Opening Day is a week away (if you don’t count the Tokyo Series) and soon all those prized offseason pickups will begin making an impact in games that count. Spring training games are fun in their own way, but I think we’re all ready for meaningful baseball. And once those games that count begin, it doesn’t take long for injuries to happen or deficiencies to unexpectedly pop up on the roster. It is inevitable. That’s baseball.
No team is perfect, and in a few weeks, they’ll all be looking to improve at the trade deadline. For contenders, that means adding MLB contributors. For rebuilders, it means adding to the farm system. With that in mind, here’s a (very) early look ahead to this summer’s trade deadline. Here are this deadline’s top 10 trade candidates ranked in order of how likely they are to be moved.
The question is not if the Marlins will trade Alcantara, but when. The 2022 NL Cy Young winner missed last season with Tommy John surgery, but he’s completed his rehab, and he’s throwing gas this spring. Still only 29, Alcantara is owed $17 million this year and next, and his contract includes a $21 million club option for 2027. He’s healthy, he’s excellent, and he’s affordable for another two seasons beyond this one. The Marlins traded Luis Arraez last May. POBO Peter Bendix did not wait until the deadline. Don’t be surprised if he does the same with Alcantara, especially with a major arm injury in his recent past. Alcantara is the last veteran with significant trade value remaining in Miami. Early possible landing spots: Mets, Orioles, Red Sox
The ChiSox shipped out ace Garrett Crochet over the winter, but they opted to hold onto Robert, and will instead let him rebuild value this season before making a trade. Robert, 27, is coming off a .224/.278/.379 line in 100 games around injuries in 2024. He’s also a year removed from hitting 38 home runs and playing Gold Glove-caliber defense in center. Robert’s contract is all upside. He’s owed $15 million in 2025 and has $20 million club options for 2026 and 2027. If he’s great, you can keep him for two more years beyond this one. If he’s bad, you can walk away. Similar to the Marlins and Alcantara, don’t be surprised if the White Sox act quickly to move Robert, especially if he comes out of the gate strong. Early possible landing spots: Astros, Phillies, Reds
A whole bunch of rental relievers will be traded at the deadline. It happens every year. Helsley is the best of the bunch. Fedde could be the best non-Alcantara starter traded this summer. He’s a very affordable rental ($7.5 million salary) who showed last year that his success in Korea was no fluke. The Cardinals are in the middle of what POBO John Mozeliak called a “reset” early in the offseason, and it kind of feels like they’re stuck in-between, no? They didn’t add anything significant to the roster but they didn’t sell off any pieces either. They’re in the middle and that’s a bad place to be. Helsley and Fedde are the kind of pitching rentals who will generate tremendous interest in the weeks leading up to the deadline. Early possible landing spots: Diamondbacks and Phillies for Helsley, Braves and Yankees for Fedde
The Rays will play home games in George M. Steinbrenner Field this year and no player stands to benefit more from the move than Lowe. He’s a pull heavy left-handed hitter and GMS Field has the same dimensions as Yankee Stadium, meaning a short right field porch. Lowe has averaged 33 homers per 162 games in his career. It’s real power, though staying on the field has been the issue the last few years. Now he stands the gain a few short porch cheapies during the summer. At $10.5 million, Lowe will be the second-highest paid Ray in 2025, and the Rays trade their highest paid players every year, either in the offseason or at the trade deadline. His time is coming (the same goes for Yandy Díaz). Early possible landing spots: Mariners, Pirates
Kiner-Falefa has been traded three times in the last three years and a fourth trade this summer seems likely. He’s a rental and slotted in as a stopgap shortstop for the Pirates as they wait out prospects Tsung-Che Cheng and Liover Peguero, the latter of whom has unimpressed in various cups of coffee. Kiner-Falefa is owed a reasonable $7.5 million in 2025, he plays hard and puts the ball in play, and he has experience at every position except first base (including catcher). He’s the kind of quality “tenth” man that every contending team seems to have. Early possible landing spots: Braves, Cubs, Royals
The Angels do not always do the sensible thing, and they had an active offseason that suggests they want to contend in 2025, but will they? It’s possible in the watered-down American League, for sure, but the Angels have not earned the benefit of the doubt. And even if things don’t go their way, they’re not guaranteed to sell at the deadline. My guess is Anderson, who had a solid enough bounce-back season a year ago, will garner enough interest in the trade deadline that the Angels are compelled to move him. Or at least more compelled that they would be normally. The 35-year-old lefty is owed $13 million in 2025, the final season of his contract. There are contenders with worse pitchers in the back of their rotation. Early possible landing spots: Guardians, Twins
Bell has been traded at each of the last three deadlines, including once by the Nationals. Can he make it four straight years with a July move? The Nationals are in a brutally tough division and they didn’t do a whole lot over the winter to improve the roster around their impressive young core (I say that as a Nathaniel Lowe fan). With similar first base/DH types slated to start the season in Triple-A (Andrés Chaparro, Juan Yepez), plus at least one outfielder maybe knocking on the door (Robert Hassell III), you needn’t try hard to see Washington wanting to open up the DH spot at midseason. Bell gets traded at the deadline. It’s what he does. This year likely won’t be any different. Early possible landing spots: Mariners, Twins
Just about every Padre who is making real money and doesn’t have a no-trade clause has been mentioned in trade rumors the last few months, including Cease. Normally I would say San Diego will have to fall out of the race for a trade to become a real possibility, though I’m not sure that’s the case here. Money is obviously tight — you only need to look at how Michael King’s and Nick Pivetta’s contracts are structured to see that — and Cease will make a healthy $13.75 million in 2025, his final year of team control. Is there an avenue for the Padres to trade Cease for multiple younger and cheaper players? Yes. It didn’t happen during the offseason, but sure, it’s possible. I wouldn’t say a trade is likely — San Diego’s best chance at returning to the postseason involves Cease taking the ball every five days — but I won’t take it off the table completely. Early possible landing spots: Cubs, Mets
I admit, this is a long shot, but I don’t think it’s impossible. The Blue Jays and Guerrero were unable to agree to a long-term contract before his self-imposed Feb. 18 deadline, so now he’ll head out into free agency in a few months. I assume Toronto will try to re-sign Vlad Jr. after this season, and in that case, keeping him at the deadline makes sense. But, if the season goes off the rails and the Blue Jays are well out of the race, they have to at least listen, right? It would be irresponsible not to. The Blue Jays will keep Guerrero as long as they’re within striking distance of a postseason berth. Things would have to go really, really poorly for a trade to become a real possibility. The odds it happens are small, but they definitely aren’t 0% (the same goes for Bo Bichette too). Early possible landing spots: Brewers, Giants
Other early deadline trade candidates: RP José Leclerc, Athletics; SP/RP Steven Matz, Cardinals; OF Tommy Pham, Pirates; UTIL Josh Rojas, White Sox; SP Max Scherzer, Blue Jays
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