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MLB trade deadline: Date, time, and other things to know
Major League Baseball groups have only a few more hours to complete their summer shopping. This year’s MLB trade deadline will pass at 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Aug. 2. After that point, teams will no longer be able to accomplish agreements until the offseason.
The deadline usually hands on July 31, but commissioner Rob Manfred gained the ability to set it on any day between July 28 and Aug. 3 as the domain of the new Collective Bargaining Contract between MLB and the MLB Players Association. That, in short, is why the deadline is on Aug. 2, a few days later than normal.
Regardless of when the deadline passes, you might be wondering what the greatest storylines are heading into the final days of trade season. CBS Sports has you covered below, with statements and answers to eight frequently asked questions.
1. Top buyers and sellers
Our Dayn Perry recently ranked each of the 30 groups as buyers, sellers, or something in between. While taking Perry seriously is always a risk, it’s one that we’ve opted to take. Here’s a look at who he classified as buyers or sellers (do note that the teams are detailed in alphabetical order based on their city name)
Buyers: Braves, White Sox, Guardians, Astros, Dodgers, Brewers, Twins, Mets, Yankees, Phillies, Cardinals, Padres, Giants, Mariners, Rays, Rangers, Blue Jays
Sellers: Diamondbacks, Cubs, Reds, Tigers, Royals, Angels, Marlins, Athletics, Pirates, Nationals
Any team not detailed above was supposed to be something in between, meaning they could buy or sell, or they could stand pat, depending on how negotiations develop.
2. What notable moves have occurred so far?
The biggest trade of the deadline to date saw the Mariners receive right-hander Luis Castillo from the Reds in exchange for four prospects, including infielders Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo. (You can read our in-depth analysis of that one here.)
Most of the other big dominoes are yet to fall, meaning the next tier of big non-Castillo trades includes outfielders running to the American League East: Andrew Benintendi linking up with the Yankees and David Peralta joining the Rays. Hey, we reported there are a lot of other marquee names who could be moved sooner than later.
3. Will Soto be moved?
The most significant of those marquee names would be Nationals outfielder Juan Soto, who became available earlier this month after he refused a 15-year, $440 million extension offer.
Soto is a 23-year-old on a Hall-of-Fame track who is under team control for two more seasons after this one, making him one of the most sought-after trade targets in league history. CBS Sports placed the Cardinals as the team best suited to land him based on their combination of options and young big-league players, as well as their economic outlook and their front office’s history of making similar trades.
The Nationals would seem incentivized to move Soto before the deadline, as the franchise is expected to be purchased by new owners this offseason. It seems unlikely that the incoming proprietors would want their first big move to be trading off the beginning of the franchise.
If and when a Soto trade occurs, it’s worth noting that leaders with other teams fully expect veteran left-hander Patrick Corbin to be applied as financial ballast.
4. What about Ohtani?
The Angels have reportedly heard to offer on another young celebrity in two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani, but a trade looked far less likely than in Soto’s case.
Ohtani is under team management for an additional season, yet the situation is more complicated. Enterprise kinds who have spoken to CBS Sports have noted that owner Arte Moreno seems less inclined to green-light an agreement and that the Angels will presumably hold onto Ohtani and try once too to win in 2023.
It would be useful to state that if Ohtani is to be changed, then it’ll likely come to this offseason — or, perhaps, the next deadline.
5. Who are the other top players out there?
Here are the top five public players based on our orders who haven’t already been traded or said in this piece:
No. 3 Frankie Montas, RHP, Athletics
No. 4 Bryan Reynolds, OF, Pirates
No. 5 Sean Murphy, C, Athletics
No. 6 Willson Contreras, C, Cubs
No. 7 Ian Happ, OF, Cubs
We’ll record that Reynolds looked unlikely to go and that the Athletics could likewise choose to hold onto Murphy until the winter. The other three Montas, Contreras, and Happ — seem to have a better than 50/50 shot at being gone by Tuesday night.
