8 Realistic MLB Trades to Boost AL and NL's Top Teams
All-Star roster snubs, Home Run Derby participants and the first-year player draft have taken over the MLB headlines in advance of the upcoming All-Star festivities in Philadelphia. But less than a week from now, all eyes will turn to the trade block and the looming August 3 deadline.
How will the top threats to win the World Series become even bigger threats via player swaps?
As things presently stand, there are seven teams listed on FanDuel at +2000 or better to win the World Series: Dodgers, Brewers, Yankees, Rays, Mariners, Braves and Phillies.
Those same teams are also the seven that have a four percent or better consensus (per Baseball-Reference, FanGraphs and PECOTA projections) chance of winning it all.
Throw the White Sox into the mix as the current AL Central leader and you've got eight contenders (four from each league) who we're going to try to improve with realistic trades today.
Teams are presented in alphabetical order by location. Statistics current through the start of play on Thursday July 9.
Atlanta Braves
1 of 8
Biggest Need: Starting Pitching
After more than two months in the bullpen, Reynaldo López has been getting stretched back out as a starter—with good returns thus far, logging 10.0 innings with just five hits allowed across his two appearances in July. If he stays healthy, maybe he can reapproach the type of impact he made on this rotation in 2024.
AJ Smith-Shawver is also on the mend, two productive starts into his post-Tommy John rehab assignment. The 23-year-old has made just 16 appearances thus far in his MLB career, but arrived as a top prospect and could be gearing up for a triumphant return right around the trade deadline.
But the fact that either of those options could be on the fast track to starting Game 2 of the postseason for Atlanta says all you need to know about the current state of this rotation beyond Chris Sale.
Realistic Trade: Atlanta Braves acquire RHP Sonny Gray from Boston Red Sox for RHP Owen Murphy and cash considerations
The amount of the cash considerations here are significant.
Boston is only responsible for $11M of Gray's $31M salary, with St. Louis retaining the other $20M this past winter. That puts his prorated salary for the final two months of the season at less than $4M.
However, he does have a $10M buyout coming his way this offseason from the $30M mutual option that won't get exercised, because they never do. That makes it more like $14M for a rental, which is a bit extreme.
The Braves are desperate for pitching, though, and Gray has a 2.19 ERA since mid-May with nine quality starts in his last 10 appearances. If the Red Sox offer up $10M to pay off that buyout, Atlanta might be willing to part with one of its better prospects to get a Sale/Gray one-two punch for the postseason.
Chicago White Sox
2 of 8
Biggest Need: Pitching
Among the eight teams on this list, the White Sox are allowing the most runs on average.
Davis Martin and Sean Burke have been pleasant surprises atop the starting rotation after each posting a FIP of close to 5.00 last season. But even if they're able to continue pitching well in the second half, the rest of this rotation needs some work, lest they embrace starting Anthony Kay or Erick Fedde in a do-or-die Game 3 of the wild card round.
Their closer situation has also become somewhat dire with Seranthony Domínguez pitching himself out of the job. Since the beginning of June, the White Sox have seven saves (no individual with more than two) and six blown saves. However, letting Grant Taylor and Sean Newcomb split the role might work, and they'll probably focus on adding a starter.
Realistic Trade: Chicago White Sox acquire RHP Freddy Peralta from New York Mets for RHP Mason Adams, IF Javier Mogollon, LHP Shane Murphy and 1B Anthony DePino
Peralta's trade value sure has taken a nosedive over the past two months. He has a 6.22 ERA in his last 10 turns through the rotation with just one quality start to show for it. Also, his strikeout percentage (22.0) is the worst of his career by a country mile.
Over the previous five seasons, though, Peralta was a top 20-ish pitcher in all of baseball.
So, is this a Zac Gallen situation, in which a great pitcher suddenly lost his touch once he started pitching for a contract? Or is Peralta the ultimate "just needs a change of scenery" candidate, liable to lock back in once he gets out of the Mets clubhouse?
Should be a long line of teams willing to bet on the latter, especially with Peralta only making $8M this season. And while the ahead-of-schedule White Sox will be more reluctant than most to part with one of their upper-echelon prospects, they would probably be willing to give up a platter of lottery tickets for a Peralta rental.
Los Angeles Dodgers
3 of 8
Biggest Need: Starting Pitching Depth
The Dodgers arguably don't need to do anything other than get healthy.
However, while both Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow should be back sometime in August, neither one is exactly renowned for his ability to avoid the IL. And with neither Emmet Sheehan (4.91 ERA, 4.59 FIP) nor Roki Sasaki (5.33 ERA, 5.60 FIP) even remotely thriving as regulars in this year's rotation, adding a "could start in October" arm to the depth chart will likely be the Dodgers' approach to the deadline.
Realistic Trade: Los Angeles Dodgers acquire LHP Trevor Rogers from Baltimore Orioles for LHP Jackson Ferris and OF/1B Ryan Ward
If the Tigers end up making Tarik Skubal available, it'll probably be the Dodgers acquiring him. Their farm system is loaded and they could part with two marquee prospects for the opportunity to do something historic with a three-peat. But Detroit has been hot lately and has gotten back to within striking distance in both the AL wild card and AL Central races. The jury is very much out on whether the Tigers will be selling.
The Orioles are more so trending in that direction as of late, and they have their own impending free agent southpaw to offer the Dodgers.
Rogers went through quite the rough patch from mid-April through the end of May, making seven starts with a 10.01 ERA and a two-week stint on the IL in the middle of that skid.
Temporarily disregard that stretch, though, and instead combine his first three starts, his last six starts and the 18 starts he made last season and Rogers has a 1.81 ERA across those 27 appearances. He could be a real factor for the Dodgers in October, even if both Snell and Glasnow return to stay.
Milwaukee Brewers
4 of 8
Biggest Need: Shortstop / Third Base
Perhaps with Brandon Woodruff back on the IL yet again, the starting rotation moves to the top of Milwaukee's deadline to-do list. But both Robert Gasser and Shane Drohan have been pitching well as of late, while Logan Henderson just returned from the IL on Thursday. That might be plenty behind the dynamic duo of Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison.
The left half of the infield has been a season-long mess, though.
They've already released Luis Rengifo. David Hamilton just landed on the IL with a hamstring strain. Joey Ortiz has the same woeful sub-.600 OPS that he had last season. Rookie Cooper Pratt has yet to make an impact 20 games into his career. And top prospect Jesús Made is probably still at least a year away from making his debut.
Realistic Trade: Milwaukee Brewers acquire LHP Foster Griffin from Washington Nationals for 1B/3B Luke Adams
Unfortunately for the Brewers, unless the Nationals make the unlikely decision to put CJ Abrams on the block, it's a pretty terrible year to be looking for a shortstop or third baseman.
For much of the first half, there was reasonable hope that Houston would include either Isaac Paredes or Jeremy Peña in a fire sale, but those guys aren't going anywhere now that the Astros are one good series away from being in playoff position.
Beyond that, the best options are a Matt Chapman contract that Milwaukee probably can't afford and a buy-low flyer on Mark Vientos that Milwaukee probably isn't even interested in taking.
Thus, we're abandoning the left half of the infield and going back to the mound for one of the few Nationals pitchers that hasn't been a run-hemorrhaging calamity.
Griffin has a 2.77 ERA 19 starts into his one-year, $5.5M deal. And after another gem in Wednesday's outing against Houston, he has allowed exactly one run in seven consecutive starts.
New York Yankees
5 of 8
Biggest Need: Bats That Work
Through their first 72 games, the Yankees had the highest-scoring offense in the American League, then on pace for 245 home runs and 101 wins.
Since then, they've gone 5-15 with the lowest-scoring offense in baseball and a horrific teamwide batting average of .186.
Ben Rice still occasionally homers, but while the Yankees wait for Aaron Judge's rib to heal, Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt have completely vanished after their great starts.
Catcher is their most glaring need, but anyone who can reach base would be a welcome addition at this point.
Realistic Trade: New York Yankees acquire UTIL Zack Gelof from Athletics for RHP Carlos Lagrange and RHP Eric Reyzelman
For a while, Ryan Jeffers going from the Twins to the Yankees felt like the free space on a trade deadline bingo card, on par with Josh Naylor going from the Diamondbacks to the Mariners last summer.
However, as Minnesota's catcher nears a return from his broken hamate, the Twins have won eight of 11 to suddenly find themselves right in the thick of both the AL Central and AL wild card races. They still might end up being sellers, but they wouldn't be as things stand today.
The A's have fallen apart at the seams, though, dropping 13 of their last 16 games, now closer to last place than first place in the AL West.
They have a handful of bats that definitely won't be going anywhere, but Gelof could be an intriguing name on the block with three years of arbitration eligibility still to come, an .823 OPS and a glove that plays just about anywhere on the field.
Philadelphia Phillies
6 of 8
Biggest Need: Take Your Pick
Though the Phillies have gone an impressive 42-23 since replacing Rob Thomson with Don Mattingly, they do have a number of pressing needs.
The trio of Cristopher Sánchez, Zack Wheeler and Jesús Luzardo has been superb atop the rotation, but Aaron Nola very much isn't what he used to be as their No. 4 starter while the No. 5 spot has been a revolving door since they demoted Andrew Painter. Adding at least one starter might be first on their to-do list.
Aside from Brandon Marsh, the outfield has been a great big mess. And unless you're getting excited about what Derek Hill has done out of nowhere in his 43 plate appearances since the Phillies acquired him, all of the right-handed bats in this lineup have been disappointing. Adding a right-handed outfielder might be first on their to-do list.
And given their recent history of late-inning collapses in the postseason, they may well be looking to add a reliever other than Jhoan Duran who can reasonably be trusted in a high-leverage spot.
Realistic Trade: Philadelphia Phillies acquire OF Jung Hoo Lee, LHP Robbie Ray and cash considerations from San Francisco Giants for IF Aroon Escobar and RHP Moisés Chace
Lee bats lefty, so he doesn't resolve that lack of right-handed hitting in this lineup. But he's batting .311 for the year and .304 against southpaws, so he could be their top target as far as bats go. (Assuming Byron Buxton is, in fact, off the table, as he and the Twins keep insisting.)
Lee is signed through 2029 at about $21M per year, however, he could opt out after next season. Player options do tend to make negotiations trickier, but they don't have to be deal breakers.
Meanwhile, Ray is an impending free agent making $25M this season, so we're talking about two substantial dollar figures here for a team that is already going to be taxed in the highest possible bracket. But if the Phillies are willing to give up two of their better prospects not named Aidan Miller and Gage Wood, the Giants might be willing to retain a fair amount of those remaining salaries.
Seattle Mariners
7 of 8
Biggest Need: Right-Handed Bat
The Mariners have some undeniable bullpen woes, but they hope to get Matt Brash back from the IL shortly after the trade deadline and they could call up top prospect Kade Anderson to serve in a relief role down the stretch, a la Roki Sasaki last September/October for the Dodgers.
The bigger problem is an offense that cannot hit the broad side of a barn when a southpaw is on the mound.
Thanks in large part to both Cal Raleigh and Rob Refsnyder looking like shells of their former selves, the Mariners have an MLB-worst .622 OPS against left-handed pitching this season. And with that in mind, there's a plausible nightmare scenario brewing in which they'll be the No. 3 seed, drawing No. 6 seed Detroit in the wild card round and needing to deal with both Tarik Skubal and Framber Valdez immediately.
Realistic Trade: Seattle Mariners acquire OF Seiya Suzuki from Chicago Cubs for RHP Luis Castillo
Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said earlier this week that there will probably be more "buyer-to-buyer type trades" than usual this year, because there are so few sellers with anything much to offer.
It may have just been an observation on the general state of the league and not necessarily a tell as to what the Mariners are planning to do at the deadline. But this is a buyer-to-buyer deal that figures to benefit both sides.
While the M's have a stout six-man starting rotation, the Cubs have a surplus of bats and a dearth of starting pitching. And since getting out to a brutal start to the year, Castillo has a 2.72 ERA across his last seven appearances and a 3.83 FIP for the year. He reasonably could become Chicago's Game 1 starter in the postseason.
Suzuki has a career .840 OPS against LHP and would become an everyday fixture at RF/DH for the M's.
Notably, Suzuki has a full no-trade clause while Castillo has at least one year left on his contract. But the salary figures—Suzuki making $18M; Castillo making $22.75M—are close enough that the "2026 finances" portion of the considerations shouldn't present much of a hurdle.
(If this deal gets done and Seattle can also turn around and flip Luke Raley for a bullpen upgrade, even better.)
Tampa Bay Rays
8 of 8
Biggest Need: One More Reliable Bat
Tampa Bay's triumvirate of Junior Caminero, Yandy Díaz and Jonathan Aranda has been superb in pacing this offense. Each of the three has an OPS north of .830, with Díaz leading the AL in batting average.
This lineup gets ugly in a hurry from there, though.
The six other Rays with at least 200 plate appearances this season each has an OPS below .680. And of that bunch, only Cedric Mullins has hit more than two home runs.
At least Chandler Simpson provides some value with his speed on the basepaths and his glove. The rest of the regulars are replaceable if it means more RBIs for Caminero and Co.
Realistic Trade: Tampa Bay Rays acquire 2B Luis Arraez from San Francisco Giants for RHP Ty Johnson and IF Jadher Areinamo
Between Richie Palacios and Ben Williamson, Tampa Bay has gotten precious little offense from its second basemen this season, batting a combined .236 with three home runs while manning 2B.
Adding Arraez wouldn't do anything about the minimal homers, but he's hitting .324 for the year and would be one heck of an addition to this lineup.
Keep Díaz at leadoff, put Arraez directly behind him in the 2-hole and let Caminero do his thing with ducks on the pond more often than not.
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