MLB Trade Rumors: Top Reports Following 2018 Deadline

The July 31 non-waiver trade deadline has now passed, but that doesn't mean the end of potential impact trades around baseball.

Look no further than last season, when Justin Verlander and Justin Upton were both traded on Aug. 31.

Verlander helped lead the Houston Astros to a World Series title and he's having an excellent 2018 season to boot, while Upton wound up agreeing to a long-term deal with the Los Angeles Angels rather than testing the free-agent market.

In other words, a lot can still happen on the trade market. It's just a bit more involved of a process. With that in mind, let's start with a rundown of the waiver-trade rules, borrowed from an article I wrote a few years back:

• Once the non-waiver deadline passes on July 31, no player currently on a team's 40-man roster can be traded unless he first passes through revocable waivers.

• If a player is put on waivers and goes unclaimed for 48 hours, he is free to be traded to any team for the remainder of the season.

• A good portion of the league will be put on waivers during this time, with the majority of the players being pulled back or "revoked" once a claim is made.

• If multiple teams claim a player, claim priority goes to the team in the same league as the player with the worse record. If no team claims the player from the same league, priority goes to the team with the worse record in the other league.

• If a player is claimed and his current team is genuinely interested in trading him, the two sides then have 48 hours to come to terms on a deal. If they cannot come to terms, the player is simply pulled back off waivers.

• Teams can allow a waiver claim to be made with no trade involved, simply giving the player to the claiming team, often in what amounts to a salary dump. A perfect example of this is the Chicago White Sox's claim of Alex Rios from the Toronto Blue Jays back in 2009.

• Trades can be made this way for the remainder of the regular season. However, no player acquired after Aug. 31 will be eligible to play in the postseason.

Now that we have a clear picture of what all goes into an August trade, let's take a quick look at some notable players who could still be on the move in the upcoming month.

OF Andrew McCutchen, San Francisco Giants

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

The Giants didn't sell at the trade deadline, but they didn't buy either, and with a 55-54 record, they sit five games back in fourth place in the NL West standings. In other words, it's hard to see them climbing back into the playoff picture between now and Aug. 31.

As an upcoming free agent with a $14.75 million salary, Andrew McCutchen looks like a prime candidate to be dumped by a Giants team that is up against the luxury tax threshold.

According to Jon Paul Morosi of MLB.com, the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Indians all showed some level of interest in the veteran outfielder leading up to the deadline.

The Indians addressed their outfield need by acquiring Leonys Martin from the Detroit Tigers, but Yankees and Phillies could still be potential fits.

The 31-year-old McCutchen is hitting .258/.353/.413 for a 109 OPS+ with 24 doubles, 11 home runs and 44 RBI. Defensive metrics have also been much kinder to his work in right field, compared to his struggles in center field the past few seasons.

SP Matt Harvey, Cincinnati Reds

John Minchillo/Associated Press

It came as something of a surprise that Matt Harvey was not traded ahead of the non-waiver deadline.

The rebuilding Reds picked him up in a no-risk trade with the Mets that sent expensive backup catcher Devin Mesoraco out of town, and little was expected from the former All-Star when he joined the team sporting a 7.00 ERA.

However, he's gone 5-4 with a 4.44 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 56 strikeouts in 73 innings over 14 starts since joining the Reds, and in a thin market for starting pitching, more than a few teams were interested, according to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.

Cincinnati general manager Dick Williams explained the team's position to reporters after the deadline passed and Harvey stayed put:

"He's a free agent at the end of the year. We understand that and are open to moving him if the appropriate deal comes along. We said all along, you can't execute a good trade if you put yourself in a position of feeling like you have to have one done by the end of the day. We set, what we thought, were appropriate parameters and we held to it. In the interim, he is very much bringing positive contributions to our team."

It sounds like they're happy to have him but more than open to trading him, so a deal could yet be made between now and his first foray into free agency.

3B Josh Donaldson, Toronto Blue Jays

Derik Hamilton/Associated Press

An injury-plagued season from former AL MVP Josh Donaldson has cost the Blue Jays what would have been one of the most valuable trade chips on the market.

The free-agent-to-be has been sidelined since May 28 with a left calf injury, but he's expected to return at some point in August.

Will he have enough time to prove to a contender that he's capable of making an impact?

His $23 million salary and sketchy health situation make him a safe bet to clear waivers, so it will come down to whether the Blue Jays get an offer that's more attractive than the draft pick compensation that would come with extending him a qualifying offer at the onset of the upcoming offseason.

The 32-year-old is undoubtedly the wild card of the waiver-trade period.

Other Waiver Trade Candidates: OF Jose Bautista (NYM), 3B Adrian Beltre (TEX), RP Jerry Blevins (NYM), C A.J. Ellis (SD), SP Marco Estrada (TOR), 2B Logan Forsythe (MIN), SP Gio Gonzalez (WAS), OF Curtis Granderson (TOR), SP Jeremy Hellickson (WAS), SS Jose Iglesias (DET), RP Francisco Liriano (DET), C Devin Mesoraco (NYM), RP Bud Norris (STL), SP Ervin Santana (MIN), SP James Shields (CWS)

All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs, unless otherwise noted.