2024 MLB trade deadline preview: Passan’s intel on every team
A week ahead of the MLB trade deadline, conversations — the sort that will turn into a deluge of deals in the coming days — started to pick up around Major League Baseball on Monday. With the MLB draft complete and the All-Star break passed, teams are finally turning their full attention to trade season.
The expectation, according to more than two dozen front office personnel members, is that while this deadline lacks a top-of-the-industry player, the openness of the playoff picture will compel a wide swath of teams to add from a limited pool of players.
Contenders, sources said, could subtract from positions of strength while simultaneously adding to address weaknesses. Teams near, or even over, .500 could take advantage of the market’s spare inventory to hunt for value and offload players. In a landscape where, as one official said, “everybody needs bats and there are no bats available,” creativity will be paramount.
It’s all another consequence of expanding the postseason to 12 teams, making the days leading up to the 6 p.m. ET deadline on July 30 that much trickier to navigate. With a week to go, here is where every team stands, broken into categories that reflect their intentions. Whether they can execute on them gives this deadline its greatest source of intrigue.
Teams going big
Los Angeles Dodgers: All-in. They are healing at the right time, with Tyler Glasnow expected to return from the injured list tomorrow and Clayton Kershaw primed to make his 2024 debut Thursday. Still, the Dodgers are eyeing big names to fill their biggest needs. There are no impact shortstops available — especially now that Bo Bichette, who multiple executives said was not entirely off the market before his recent calf strain, is out until at least August — but the Dodgers can still find capable options in the outfield and on the mound. Whether it’s a huge hack (Luis Robert Jr.) or a solid swing (Randy Arozarena), they can address their outfield depth.
L.A. can also play in every pitching sandbox, from Garrett Crochet to Jack Flaherty to, if he’s available, Nathan Eovaldi. (Much more on that later.) The dream is wheedling Detroit into trading Tarik Skubal, but not one executive surveyed actually believes the Tigers will move ESPN BET’s American League Cy Young favorite. With a deep farm system filled with high-ceiling and high-floor prospects, the Dodgers are positioned to strike. And they’re flush with something else that can be particularly useful this time of year. “They’ve got money,” one executive said, “and most of us don’t.”
New York Yankees: All-in. Perhaps most telling about the Yankees isn’t the players they’re targeting but the ones they’re willing to move. Chasing a 50-22 start with a 10-20 stretch will put a scare into any organization, but it’s especially acute for one with annual championship aspirations and 14 consecutive ringless seasons. That’s why outfielders Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones — the former recovering from an oblique strain, the latter New York’s top prospect — aren’t entirely off the table. The chances of such a deal are slim, yes, but general manager Brian Cashman is sharp enough to recognize that limiting anything during a free fall is counterproductive. For now, the Yankees are focusing on late-inning relief help (there’s plenty), a versatile infielder (there’s not) and a productive bat (not many), with the potential to grab a high-end starting pitcher. Clarke Schmidt should return from a lat strain sometime in August, alleviating the urgency for a starter, but in reality the Yankees simply need better players, regardless of position.
Chicago White Sox: All out. They are listening on everyone, and they’re the odds-on favorite to make the most deals in the next week. Rarely does a deadline line up so well for one team. The White Sox have the best pitcher and hitter actively on the market (Crochet and Robert). They’ve got arguably the best under-control pitcher expected to move (Erick Fedde) and another bat who’s a deadline darling (Tommy Pham). They’ve got relievers (Michael Kopech, John Brebbia, Tanner Banks) and infielders (first baseman Andrew Vaughn and shortstop Paul DeJong). They’re happy to do package deals or one-offs. When you’re on pace to go 43-119, anything is on the table.
There is a chance Chicago holds on to one (or all) of its most valuable trade chips and moves them come the offseason — especially if teams leery of Crochet’s innings try to pay reliever prices for him — but the prospect of an organization getting desperate and meeting the required return is never more palpable than in a wide-open playoff panorama.
