Live Chat With Fantasy Baseball Expert Nicklaus Gaut
Fantasy baseball expert Nicklaus Gaut will be holding a live chat today at 11am central time, exclusively with Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Use the link below to ask a question in advance, participate in the live event, and read the transcript afterward.
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MLB Mailbag: Snell, Offseason, Orioles, A’s, Erceg, Pirates, Marlins, Angels
I'm stepping in for Tim Dierkes on this week's MLBTR Mailbag once again. In this week's post-deadline edition, we'll look at the Giants, Blake Snell, some likely offseason trade candidates, the Orioles' bullpen decisions at the deadline, some of the Athletics' latest trade returns, the Pirates' deadline moves, the Marlins "everything must go" sale, Emmanuel Clase's Cy Young chances, the Angels' deadline deals and more.
Adrian R. asks:
Why does Farhan Zaidi continually nibble at the margins, like at this trade deadline, and not cash in valuable trade assets for a pending free agent/opt out like Blake Snell? Is Farhan Zaidi really the smartest guy in the room as he likes to think of himself?
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Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript
MLBTR’s Anthony Franco held a live chat today at 2:00pm central, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Anthony fielded various deadline-related questions.
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Support MLBTR’s Writers
Today marked our 19th trade deadline here at MLB Trade Rumors. Many of you have been loyal readers since the beginning and have seen how this operation has grown and improved. During the most frenzied period today, all seven MLBTR writers were on at the same time, writing up trades.
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11 Long Shot Trade Candidates
We're less than 24 hours from the deadline. There has been a flurry of activity dating back to Thursday night, taking a few of the top names (e.g Randy Arozarena, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Carlos Estévez, Isaac Paredes) off the board. We've devoted ample attention to the likes of Garrett Crochet, Jack Flaherty and Yusei Kikuchi.
Every deadline features some late surprises. Talks don't always get over the line, but we're likely to hear about discussions on marquee names who are less clear trade candidates than are the good players with limited contractual control on bad teams. None of the following players are likely to be traded. They've probably each got less than a 20% chance of changing uniforms. There's an argument for teams to listen on these players, though they're of varying ability and trade value.
Skubal might be the best pitcher in baseball. If the Tigers trade him, it'd be the biggest transaction of the summer. He's probably the frontrunner for the American League Cy Young award behind a 2.35 earned run average with a 30% strikeout rate over 130 innings. Detroit is three games below .500 and 5.5 out in the Wild Card race. Last night's Carson Kelly trade shows they're willing to move rentals. Needless to say, a Skubal trade would be in another stratosphere of significance.
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Live Chat With Fantasy Baseball Expert Nicklaus Gaut
Fantasy baseball expert Nicklaus Gaut will be holding a live chat today at 11am central time, exclusively with Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Use the link below to ask a question in advance, participate in the live event, and read the transcript afterward.
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The Blue Jays Shouldn’t Be Resisting A Reset
The 2024 season clearly hasn't gone the way the Blue Jays hoped. Expected to contend for a Wild Card spot at the very least, the Jays have instead encountered notable injuries (Jordan Romano, Alek Manoah) and seen career-worst performances from several key players (Bo Bichette, Alejandro Kirk, Justin Turner, Kevin Kiermaier). Top prospect Orelvis Martinez received an 80-game PED suspension. Very, very little has gone well in Toronto -- as evidenced by their 46-56 record and -82 run differential.
Unsurprisingly, Toronto has become a deadline seller. The front office reportedly isn't interested in any kind of large-scale rebuild, however, and is focused on primarily selling off rental assets. Reliever Yimi Garcia has already been traded to the Mariners. Starter Yusei Kikuchi and the aforementioned Turner are among the candidates to change hands. That'll bring back some modest returns in terms of prospects. It's also not sufficient for a team in Toronto's situation.
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Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript
MLBTR’s Anthony Franco held a live chat today, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers! Anthony took questions on the Randy Arozarena and A.J. Puk trades, whether the Yankees will trade from the top of their farm system, where Brent Rooker might land, whether the Dodgers should deal young pitching for Garrett Crochet, the Tigers' shortstop possibilities, the chances the Giants find a taker for Blake Snell, and much more.
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Tim Dierkes’ MLB Mailbag: Skubal, Rooker, Orioles, Padres
Today's mailbag marks the last one before the trade deadline, and covers the likelihood of Tarik Skubal and Brent Rooker trades, what the Orioles, Padres, Tigers, and other teams might do, and much more. For further discussion of many of these topics, check out the MLBTR podcast as well.
Paul asks:
How aggressive do you see Detroit being in moving Tarik Skubal? As an O's fan I am wondering if a package centered around Basallo and some lesser guys like Norby and Stowers could get it done.
I do not expect the Tigers to trade Skubal. They've got the AL Cy Young favorite under control through 2026 at well below-market arbitration prices. In a couple of months, president of baseball operations Scott Harris will reach his two-year anniversary with the team. Trading Skubal right now seems like a bit of a surrender for 2025-26, at a point in his tenure where it seems like Harris should increasingly be pushing chips in.
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The A’s Difficult Deadline Decision
The A's are one of the few obvious sellers this summer. Oakland will certainly move some players by next Tuesday, but it's not clear if they'll dominate the trade market. The A's don't have anyone on significant long-term commitments that they'll be trying to offload. They could move a couple middle relievers and call it a deadline.
That's not all that interesting. Their bigger decisions will be whether to deal players under team control. They've reportedly set a massive demand on Mason Miller, whom they could stretch back into a rotation role next season. Miller has been the subject of a ton of trade speculation with good reason. There's been less chatter, at least publicly, about Brent Rooker.
The front office might have an even tougher call in the coming days regarding Rooker than they do with their star closer. Rooker has been one of the most productive offensive players in baseball over the past season and a half. He could be the best hitter traded. Yet his winding career arc makes him a tricky player to value -- potentially making it tough for the A's and other teams to align on an asking price.
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