MLB trade deadline report: Drilling down on interesting arms and bats and teams' needs (2024)

Welcome back, there is one week to the trade deadline, and things have started to heat up. Let’s check the trade wire …

Wow. OK, they’re really going to cram everything into the last week, aren’t they?

Today, we’re going to be working from a cheat sheet. Tim Britton and Aaron Gleeman have compiled The Athletic’s Trade Deadline Big Board, a list of their top 50 players who could be on the move at the deadline. Check out the links as you go — our trade deadline crew has done some good work over the last week.

Starting pitchers

Everyone needs one, it’s just a matter of degrees. With so many buyers vying for a boost (and so few teams fully on board with a “sell” strategy), the price this year could be a bit higher than you’re used to seeing. So, who’s available? Here are three I think are the most interesting.

• Garrett Crochet (LHP, White Sox) — Two factors that make a player interesting for this exercise: talent plus likelihood that they will be traded. Crochet scores highly on both metrics, with a 3.02 ERA, a league-leading 12.6 strikeouts per nine innings, and 1.9 walks per nine. He’s also under team control through 2026. But there are red flags: After missing the 2022 season (Tommy John surgery), Crochet entered 2024 with a career total of 85 1/3 pro innings from 2020-23. His highest single-season workload: 65 innings in 2019 … as a Tennessee Volunteer. He’s already at 107 1/3 this season. Will he be able to keep pitching through October?

• Nathan Eovaldi (RHP, Rangers) — With a postseason ERA of 3.05 in 79 2/3 innings with the Red Sox and Rangers, Eovaldi is a proven October asset. But will the Rangers shift to sell mode in the next week? They’re perilously close to it, at 7 1/2 games back in the wild-card race, but don’t forget: the AL West is weak, so they’re just just four games back in the division. Further, the core is in place to contend again next year, so it would make sense to stick to upcoming free agents, which Eovaldi … probably is? If he throws another 61 innings, it will trigger a $20 million player option for next season, but that’s probably a non-issue, barring injury: He’s been pretty good and even at 35 (in February) it seems feasible he could beat that on the open market.

• Jack Flaherty (RHP, Tigers) — After last year’s post-deadline disaster in Baltimore, Flaherty signed a one-year deal with Detroit and has done a fantastic job of returning to form. His 0.964 WHIP is a career best, slightly better than the 0.968 mark from 2018 when he finished fourth in NL Cy Young Award voting. The Tigers are actually ahead of the Rangers in the wild-card standings, but even going 11-3 in their last 14 games (while Cleveland has gone 5-9) has gotten them to only 10 games back in the division. It doesn’t look like there’s a reasonable path to the postseason, so expect Flaherty and other Tigers to be outbound soon.

Desperate for SPs: Astros, Guardians, Orioles
Need a SP: Braves, Brewers, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Padres, Red Sox, Twins, Yankees
If it’s a fit, sure: Mets, Pirates, Royals
Nah: Mariners, Phillies

Relief pitchers

• Mason Miller (RHP, A’s) — Miller meets only half of the equation I listed for Crochet above; I just don’t think anyone meets Oakland’s asking price. Not for a closer. That’s not to say I think the A’s are asking too much. He’s an All-Star with a fairly marketable presence, he throws 104 mph, and he’s controllable through 2029! That’s a guy you want to keep on the roster as you enter two new cities in the next few years and try to build new local fan bases. But if someone gets rowdy and decides to set the A’s up for big success in, like, 2027? They have to at least listen.

• Lucas Erceg (RHP, A’s) — If you can’t get Oakland to budge on Miller, maybe Erceg is your consolation prize. Also capable of triple-digits and under control through 2029, he makes a little more sense as a tradable asset simply because he’s 29. (Miller is 25) He won’t be the difference-maker for a contender’s World Series hopes, but if you replace your worst reliever with this guy, it’s a big upgrade.

• John Brebbia (RHP, White Sox) — You might look at Brebbia’s 5.12 ERA and wonder why I put him here, but as Gleeman points out: “From June 1 through the All-Star break,John Brebbia could lay claim to being the sport’s best reliever. He owns MLB’s best WAR out of the bullpen, and his strikeout rate for the season has now reached the 30-percent threshold.” He won’t be a blockbuster name who gets a lot of headlines, but he could be the deadline’s most sneaky-good addition.

Also of interest: the Rays still have a few arms that could be moved. (So do the Cubs.)

Desperate for RPs: Diamondbacks, Mets, Padres, Pirates, Royals, Yankees
Need a RP: Orioles, Phillies, Red Sox
If it’s a fit, sure: Astros, Braves, Brewers, Cardinals, Dodgers, Guardians, Mariners, Twins
Nah: Literally nobody. You can always use another reliever.

Right-handed hitters

• Bo Bichette (SS, Blue Jays) — Toronto’s deadline strategy is shaping up to be the most intriguing in the league. They’re likely to deal a pitcher or two, but Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (for different reasons) are the ones I’m most curious about. For Bichette, it could be a buy-low proposition for any potential buyer — he’s had a terrible year at the plate and is currently on the injured list with a calf injury. But the track record of success might convince a team to pull the trigger.

• Randy Arozarena (LF, Rays) — This is a Tampa-specific situation, since Arozarena is under team control through 2026, and has a track record of postseason success (1.104 OPS in 33 games). His slow start has given way to production more in line with his career numbers over the last six weeks or so, but with his arbitration-eligible salary set to increase in the coming years, he might be hitting that classic Rays threshold.

• Brent Rooker (DH, A’s) — Like Miller and Erceg, Rooker has a few years left before free agency (three more after this one, to be specific). He’s on pace to blow past last year’s career-high 30 home runs, and while he’s defensively limited — 72 games at DH, and 14 split between left field and right field — it’s not like there aren’t teams that could use a masher from the right side.

Of note — while these tiers are more straightforward for pitching needs, they’re a little trickier for hitters. These are based on the team stats by right-handed hitters against left-handed pitchers. But team needs are far more position-dependent, so I’m not necessarily suggesting that the teams with the biggest needs are necessarily in the market for the guys I listed above.

Desperate for RHBs: Cardinals, Mariners, Padres
Need a RHB: Astros, Braves, Brewers, Pirates, Yankees
If it’s a fit, sure: Diamondbacks, Guardians, Phillies, Orioles, Royals, Twins
Nah: Dodgers, Mets, Red Sox

Left-handed hitters

• Jazz Chisholm Jr. (OF/2B, Marlins) — Chisholm’s OPS has decreased a little in each of the last two years, from .860 in 2022 to .761 last year to .733 going into Monday night’s game. He’s also been an injury risk, playing a total of 157 games from 2022-23. But he’s been healthy this year, and the skill set is still electric at times. I can’t help but wonder if he’s going to be a change-of-scenery guy who blossoms after a trade.

• Ryan McMahon (3B, Rockies) — I still don’t know if Colorado will deal McMahon, since he’s under team control through 2027, and also you just never know for sure what the Rockies are thinking. But teams have to be interested in a left-handed hitter with positional flexibility — he can play third, second and first base. (He’s also played three innings at shortstop, but that’s not a realistic spot for him.)

• Michael Conforto (LF, Giants) — This is all dependent on the Giants selling, which isn’t a given, but it’s starting to feel like it’s about that time. I don’t think Conforto is the sort of difference-maker he would have been before his shoulder injuries — he hasn’t had an OPS over .800 since 2020 — but if you can get a little cash back in the deal to cover the ~$6 million he’s owed before becoming a free agent at season’s end, he’s a low-risk gamble.

Desperate for LHBs: Braves, Mariners, Mets, Royals, Pirates
Need a LHB: Brewers, Cardinals, Guardians, Twins
If it’s a fit, sure: Diamondbacks, Padres, Phillies, Yankees
Nah: Astros, Red Sox, Dodgers, Orioles

More links

• Trade Deadline Tiers: who should be slam-dunk buyers, sellers, and everything in between?
• Ranking the 10 best trade deadlines from the last decade.
• Our readers picked the order, but the crew took a stab at identifying each team’s deadline strategy.
• Our MLB staff gives a bold deadline prediction for all 30 teams.

(Top photo of Nathan Eovaldi: Richard Rodriguez / Getty Images)

Levi Weaver is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Texas Rangers. He spent two seasons covering the Rangers for WFAA (ABC) and has been a contributor to MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus. Follow Levi on Twitter @ThreeTwoEephus