Journalists and general managers donโt always have a lot in common. But there is this: We both work best up against a deadline.
As the calendar flips to Aug. 3, the official day of the MLB trade deadline, weโre still waiting to see which teams operate with the proper urgency level. Since mid-June, weโve been tracking which teams could most use help in the rotation, the lineup and the bullpen. Now weโll see whether those front offices see eye-to-eye with us.
Weโve already seen some movement in these rankings since the middle of last week when we released version 3.0:
- Three of our top five clubs most in need of starting pitching have added to their rotations already in the Chicago Cubs (Kevin Gausman), Chicago White Sox (Luis Castillo) and Atlanta Braves (Tyler Mahle). At the same time, each could probably still use another addition. Weโre shuffling the quintet but not knocking any of them off the list just now. In either case, Houston is waiting in the wings.
- Only one of the five teams who needed a bat the most has added one: the New York Yankees, who acquired Luis Garcรญa Jr. from the Washington Nationals. Thatโs a big enough addition to knock the Yankees from third on the list to honorable mention; New York could still use a right-handed bat behind the plate and/or as part of a center-field platoon.
- That opened the door for the Boston Red Sox to join our list. They, too, traded for a Nationals infielder in the midst of a breakout season. Curtis Mead, however, broke his wrist in his first game with Boston and may not return this season. That kept open the void in the middle infield for the Sox. Boston has made noise about shortstops (Zach Neto, Otto Lรณpez, even Elly De La Cruz) and catchers (Liam Hicks). That shows theyโre not contemplating minor additions; all those players come with several years of remaining team control, which suggests Boston is willing to pony up for a needed bat.
- Itโs more like rearranging deck chairs on our bullpen list, because thatโs mostly what the teams acquiring arms have done in adding from the Yankeesโ reliever surplus. The Pittsburgh Pirates added Camilo Doval and the Nationals brought in two arms to potentially help their 2026 pen (Jake Bird and Yovanny Cruz) from New York in the Garcรญa deal. Now that the Cubs added Gausman, adding meaningfully to the pen should be the next step.
