The trade deadline is now less than a week away for Major League Baseball, as it is set for 6 p.m. ET on Monday, Aug. 3. A good number of teams are still in limbo, though, sitting within striking distance of a wild-card spot while also not really having the look of a strong contender. Something to watch in the coming days is the . They’ve lost three straight and sit four back of the last spot in the American League with four teams to jump over. If they end up as sellers, that means hits the market.
As for the rest of the rumors for the day, let’s get to it.
Just a year after acquiring him, the may be ready to deal All-Star closer for rotation help, according to .
Miller is arguably the best reliever in baseball and is under team control through 2029. He’s a perfect 27 for 27 in saves with a 0.82 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and 80 strikeouts in 43 ⅔ innings this season. It might seem crazy, but there’s rationale to dealing Miller for a starter or two. The Padres have a great and deep bullpen with Adrián Morejón, and . is hurt but could be back and has closing experience, too.
Meanwhile, the Padres’ rotation is thin and not very good.
There’s a chance here that A.J. Preller could thread the needle and sell his star in order to improve this year.
We still can’t be sure if the intend to trade All-Star shortstop or not, but something to consider here is that a lot of teams view him as a future second baseman or even center fielder, per . Maybe that’s immediately, maybe that’s down the road, as he’s under team control for two more seasons after this one.
Abrams is still a beast, of course, as he’s hitting .295/.368/.570 (156 OPS+) with 27 homers, an MLB-best 82 RBI and 4.4 WAR this season.
This is just something to keep in mind as we hear of teams interested in shortstops. Such as …
The are firmly in contention as their run of winning baseball continues. They are 55-50 and hold the second AL wild card. With and now Tsung-Che Chang on the injured list, Andrew Monasterio is holding down shortstop for the time being, but the Red Sox are searching the trade market for someone to man the position, reports .
Part of the problem, of course, is that there aren’t many — if any — shortstops known to be available via trade. Story will return, likely, at some point in August and it sure doesn’t seem like the will trade .
Still, keep in mind the Red Sox are searching for middle infield help, even after .
Part-time Mets catcher is drawing interest on the trade market, specifically from the White Sox, but the team isn’t inclined to move him, reports the . Instead, the Mets are reportedly looking to hold onto Torrens for next season — he’s signed for $4.75 million — as they plan on contending rather than kick off a rebuild.
This could, of course, be posturing on the Mets’ part as they try to get better offers for the solid defensive backstop.
Both the and have been looking at left-handed starting pitcher , according to .
The 27-year-old Detmers is under team control through 2028 and is 3-7 with a 4.05 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 136 strikeouts in 120 innings this season for the Angels. He continues to go through bouts of inconsistency while flashing big upside. As an example, from May 24-June 16, he was 4-1 with a 1.36 ERA in five starts. He followed that up with a 7.40 ERA in his next four starts and now has a 0.79 ERA in his last two.
The fit for either Chicago team is clear. They both need starting pitching and would love to have an arm that isn’t a rental and is locked up for a few more seasons, especially the White Sox as they rebound from some truly awful seasons and aren’t ready to fully mortgage the future for this season.
The have shown interest in trade candidates of the Mets and Zach Neto of the Angels, per .
With Peralta, such a move would really solidify a strong four-man playoff rotation along with , and , enabling them to move back into a bullpen role after serving as the fifth starter in the regular season. Keep in mind, Peralta is a rental, hitting free agency after this season.
Swooping in for Neto would be a Rays-like move. He’s under team control through 2029. The 25-year-old shortstop has a 117 OPS+ with 2.8 WAR this season after back-to-back 5+ WAR seasons. He’d mark a nice middle infield upgrade.
If the Angels are prepared to move Neto, one can’t help but wonder how much the Red Sox would be interested, too, given the above rumor.
The Mets traded for Peralta this past offseason, grabbing him from the , along with Tobias Myers, for top prospects Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams. It’s been a disaster, as Peralta is 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in 22 starts this season. Last year for the Brewers, though, he went 17-6 with a 2.70 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 204 strikeouts in 176 ⅔ innings. He finished fifth in Cy Young voting and made his second All-Star team.
Would the Brewers bring him back? They are a bit thin in the rotation right now due to injuries and reports the two sides have been talking. This would be pretty fun.
