The Major League Baseball trade deadline is 6 p.m. ET on Monday, Aug. 3 this season, so we're just about two weeks away. It's shaping up very nicely for the sellers, since there are so few of them -- at least so far. Heading into Sunday, only three teams in the AL are further back than 3 ½ games out of a playoff spot. On the NL side, a whopping four are more than 3 ½ games out.
Yes, we're past the midpoint of July and 23 teams are still in legitimate contention for a playoff spot. Do the math and that leaves just seven sellers to fuel the trade deadline.
Here are today's rumors in front of what is shaping up as a monster seller's market.
Ranking the top 25 MLB trade deadline candidates: Tarik Skubal, Freddy Peralta, Luis Arraez and more Mike Axisa
Cubs eye Peralta
The Cubs, who are staring up at the Brewers in the NL Central standings, like Mets starting pitcher Freddy Peralta, per the New York Post. Peralta, a free agent after the season, is 5-8 with a 4.66 ERA (90 ERA+) this season, though he finished last season fifth in NL Cy Young voting and the Cubs reportedly believe part of the blame is the Mets' defense.
On that front, the Cubs rank second in the majors in defensive efficiency and first in fielding run value (by a hefty margin). The Mets rank 22nd in both. There's also some hope pinned to a reunion of Peralta with Cubs manager Craig Counsell, as the two spent six seasons together in Milwaukee.
White Sox watching Holmes
The White Sox enter Sunday in a virtual tie atop the AL Central and they are in need of rotation help. USA Today reports that they sent a special assistant to watch Mets starter Clay Holmes out on his rehab assignment (Homes' scheduled High-A start on Saturday was banged due to bad weather and he threw a private bullpen session instead).
Holmes has been down since May 15 with a broken fibula, but he's soon to return to the majors. Before the injury, he was 4-4 with a 2.39 ERA (175 ERA+) and 45 strikeouts in 52 ⅔ innings. He'd make a nice veteran addition toward the top of the Sox rotation alongside Davis Martin and Sean Burke.
Angels expected to make Soriano, Detmers available
The Angels, as usual, are one of the surefire sellers this season. They have a few starting pitchers that should be of interest to contenders and both are expected to be available in the trade market, according to the New York Post. Those starters are righty José Soriano and southpaw Reid Detmers. Both have been inconsistent but shown great flashes.
- Soriano was the best pitcher in baseball this season for the first month. Through six starts, he had a 0.24 ERA. He's been a mixed bag since, including a 6.00 ERA in his last five. Overall, he's 8-6 with a 3.49 ERA. He's under team control through 2028.
- Detmers is 3-6 with a 4.16 ERA. From May 24 through June 16, he had a 1.36 ERA in 33 innings. He followed that up with a 7.40 ERA in four starts. Then he threw six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and zero walks last time. He's also under team control through 2028.
Red Sox in 'complicated' spot after 12-game winning streak
The Red Sox looked left for dead a few weeks ago and people were already buzzing about starter Sonny Gray and reliever Aroldis Chapman, among others, as trade candidates. They've now won 12 in a row and 17 of their last 19. It has pushed them above .500, heading into Sunday, at 49-48, which is good enough to sit in the final American League wild card spot.
Has this changed everything? Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow discussed with reporters (via MassLive):
"I think it's complicated in that there's still quite a bit of uncertainty even with our own personnel, and every day that goes by, we're getting a little bit more information about not just who we are and what we're capable of, but, also what the outlook appears to be for some of the guys that are hopefully getting healthy," Breslow said in the dugout at Fenway Park on Sunday. "The next 10 days or so are going to be really critical in informing that, understanding where guys like Ranger (Suarez) and (Connelly) Early are in the short term, understanding where Roman (Anthony) is, and Garrett (Crochet) is, and Trevor (Story), because that's going to help dictate not just what we do, but where we focus. So, still a lot of information to factor.
"I think to say that (our goals) have changed drastically implies that there was a set position 12 days ago or 14 days ago," he added. "The reason that we say we want to give ourselves as much time as possible to see who we are and to watch our identity emerge is because we believe that it can change, and it can change really quickly."
This is why so many teams wait as long as they can before the deadline these days. So much can change. Perhaps the Red Sox stay this hot, which means they could look to add and make a run at the pennant in a wide-open AL. On the other hand, what if they fall apart? After all, we've already seen the Cubs follow a 20-3 stretch with a 10-game losing streak this season. There's also the cautionary tale of the 2018 Pirates: they were 40-48 on July 7, but then got scorching hot -- including an 11-game winning streak -- and were 56-52 when they traded for Chris Archer. They ended up cooling off and missing the playoffs, while the Rays ended up with prospects named Tyler Glasnow, Austin Meadows and Shane Baz.
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