MLB Trade Deadline 2024: Ranking the 10 Remaining Players Most Likely to Be Dealt
Kerry Miller@@kerrancejamesFeatured Columnist IVJuly 29, 2024MLB Trade Deadline 2024: Ranking the 10 Remaining Players Most Likely to Be Dealt0 of 10
Detroit’s Jack FlahertyJason Miller/Getty Images
Major League Baseball’s 2024 trade deadline isn’t until 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, but there already have been quite a few significant exchanges.
The appetizers to the main course, if you will.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. to the Yankees and Randy Arozarena to the Mariners were the two semi-blockbusters thus far, but Zach Eflin to the Orioles, Danny Jansen to the Red Sox, Carlos Estévez to the Phillies, Jesse Winker to the Mets and Isaac Paredes to the Cubs were all considerable needle-movers, too.
All seven of those guys featured prominently in any list you could find of top players who might be on the move. (Six were top-20 in the top 50 that MLB Trade Rumors put together on July 11.)
Who’s next, though?
If you had to bet on a few players who most definitely will get traded in the dwindling hours remaining until the deadline strikes, who would they be?
What follows is our ranking of the 10 noteworthy players most likely to be dealt.
All 10 could be valuable additions to a World Series contender, but the ranking is based on how likely it is they’ll get traded—not how valuable the player is.
So, for instance, neither Tarik Skubal nor Luis Robert Jr. made the cut. Those are undeniably two of the biggest names still at large, but whether either one actually gets traded is questionable, at best.
10. LHP Tyler Anderson and UTIL Luis Rengifo, Los Angeles Angels1 of 10
Tyler AndersonGene Wang/Getty Images
Anderson’s 2024 Stats: 130.2 IP, 2.96 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 6.8 K/9
Approximate Prorated Salary: $4.3M
Beyond This Season: $13M in 2025
Rengifo’s 2024 Stats: .304/.347/.426, 6 HR, 29 RBI, 23 SB
Approximate Prorated Salary: $1.5M
Beyond This Season: Arbitration-Eligible in 2025
There has been nothing to suggest that the Angels are shopping these two players as a package deal. However, if they’re moving one of their stars with one year of team control remaining, it’s likely they’ll move both of them.
If we had to pick just one of the two, though, Anderson is the more coveted trade candidate.
His ERA has been impressive all season long, but he has found a whole new gear in the K/9 and K/BB departments as of late. In his four starts in July, Anderson has gone 26.2 innings with 32 strikeouts and just two walks. That’s a 10.8 K/9 and 16.0 K/BB, compared to what were marks of 5.8 and 1.4, respectively, through his first 17 starts. He was a top candidate for regression to the mean when he was somehow maintaining a sub-3.00 ERA with those K/9 and K/BB ratios, but now it feels like he could legitimately anchor a playoff push.
To be sure, though, Rengifo could ignite a bit of a bidding war, too.
He can play anywhere on defense. He hits for average. He can hit for power. He has become one of the premier base-stealers out of seemingly nowhere. And his salary is quite team-friendly.
The Dodgers, Yankees, Braves and plenty of other contenders could all benefit from adding both Angels.
9. DH/OF Brent Rooker, Oakland Athletics2 of 10
Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
2024 Stats: .288/.365/.583, 25 HR, 72 RBI
Approximate Prorated Salary: $250,000
Beyond This Season: Arbitration-eligible through 2027
Since the beginning of last season, Brent Rooker has an OPS of .872, nestled comfortably just above Gunnar Henderson (.866) and just below Bobby Witt Jr. (.878) in the top 20 on that list.
Really, though, it’s a bit of a disservice to Rooker’s trade value to bring 2023 into the conversation, because he entered play on Saturday ranked fifth in the majors in wRC+ for this season, trailing only the two players carrying the Yankees (Aaron Judge and Juan Soto) and the two players who reasonably could win a Triple Crown in the NL (Shohei Ohtani and Marcell Ozuna).
So, yeah, we’re talking about a slugger who hit 30 home runs last season, and saying that his numbers from the past 16 months are extra impressive if you can just forget about that All-Star campaign.
Rooker’s trade value is hampered a bit by his glove, of lack thereof. He could play corner outfield if necessary, but he is best suited for DH work. This makes it tough to envision the Astros, Braves, Dodgers, Phillies or Yankees swinging big to get the best bat on the market, as they each already have a mighty fine full-time DH.
There are definitely interested parties, though. Both the Guardians and Royals have gotten very little out of the DH spot this season, and Rooker’s remaining salary sure would be desirable for those small-market clubs. Kansas City probably doesn’t have the prospect capital to make it happen, but Cleveland sure does, boasting the second-best farm system in baseball.
No. 1 in that ranking was Seattle, which sure would benefit from an upgrade at DH. The Mariners have already traded for Randy Arozarena, but that only solves their Mitch Haniger problem. There’s still the issue of Mitch Garver batting .177 for the year as the primary designated hitter, and going from Garver to Rooker could be what saves their season.
Most of Seattle’s loaded farm system consists of guys 21 years old or younger who are at least two years away from finding their way to the big leagues. That’s kind of perfect for the A’s, though, as trading away a star with more than three remaining years of team control is a fine indication of how far away they are from contending again.
8. LHP Garrett Crochet, Chicago White Sox3 of 10
Sam Hodde/Getty Images
2024 Stats: 111.1 IP, 3.07 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 12.7 K/9
Approximate Prorated Salary: $270,000
Beyond This Season: Arbitration-eligible through 2026
One month ago, Garrett Crochet would have been a stone-cold lock for top five on this list, probably even landing at No. 1.
Now, though, there are increasing questions about whether he’ll be a starter or a reliever the rest of the way. He had never thrown more than 65 innings in a single season prior to this one, and the White Sox have been intentionally limiting his workload in recent weeks. Crochet went just 10 innings over the course of his last three starts, including a 10-day hiatus between appearances surrounding the All-Star Break.
There was also the report from New York Post’s Jon Heyman on Thursday that Crochet would insist upon a long-term extension before he would agree to pitch into October. This surely makes him less desirable to a small-market, long-term-extension-averse team like the Orioles, who had been at the top of the list of candidates to trade for him.
For what it’s worth, though, if he’s serious about it, good for Crochet.
Josh Hader refused to pitch multiple innings in an appearance over his final few years of arbitration eligibility, preserving his health until a team made a long-term investment in him. Conversely, Matt Harvey ruined his career and cost himself tens of millions of dollars by pitching so many innings in his first season back from Tommy John surgery.
Can’t imagine Crochet will be the last breakout ace to make a demand of this ilk.
All the same, it does impact his trade value to the point where it’s closer to a 50/50 proposition on whether he’ll actually get dealt. Still feels likely, though.
7. UTIL Miguel Andujar, Oakland Athletics4 of 10
Gene Wang/Getty Images
2024 Stats: .292/.319/.403, 4 HR, 26 RBI
Approximate Prorated Salary: $600,000
Beyond This Season: Arbitration-eligible through 2025
Miguel Andujar isn’t the most noteworthy A on the trade block. Brent Rooker is definitely more coveted, as are Mason Miller and Lucas Erceg if we think there’s any chance either of those rookie relievers gets dealt.
Andujar is the most likely A to be on the move, though.
For starters, his versatility on defense makes him a viable asset for any team. He has mostly played left field this season, but he can play third base, first base or right field, too.
Good luck finding a contender that doesn’t have a bit of a question mark at at least one of those four spots on the field.
The price is right, too.
Andujar costs a little over half a million for the rest of this season, and his salary for his final year of arbitration eligibility figures to land somewhere around $3 million. That’s nothing compared to some of the names on the block, particularly the ones with team control beyond this winter.
His slugging is a far cry from what it was when he hit 27 home runs as a rookie back in 2018, but that nearly .300 batting average is all but certain to be heading somewhere.
6. C Elias DÃaz, Colorado Rockies5 of 10
Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
2024 Stats: .279/.329/.395, 5 HR, 31 RBI
Approximate Prorated Salary: $2M
Beyond This Season: Free Agent
Putting confidence in the Rockies to do the logical thing when it comes to trades surely isn’t the best idea in the world, considering their trade of Nolan Arenado and non-trade of Trevor Story were two of the more head-scratching decisions made by any team in the past five years.
They made solid moves at last year’s deadline, though, unloading all of Pierce Johnson, Brad Hand, Randal Grichuk and C.J. Cron for a decent stockpile of decent prospects.
This year, they’ll be looking to get at least something in exchange for the top catcher on the trade block.
Elias DÃaz isn’t hitting for much power this season, which is a little concerning for someone who plays half of his games at altitude. But getting a .279 batting average from the catcher spot would be a fantastic upgrade for quite a few contenders.
No. 1 on the list of suitors might be the Yankees, who have been playing without Jose Trevino (quad) since before the All-Star Break and don’t expect him back for at least a few more weeks. DÃaz would immediately become the third-best hitter in that lineup.
Pittsburgh could also be an extremely interested party, if the Pirates fancy themselves close enough to playoff contention to do some buying. For the year, they’ve gotten a .194 batting average from the catcher spot. Maybe Joey Bart remains the primary starter, but upgrading from Yasmani Grandal (.516 OPS) to DÃaz could be big.
Similar story for the Phillies with Garrett Stubbs and the Orioles with James McCann.
5. UTIL Amed Rosario, Tampa Bay Rays6 of 10
Cole Burston/Getty Images
2024 Stats: .307/.332/.412, 2 HR, 26 RBI, 9 SB
Approximate Prorated Salary: $500,000
Beyond This Season: Free Agent
Despite a .500 record, the Tampa Bay Rays have clearly thrown in the towel on this season. They’ve already traded away both Randy Arozarena, Zach Eflin and Isaac Paredes with rumblings that they’re willing to move Yandy DÃaz, too.
Compared to those, moving Amed Rosario wouldn’t do much of anything for the Rays on the cost-cutting front. They got him on a one-year, $1.5M flier after a rough 2023 campaign, and trading him would only save them a few hundred grand.
But in a market very much lacking for middle infielders, they could get a fairly decent prospect in exchange for a .300 hitter who can play just about anywhere.
Let’s not forget that heading into last season, Rosario was somewhat of a hot commodity. He was never an All-Star or Gold Glover, but from 2018-22, he was worth a solid 10.3 bWAR. That’s more than can be said for Josh Bell (9.0 bWAR), and he got a two-year, $33 million that offseason.
Rosario was never going to even remotely sniff Trea Turner or Xander Bogaerts money. However, if his 2023 season had been anywhere near as good as his 2019, 2021 and 2022 campaigns, his salary on a multi-year deal would be at least five times, maybe even 10 times what it is right now.
With him back to performing at close to that level, he could be a major addition for a contender looking to address a weak spot in its lineup. (Newsflash: That’s all of them.)
Editor’s Note: The Rays traded Rosario to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for minor league RHP Michael Flynn on Monday evening.
4. RHP Jack Flaherty, Detroit Tigers7 of 10
Duane Burleson/Getty Images
2024 Stats: 106.2 IP, 2.95 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 11.2 K/9
Approximate Prorated Salary: $4.7M
Beyond This Season: Free Agent
Unless you believe the Texas Rangers are willing to part with Max Scherzer, Jack Flaherty is, by a wide margin, the most coveted two-month-rental starting pitcher on this year’s trade block.
He got out to a bit of a rocky first few weeks of the season with an ERA just under 5.00. However, in 13 starts over the past three months, he has given Detroit a 2.21 ERA, striking out one out of every three batters he has faced.
Teammate Tarik Skubal is the leading candidate for AL Cy Young and has been a constant in trade rumors over the past two weeks—Sure would mess up the Cy Young markets if he gets dealt to the Dodgers, eh?—but Flaherty has been every bit as good as Skubal since late April.
He would be a strong candidate for No. 1 on the list…were he not playing for a club that has botched the trade deadline in each of the past two years.
Last year, Detroit did ship Michael Lorenzen to the Phillies for a Single-A prospect (Hao-Yu Lee) who legitimately could be their replacement for Javier Báez by the end of next season. However, they got nothing for their much better trade chip (Eduardo RodrÃguez) when he used his partial no-trade clause to block a deal with the Dodgers.
The year before that, despite entering the trade deadline more than 20 games below .500, the Tigers failed to trade away impending free agents Jeimer Candelario and Andrew Chafin, both of whom signed elsewhere that winter for at least $5M.
Between that and the report from Friday that the Tigers will “aim high” in a deal for Flaherty, couldn’t quite put him in the top three. He certainly should be on the move, though, and could be a season-changer for a team like the Brewers, Twins or Red Sox.
3. RHP Erick Fedde, Chicago White Sox8 of 10
Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images
2024 Stats: 117.2 IP, 2.98 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 8.0 K/9
Approximate Prorated Salary: $2.5M
Beyond This Season: $7.5M in 2025
We’ve been talking since before the regular season even began about what all the White Sox could put on the trade block.
How actually tradable are their many offerings, though?
Garrett Crochet and Luis Robert Jr. are the two big names we’ve been hearing about non-stop for weeks now. And while it does feel likely that both get dealt, it’s going to take a considerably large proposal to make it happen. And given the injury history of both players, it’s plausible no one will be willing to go quite as high as the White Sox think those guys are worth.
At the other end of the spectrum are the plethora of “If nobody wants this expiring contract, I’ll TAKE it” players. Tommy Pham, Paul DeJong, Michael Kopech and John Brebbia are all strong candidates to be traded and players who could provide some value down the stretch. They aren’t the best available players at their respective positions, though. They’re only high on the list of trade candidates because Chicago has no reason whatsoever to hang onto them.
The happy medium between the two is Erick Fedde, having a fantastic season and signed for one more year at a price point that is highway robbery if he can run this back again in 2025.
Chicago isn’t going to just give him away, but its asking price for Fedde can’t possibly be as high as it is for Crochet or Robert, keeping in mind he had a 5.41 ERA in his first six seasons in the big leagues.
It’s just a matter of figuring out which contender is most willing to ignore that detail and put together a solid package of prospects. The Brewers are probably the best bet to fit that description.
Editor’s Note: Fedde was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday in a three-team deal with the White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. In the same trade, Kopech was sent to the Dodgers.
2. LHP Yusei Kikuchi, Toronto Blue Jays9 of 10
Norm Hall/Getty Images
2024 Stats: 111.0 IP, 4.54 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 10.1 K/9
Approximate Prorated Salary: $3.3M
Beyond This Season: Free Agent
As previously noted, Jack Flaherty is the cat’s pajamas among this year’s rental starting pitchers.
But hey diddle diddle, if Flaherty’s the cat, Yusei Kikuchi’s the (second) fiddle, even though the trajectory of the Blue Jay’s season has gone in the opposite direction of the Tiger’s.
Kikuchi had a 2.64 ERA through his first 10 starts, six of which were of the quality variety. Since then, however, he has made 11 starts with a 6.62 ERA.
He has had some brutally tough luck, though.
For the year, Kikuchi’s BABIP against of .334 is the fourth-highest among the 92 pitchers who have logged at least 90 innings pitched. That mark balloons even more to .368 if you shrink the data set to “since May 22,” in which time he has an xFIP of 3.46 that suggests some serious positive regression to the mean down the stretch.
Yes, there’s also a considerable ‘batting average on balls hit out of play’ problem, as Kikuchi has allowed 12 home runs in those 11 starts (compared to four in the first 10), but there’s at least one team—very likely several—out there that will see this xFIP/ERA split and want to take a flier on him having a strong finish.
While we’ve pretty much given up hope on Toronto parting with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the Blue Jays will definitely look to trade away the impending free agents on the roster. If the Blue Jays dump all of Kikuchi, Justin Turner, Danny Jansen, Yimi Garcia, and Kevin Kiermaier, they stand to save close to $15M.
Editor’s Note: According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Kikuchi was traded to the Houston Astros on Monday.
1. LHP Tanner Scott, Miami Marlins10 of 10
Megan Briggs/Getty Images
2024 Stats: 44.2 IP, 1.21 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 10.3 K/9
Approximate Prorated Salary: $1.9M
Beyond This Season: Free Agent
Considering the Marlins traded Luis Arráez five weeks into the regular season and dealt A.J. Puk a couple of days ago, it’s a little shocking that Tanner Scott hasn’t been relocated yet.
His full-season numbers are already quite impressive, but they become even more so if you take out the first couple weeks of the campaign.
Scott struggled with his control early on, walking 12 of the first 42 batters he faced and taking the loss in three of his first seven appearances. Since then, though, he has logged 37.0 IP with a 0.49 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP, converting 17 of his 18 save chances while also winning six games.
No matter how well this impending free agent closer pitches in the ninth inning, though, he can’t possibly save Miami’s season. The Marlins are 30 games below .500 and already (along with the Rockies) basically locked in as the co-favorites to win the 2025 draft lottery.
Trading him away would save them about $2M, though, in addition to whatever they’re able to get on the prospect front.
There’s no question there are contenders who want him, too. The Yankees have been mentioned most often, given their lack of quality left-handed relievers and how unreliable Clay Holmes has been in the closer role over the past two months. Aside from maybe the Guardians, though, who are already being anchored by their incredible bullpen, good luck finding a team that wouldn’t want Scott.
Perhaps that’s the hold up. Miami might just be waiting to see where the biggest offer comes from.
But if you had to bet a limb on one player being dealt before Tuesday’s deadline, it’s Scott. There’s about a 120 percent chance he’s with a different team on July 31.
