Nearly July means that fireworks for the MLB trade deadline are coming up. This year, the deadline is August 2, giving the top baseball teams just over a month to shuffle their cards and play their best hands.
There are also a few curveballs that could make this deadline even harder to predict.
We only have questions now, with a little more than a month until the deadline. The answers to these seven questions will drive the conversation until August 2 and set the stage for the home stretch.
What will the Yankees, Mets, and Dodgers add?
The baseball teams with the biggest payrolls are the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. They also had the three best records in baseball going into Monday’s games.
If the Yankees keep up their current pace, they could challenge the all-time wins record. As expected, they don’t have a lot of holes in their team. The most important thing they should do is probably get an outfielder who can play good defense in center field.
With the Braves coming on strong, the Mets are more of a race and have more obvious reasons to worry. And the Dodgers, who have a history of making big, surprising trades at the deadline, may have a reason to do it again.
If there are more teams playoff spots, will there be more or fewer trades at the deadline?
They made the third playoff spot in each league to make teams play harder. It’s written down after spring training was supposed to start, so it didn’t affect how planned the offseason was. Will it change how the deadlines calculate? We might have to wait until next year for that one, too.
At the moment, eight teams in each league are either in the playoffs or are within five games of making it. One of these teams, the Phillies, just lost its best player. And the Rays and Guardians, known for being cheap, are on the bubble in the AL. The other teams looking in from the outside are the San Francisco Giants, and the Chicago White Sox, who snakes have hit. Currently, the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers are in, but they could end up in that mix.
Is there a star big enough to start a real box office hit?
Simply put, Max Scherzer and Trea Turner don’t seem to be on the market right now. Willson Contreras, a steady player for the Chicago Cubs who leads all catchers with 12 home runs this season, is the best player who is very likely to get traded.
But Contreras will be able to sign with any team he wants after this season. Blockbuster movies don’t come from rentals unless the talent is at the MVP level. So you’re looking for a star with more than a few years of control.
Bryan Reynolds, the center fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, is likely the most exciting hitter who could move. (Hey, I told you there wouldn’t be any fancy names.) His numbers aren’t comparable to last year, yet the 27-year-old can get on base and a little pop to be a down-ballot MVP candidate that a pursuing team could have for three more seasons.
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