Here we are, arriving at that magical time of the season: the Major League Baseball trade deadline.
For baseball junkies, this is one of the most exciting times of the year – the day teams on the fence have to decide whether they’re in or out if they want to contend for one of this season’s coveted playoff spots.
USA TODAY Sports will provide all the latest news, rumors, analysis and more in the frenzied run-up to the deadline. Follow along.
When is the MLB trade deadline 2023?
The MLB trade deadline this year is 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Aug. 1. All deals have to be finalized and submitted to the commissioner’s office by then.
FOLLOW THE MONEY: MLB player salaries and payrolls for every major league team
MLB trade deadline tracker
USA TODAY Sports has been on top of all the deals that have gone down so far this season, providing details and analysis of what each trade means. Check it out.
EYE ON THE FUTURE:Here are the most popular MLB future bets in 2023
Diamondbacks, A’s make late Monday trade
The Oakland Athletics are shipping infielder Jace Peterson, and some money, to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for minor league right-handed pitcher Chad Patrick in a late Monday trade, USA TODAY’s Bob Nightengale reports.
Peterson will fill in the utility role for Josh Rojas, who was sent to Seattle in the Paul Sewald trade. Prior to this season, he signed a two-year, $9.5 million deal.
Peterson, a 10-year veteran, is hitting .221 with 28 RBI and six home runs this season.
Patrick was selected by the Diamondbacks in the fourth round of the 2021 draft out of Purdue Northwest. This season, he is 4-7 with a 4.71 ERA in 19 starts for the Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles.
Red Sox not interested in dealing Alex Verdugo
Despite receiving interest in their outfielder, the Boston Red Sox are not planning on trading Alex Verdugo, per USA TODAY’s Bob Nightengale. “Several teams” have inquired about Verdugo, but Boston will opt to at least finish the season with the Tucson, Arizona, native. After the 2024 season, he will enter free agency.
Verdugo is in his fourth season with the Red Sox after originally being drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014. He’s batting .272 with 39 RBI and seven home runs.
Boston is fourth in the AL East and fourth in the wild-card standings.
Mets in discussions with Dodgers, Astros for Justin Verlander
The New York Mets are in discussions with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros about dealing ace pitcher Justin Verlander, according to USA TODAY’s Bob Nightengale. Though the three-time Cy Young winner has a no-trade clause – like former teammate Max Scherzer – talks with the Astros have accelerated in the last 24 hours.
The Dodgers have also been linked to Verlander in recent days – especially since they made an offer for the pitcher last season – but his contract has been seen as a “big hurdle” in discussions. The Mets have made it clear that they are willing to move on from Verlander.
— Anthony Gharib
Cubs continue busy day in acquisition of pitcher from Royals
The Chicago Cubs made yet another deal on Monday, acquiring right-handed pitcher José Cuas from the Kansas City Royals for outfielder Nelson Velázquez, ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reports.
Cuas is in his second year in the majors and is 3-0 this season with a 4.54 ERA in 45 appearances, including one start.
He joins a Cubs team who is in the playoff hunt with a 53-52 record, only four games behind the Cincinnati Reds in the NL Central. Chicago also acquired third baseman Jeimer Candelario on Monday.
Velázquez is in his second season as well and has only played 13 games this season for the Cubs. He’s currently on the club’s Triple-A affiliate, the Omaha Storm Chasers, where he’s batting .253 with 44 RBI and 16 home runs.
— Victoria Hernandez
A’s, Reds swap pitchers
The Oakland Athletics and Cincinnati Reds have swapped pitchers in a trade, USA TODAY’s Bob Nightengale reports. The A’s add right-hander Joe Boyle while the Reds receive lefty Sam Moll and “international pool money.”
Boyle will be making the move west from the Reds’ Double-A affiliate Chattanooga Lookouts, where he has been 6-5 with a 4.50 ERA, making 19 starts. He was selected in the fifth round of the 2020 draft out of Notre Dame.
Moll has spent his entire career with the lowly Athletics, making his debut in 2017 before being waived and returning to the team in 2021. He is 0-3 on the season with a 4.54 ERA. He’s made one start and has appeared on the mound in 45 games.
— Victoria Hernandez
Giants add outfielder from Mariners
The San Francisco Giants are acquiring outfielder A.J. Pollock and utilityman Mark Mathias from the Seattle Mariners, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The Mariners will receive cash or a player to be named at a later date, per USA TODAY’s Bob Nightengale.
Pollock has been on the 10-day IL with a hamstring injury but is set to return once cleared on Tuesday. He’s batting .173 on the season with five home runs and 15 RBI in 127 at bats – all among career lows. Mathias was claimed by the Mariners off waivers earlier this month.
The two join a Giants team that is just two games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the NL West.
— Anthony Gharib
Cubs nab third baseman from Nats
The Chicago Cubs are boosting their lineup with third baseman Jeimer Candelario in a trade with the Washington Nationals, USA TODAY’s Bob Nightengale reports. Broadcaster Jon Morosi adds that Chicago is giving up DJ Herz and Kevin Made in the swap.
Candelario is returning to the team that he made his Major League debut with in July of 2016. He only played 16 games with the Cubs between 2016 and 2017 before he was sent mid-season to the Detroit Tigers, where he played five and a half seasons. He joined the Nationals last offseason on a one-year deal.
This season, he’s hitting a .258 with 53 RBI and 16 home runs.
The Cubs are in the playoff hunt with a 53-52 record, only four games behind the Cincinnati Reds in the NL Central.
— Victoria Hernandez
Brewers land outfielder from Mets
The Milwaukee Brewers are strengthening their roster by adding outfielder Mark Canha from the New York Mets, per baseball reporter Andy Martino. The Brewers are sending minor league pitcher Justin Jarvis to the Mets in exchange.
Canha joins a club that is second in the NL Central with a 57-49 record and dealing with a slew of injuries. The Brewers were 8-4 after the All-Star break until a three-game skid over the weekend against the Atlanta Braves, who have the best record in Major League Baseball.
Left fielder Christian Yelich leads Milwaukee with a .286 batting average and 59 RBI.
Canha, who also plays left field, brings nine years of experience to the Brewers. He is hitting .245 so far this year with six home runs and 29 RBI in 89 games.
— Victoria Hernandez
Diamondbacks finalizing deal for reliever from Mariners
According to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, part of the USA TODAY Network, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Seattle Mariners are closing in on a deal that will send reliever Paul Sewald to Arizona.
In return, Seattle will get infielder Josh Rojas, infield prospect Ryan Bliss and outfielder Dominic Canzone.
Sewald will give the Dbacks’ bullpen a boost, bringing a 2.93 ERA and 21 saves in 45 games for the Mariners. Arizona is in third place in the NL West but sits one game out of the league’s final wild-card spot at 56-50.
In Rojas, Seattle gets a versatile infielder, who can also play outfield, but who has struggled mightily this year. He’s hitting just .228 with a .292 on-base percentage and .296 slugging. He has yet to hit a homer in 216 plate appearances.
In 15 games with Arizona, Canzone played 15 games and hit .237 with a homer and two doubles. The team’s 19th-ranked prospect was hitting .354 with 16 homers and 71 RBI in 71 games at Triple-A Reno.
Bliss, 23, was the Dbacks’ 29th-ranked prospect, but had an outstanding 68-game start at Double-A Amarillo this year. Bliss, who played most of his games at second base, hit .358 with a 1.008 OPS, 12 home runs and 30 stolen bases in 324 plate appearances. He was promoted to Reno at the beginning of July.
Rays acquire starting pitcher from Guardians
Tampa Bay Rays netted some rotation help by trading for right-hander Aaron Civale from the Cleveland Guardians.
The Rays endured brutal season-ending injuries to starters Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen earlier this season. Tampa Bay entered July leading the AL East by 6.5 games but it heads into Monday 1.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles.
Civale just finished off a July during which he went 3-0 with a 1.45 ERA in six starts. He missed most of April and all of May with an oblique injury. For the season, Civale is 5-2 with a 2.34 ERA in 13 starts. He won’t be a free agent until after the 2024 season, giving the Rays 1.5 years of club control.
Heading to Cleveland will be first baseman Kyle Manzardo, a left-handed hitter ranked as the No. 37 prospect, according to MLB. Manzardo, 22, has spent this season at Triple-A Durham, where he was hitting .238 with a .442 slugging, 11 home runs and 38 RBI. He split the 2022 season between High-A and Double-A and hit .327 with 22 home runs and a 1.043 OPS in 93 games.
Mariners listening to offers on veteran players
Coming off an impressive series win against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Seattle Mariners find themselves 4.5 games out of wild-card berth. According to Bob Nightengale, the Mariners say they don’t plan to trade prospects at trade deadline, bit they are listening on several of their veterans, including outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, reliever Paul Sewald and infielder Ty France.
Potential Phillies trade deadline moves
What they need: Left fielder
What to know: Kyle Schwarber still has more than two years remaining on his $79 million contract, but the Phillies should present him a gold watch, anyway – for meritorious service in left field. Oh, it wasn’t good: Schwarber ranks 70th among 70 qualified left fielders in FanGraphs’ overall defensive rating. But the past two seasons, Schwarber has taken one for the team, trotting to left due to injuries elsewhere.
Now, with Bryce Harper easing into first base duties after elbow surgery, Schwarber soon will be free to settle in at DH – and the Phillies are free to lengthen their lineup and improve their defense.
For now, veteran Jake Cave is getting many of the at-bats there, but a little more pop from a power position will make the Phillies a very tough out – literally and proverbially – and hopefully make up for the ongoing struggles of shortstop Trea Turner (.294 OBP) and catcher J.T. Realmuto (.304 OBP).
Names to watch: Mets OFs Tommy Pham, Mark Canha — Gabe Lacques
Report: Cubs take Cody Bellinger off the market
The biggest impact bat available at this year’s trade deadline may not be so available anymore. The Chicago Cubs, whose recent eight-game winning streak has thrust them back into the playoff picture, have reportedly told other teams they will be holding onto former NL MVP Cody Bellinger for the rest of the season.
ESPN cited sources familiar with the situation in its report Sunday night.
The Cubs, 8.5 games out of first place in the NL Central just 11 days ago, cut the margin to 3.5 games before losing to the Cardinals on Sunday.
Bellinger won NL MVP honors with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2019, but had struggled with injuries and his mechanics over the past three seasons before signing a one-year deal with the Cubs and rebounding in a big way this year. He’s currently hitting .314/.366/.536 with 14 home runs and 46 RBI.
Potential Rays trade deadline moves
What they need: Starting pitcher
What to know: For a moment, this was the year the Rays weren’t just a whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts squad. And then the pitchers started dropping. Time to retool. Oh, the Rays could use help in a lot of places, but since they’re already, per usual, heavy on platoons and line-shifting within games (and, like everyone, could use another reliever), one bat won’t greatly remake the club’s dynamic. It’s probably more sensible to get back to their roots, and find another guy to take down effective innings.
Can’t help but wonder if the Rays are big fans of Padres opponents this next week, thus shifting San Diego fully into sell mode. That would put Blake Snell, pending free agent and Rays legend, on the block. Snell’s comfort level was sky-high in Tampa Bay, and reuniting with old pitching coach Kyle Snyder would probably return the Rays greater value than any other club acquiring him.
Names to watch: Rays SP Blake Snell, Cubs SP Marcus Stroman — Gabe Lacques
Can the Diamondbacks capitalize on their opening to win the NL West?
This may be the Arizona Diamondbacks’ greatest opportunity in a while to win an NL West title. The Los Angeles Dodgers have been tormented by injuries. The San Diego Padres have imploded. And the San Francisco Giants are trying to thread the needle between winning and building.
The D-backs are in desperate need of pitching. They have only two veteran starters they can count on with Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly. They don’t have a true closer. And they could use another setup man.
The D-backs, who just lost their $75 million TV deal, will be aggressive but not reckless, coming away with least one veteran starter, and perhaps a reliever or two. They’re certainly not about to throw away a valuable piece of the future when they’re already in prime position to secure at least a wild-card berth. — Bob Nightengale
Will the Padres wave the white flag at the trade deadline?
The San Diego Padres still seem delusional thinking they will get back into the race. They have been a mediocre team all season, and nothing is going to magically change in the second half.
Which MLB team will be next to make a big trade?
Here’s a look at the contenders who stand to gain the most with moves at the deadline, from USA TODAY Sports’ — Gabe Lacques.
- The Los Angeles Dodgers have already made a pair of moves to shore up their infield, but a big bat or a bullpen arm would help even more.
- The Baltimore Orioles recently took over first place in the AL East. They will be shopping for a starting pitcher, maybe two.
- The Tampa Bay Rays need a starter as well with Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen out for the season with injuries.
- The Philadelphia Phillies recently got Bryce Harper back, and his ability to play first base opens up the opportunity to add a left fielder.
- And the defending champion Houston Astros have seen their starting rotation depleted by injuries. They’ll be looking for an upgrade there as well.
Cardinals may not yet be done dealing
The St. Louis Cardinals, no matter how much the fan base may scream, or their players complain, are still open for business and trading away assets that don’t figure to be around next season.
They sent left-hander Jordan Montgomery to the Los Angeles Angels and closer Jordan Hicks to the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday night, and there may be more deals in the works.
Starter Jack Flaherty, eligible for free agency in November, and perhaps injured reliever Ryan Helsley could be gone. Infielders Tommy Edman and Paul DeJong could be dealt, too, and outfielders Dylan Carlson and Tyler O’Neill better not send out their laundry, either.
The Cardinals will keep infield cornerstones Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, and outfielders Jordan Walker and Lars Nootbaar, try to build around them this winter, and hope that they are back to the Cardinal Way in 2024. — Bob Nightengale
MLB pitchers at the trade deadline: Who could be on the move?
Former Guardians Cy Young winner Shane Bieber, who was supposed to be on the block for offensive help, now is staying put, sidelined until sometime in August with elbow inflammation.
The best of the starters may be Snell, who’s pitched to a 0.73 ERA over his last 13 starts but has battled control issues recently. Stroman may be the second-best, but he has yielded a 7.99 ERA in five outings this month.
Hader, the five-time All-Star closer, is easily the best reliever available. — Bob Nightengale
Will the Orioles go all-in at trade deadline?
Baltimore GM Mike Elias didn’t launch this massive rebuild, tearing down the organization to its bare studs, to suddenly reverse course, and trade prized prospects for rentals. The Orioles know their time has arrived, but just like the Astros did with Elias as their assistant GM under Jeff Luhnow, they are looking to build a franchise with sustained success.
They will not only be good this year, but perhaps will be haunting the Yankees and Red Sox for the next decade. — Bob Nightengale
Angels put Shohei Ohtani trade rumors to rest
Just in case anyone believed the zany and reckless rumors that the Los Angeles Angels were remotely considering trading Shohei Ohtani, they put it all to rest with several major trade acquisitions over the past week in an attempt to reach the postseason for the first time since 2014.
Last Wednesday, the Angels acquired starter Lucas Giolito and reliever Reynaldo Lopez from the Chicago White Sox for minor-league catcher Edgar Quero and pitcher Ky Bush, their No. 2 and No. 3 prospects. (Giolito took the loss in his Angels debut on Friday.)
Then on Sunday, they brought back two of their former first-round draft picks in a deal with the Colorado Rockies.
First baseman C.J. Cron (17th overall, 2011 draft) and outfielder Randal Grichuk (24th overall, 2009) were acquired from the Rockies for minor league pitchers Mason Albright and Jake Madden.
Cron played his first four major league seasons in Anaheim, while the Angels traded Grichuk to the St. Louis Cardinals before he ever made his MLB debut.
Rangers, Blue Jays bolster pitching staffs on Sunday
It has been more than 20 years since the St. Louis Cardinals have been sellers at the trade deadline, and as much as they may dread it, they sure are taking full advantage of being a bullseye in a seller’s market.
The Cardinals traded closer Jordan Hicks to the Toronto Blue Jays and starter Jordan Montgomery and reliever Chris Stratton to the Texas Rangers on Sunday and came away with a slew of prized prospects.
In Texas, Montgomery joins the prize of the trade deadline so far, three-time Cy Young award winner Max Scherzer, as the Rangers look to maintain their lead in the AL West division.
Toronto was in need of a big arm at the back of the bullpen after All-Star closer Jordan Romano had to go on the injured list Sunday with lower back inflammation.
New York Mets trade pitcher Max Scherzer to Texas Rangers
The Mets began taking a sledgehammer to the team on Saturday by trading three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer to the Texas Rangers for prized prospect Luisangel Acuña. (They have also opened trade talks with the Astros to send Justin Verlander back to Houston.) The blockbuster deal, with the Mets covering all but $22.5 million owed to Scherzer, became official when Scherzer waived his no-trade clause Sunday and agreed to exercise his $43.3 million player option in 2024.
MLB standings
Going into the new week, your division leaders look like this. Here are the complete standings.
- AL East: Baltimore Orioles (+1.5 games)
- AL Central: Minnesota Twins (+0.5)
- AL West: Texas Rangers (+1)
- NL East: Atlanta Braves (+11.5)
- NL Central: Cincinnati Reds (+0.5)
- NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers (+2)
