The Major League Baseball trade deadline is July 31, which means we’re eight days away and the ticking of the clock is starting to become audible. We’ve seen very little movement thus far, but there’s still some sorting out to be done in the standings and we’ve got over a week. In the meantime, the rumor mill is churning. Let’s get to it.
Padres looking to spin Cease for multiple MLB players
The Padres sit in the third NL wild-card spot, so they are certainly buyers in front of the trade deadline. It might surprise some onlookers, then, to hear that the Padres are dangling starting pitcher Dylan Cease, according to ESPN. Cease finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting last season and is having a down year, but the talent is there and he’s 29 years old. He’s also set to hit free agency after the season.
The mindset here would be to deal Cease in order to shore up multiple roster spots at the big-league level. Sure enough, Buster Olney notes that the Padres have shown interest in Orioles‘ starter Charlie Morton. In such a scenario, Cease would be traded for multiple useful MLB pieces and then the Padres would also acquire Morton to take over Cease’s rotation spot.
It might sound a bit convoluted, but the Padres want to win now, don’t have an overly deep farm system, have ownership-imposed financial constraints and have multiple holes to fill. Keep in mind also that starting pitcher Michael King is rehabbing from his shoulder injury and could rejoin the rotation sometime in August.
Nats listening on Gore
The Nationals‘ rebuild has yielded three surefire players in outfielder James Wood, infielder C.J. Abrams and starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore, all of whom conveniently came over in the Juan Soto trade. With former general manager Mike Rizzo having been fired, will the Nats really move on from Gore already? ESPN reports: “Trading Gore is a long shot, yes, but interim GM Mike DeBartolo at very least is listening because A) that’s what good organizations do and B) the Nationals need a lot of help.”
Gore, 26, has a 3.59 ERA and 140 strikeouts in 112 ⅔ innings this season. He’s not eligible to hit free agency until after the 2028 season.
The report most heavily connects Gore with the Cubs, who need a frontline starter, have a deep farm system and have shown an affinity for lefties in their rotation. That said, every contender could use pitching help, especially from someone as good and with as much team control as Gore.
Royals want outfield help back if dealing Lugo
The Royals might end up being open to trading All-Star starting pitcher Seth Lugo, who finished second in Cy Young voting last season, but they’ll be seeking a “controllable” outfielder in return, reports The Athletic, mentioning Red Sox All-Star outfielder Jarren Duran as a potential target.
Lugo, 35, heads into Wednesday’s scheduled start with a 2.94 ERA in 18 starts. He’s signed through this season with a $15 million player option for 2026. Inquiring teams probably find this attractive, as Lugo looks very likely to exceed $15 million worth of value next season, so he’s either a rental player for this year or will be had for cheap next.
García in mix for Phillies
The Rangers are only 1 ½ games out of an AL wild card and just won the World Series from a wild-card berth two years ago, so it would seem weird if they were to sell. Still, ESPN reports that Adolis García is “in the mix” for the Phillies, who could use a right-handed power bat in the outfield. García is having the worst season of his MLB career outside a three-game stint in 2020, but he’s shown before that there’s plenty of pop. Luis Robert of the White Sox is also mentioned and either would make tons of sense for a team that hasn’t been very consistent on offense and could use more firepower from a right-hander to balance that of lefties Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper.
