deserves to be part of a postseason rotation before hitting free agency again.
Aroldis Chapman Returns to the North Side
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The Trade: Chicago Cubs acquire LHP Aroldis Chapman from Boston Red Sox for C Ariel Armas and RHP Brooks Caple
Did you know that the 49-win Chicago Cubs only have 15 saves this season? Or that no one on the team has saved more than three games?
Granted, 21 of those 49 wins were by at least five runs, and 10 of the remaining 28 were won in walk-off fashion. But the fact of the matter is that Chicago's closer situation is a gigantic question mark, unless they are irrationally confident in Daniel Palencia getting healthy and regaining his ninth inning form from last summer.
Well, there has been a lot of scuttlebutt recently about the possibility of Aroldis Chapman returning to the Yankees, but what if he reunited with a team that actually won a World Series while he was on the roster?
Chapman is the most intriguing closer believed to be on the trade block. He successfully converted each of his first 14 save chances prior to a couple of hiccups in late June, but hard to argue with 16-for-18 on the year and nearly 400 saves in his career.
Chapman is making $13M in 2026 and is owed $13M next season, provided he reaches 40 IP (currently at 24.2) and passes an end-of-year physical. But that's a price the Cubs can afford to pay to add something close to a sure thing to their mess of a bullpen.
Luis Arraez to the Texas Rangers
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The Trade: Texas Rangers acquire 2B Luis Arraez from San Francisco Giants for RHP Leandro Lopez and OF Maxton Martin
Luis Arraez is almost certainly going to be on the move this summer, batting .326 and playing fantastic defense at second base for a 36-50 Giants team that is completely wasting his banner year.
It's really just a question of where he lands, but Texas might be the team most desperate to get him.
Six different players have started at second for the Rangers this season, with the light-hitting Nicky Lopez currently holding down that fort with a shocking .341 batting average since Texas scooped him off waivers in late May. However, considering the 31-year-old hit .229 with five different teams over the previous four seasons combined, betting on that continuing through the second half would almost certainly be a mistake.
This Rangers offense is barely averaging four runs per game as is, and it just lost Corey Seager to the IL for the third time already this season. They can't afford to make that type of mistake and still win the AL West.
Michael Wacha Returns to St. Louis
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The Trade: St. Louis Cardinals acquire RHP Michael Wacha from Kansas City Royals for C Leo Bernal, LHP Brandon Clarke and IF Deniel Ortiz
Now 35 years old, Michael Wacha broke into the majors with the Cardinals back in 2013, making four consecutive quality starts for them that postseason. He spent seven seasons there before leaving in free agency, but it might be time to bring him back home.
Wacha is currently enjoying what might be the best season of his career, leading the American League in innings pitched with a dozen quality starts already to his credit.
Despite his individual success, the Royals have the second-worst record in baseball, just one game ahead of the Colorado Rockies and certain to be sellers.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals could desperately use a veteran arm in their rotation for this season and beyond, and Wacha could be their Game 1 starter if they stick around and make the postseason.
It'll take a pretty significant prospect haul to get Kansas City to move an ace with two years of control remaining, but St. Louis could make it happen.
Wacha is making $18M this season, is well on track for $18M in 2027 and has a club option for 2028 that could be as much as $18M or as little as a $1M buyout. But if he continues to pitch as well as he has over the past 4.5 seasons, that contract is a steal.
Hunter Goodman to the Bronx Bombers
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The Trade: New York Yankees acquire C Hunter Goodman from Colorado Rockies for RHP Carlos Lagrange, OF Spencer Jones and SS Kaeden Kent
Since the beginning of June, Hunter Goodman has clubbed an MLB-best 14 home runs. Over the course of the full season, his 27 homers rank second only to Kyle Schwarber's 30. And though the Rockies are going nowhere fast for an eighth consecutive season, Goodman's three remaining years of arbitration eligibility ensure he won't come cheap if he does land on the trade block.
This is no three-month, flash-in-the-pan type of run, either. Goodman also hit 31 home runs last season en route to the All-Star Game and a Silver Slugger award, this after he racked up 70 home runs between the 2022 and 2023 seasons in the minors.
And the eternal worry when trading for a Rockies hitter? Not a problem here. Goodman has slugged .505 in 158 games played at Coors Field compared to a .495 slugging percentage everywhere else.
Meanwhile, the Yankees are getting desperate, held to four runs or fewer in 12 consecutive games and getting a whole lot of nothing out of Austin Wells this entire season. And after going to Colorado for Ryan McMahon and Jake Bird at last year's deadline, it's high time they do it again.
AA Goes Back to LAA for Reid Detmers
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The Trade: Atlanta Braves acquire LHP Reid Detmers from Los Angeles Angels for RHP Owen Murphy and IF Jose Perdomo
Over the past four calendar years, the Braves and Angels have put together a dozen different swaps with or purchases from one another.
Whether that's the most deals brokered between two clubs during that window, I'm not sure. It's a lot, though. And while the Angels recently replaced GM Perry Minasian with John Mozeliak, there's plenty of reason to believe Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos will be working that phone line yet again to try to acquire Reid Detmers.
The almost 27-year-old southpaw is having a career year with a sub-3.00 FIP and just a 1.07 WHIP. He has always had good strikeout stuff, but his entire pitch arsenal is working like never before. And though he has two years of arbitration eligibility remaining, the perennially losing Angels ought to at least be listening to offers for him.
The Braves will be motivated to make a good one, given their injuries and Bryce Elder's recent vanishing act. They don't have much working right now aside from Chris Sale and the hope that Martín Pérez can defy the odds by both staying healthy and continuing to pitch well. Detmers easily could be the No. 2 arm in this rotation down the stretch and into October.
Blue Jays Acquire Freddy Peralta
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The Trade: Toronto Blue Jays acquire RHP Freddy Peralta from New York Mets for OF RJ Schreck and RHP Jake Bloss
It'll go over like a lead balloon at Citi Field if the Mets trade away Freddy Peralta for an outfield prospect and a right-handed pitching prospect, a mere eight months after they gave up much better outfield (Jett Williams) and right-handed pitching prospects (Brandon Sproat) to get him from Milwaukee.
Such is life when cutting your losses amid a woeful 36-51 season.
Toronto has also been painfully underwhelming compared to preseason expectations, incredibly the only team in the majors that doesn't have multiple players with at least 10 home runs. But the Blue Jays are at least within shouting distance of a wild card spot and just kind of have to hope that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the offense eventually comes around.
They ought to be looking to trade for a starting pitcher, though.
Even if Shane Bieber locks in for a healthy second half, Patrick Corbin ranking third on the team in innings pitched has to be terrifying if you're a Blue Jays fan. Replacing him with Peralta could be a night and day difference for a team that has been languishing in mediocrity for three months.
Astros Plunder the Orioles
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The Trade: Houston Astros acquire OF Taylor Ward and LHP Trevor Rogers from Baltimore Orioles for OF Kevin Alvarez, RHP Bryce Mayer and RHP Jackson Nezuh
It's unlikely the Orioles will embrace any sort of full-scale fire sale in which they unload players with team control remaining beyond this season. Specifically, we don't expect to see Adley Rutschman going anywhere.
They might throw in the towel and dump some impending free agents, though, if another team is willing to make it worth their while.
The two big ones are Taylor Ward and Trevor Rogers.
The former isn't slugging like he used to, but his on-base percentage has been hovering around .400 all season long. Would be nice to slot him ahead of, say, Yordan Alvarez in a lineup.
The latter got out to a miserable start to the season, but he had a 2.05 ERA in June and is once again looking like the guy who was a bona fide ace for his 18 starts in 2025. Would be nice to have him to replace, say, Mike Burrows (5.58 ERA; 5.48 FIP) in a rotation.
Both are coveted rentals, and Houston would have to give up a fair amount to snag both in one fell swoop. Kevin Alvarez is their top prospect and a borderline top 100 overall prospect. Bryce Mayer is their highest-rated pitcher, too. But adding Ward and Rogers may well be what pushes them back to the top of the AL West.
Rays Win Skubal Sweepstakes
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The Trade: Tampa Bay Rays acquire LHP Tarik Skubal from Detroit Tigers for OF Theo Gillen and RHP Michael Forret
First and foremost, the jury is still out on what the Tigers are going to do. They're 11 games under .500, but they've gone an AL-best 16-11 since the beginning of June and sit a not-insurmountable six games back in the crowded AL wild card race. With a strong July, they might be buyers.
For now, though, it still feels likely that Skubal will be spending the final two months of the regular season with the highest bidder—with many resigned to the fact that it's probably going to be the Dodgers.
But what if the Rays did the most un-Rays thing ever and took a huge swing on a rental in hopes of both locking up the AL's No. 1 seed and having a rotation good enough to win the first World Series in franchise history?
They have a strong top three in Drew Rasmussen, Shane McClanahan and Nick Martinez, but there's plenty of room for improvement with Griffin Jax and a rotating opener rounding out this rotation.
And if they are possibly willing to part with 2024 first-round pick Theo Gillen, that's probably the most promising prospect Detroit is going to be offered for a Skubal rental. The thought of having him, Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle anchoring this lineup from 2028-32 might be too good to pass up.
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