MLB Trade Rumors: Top 10 Starting Pitchers Who Could Be Dealt at Deadline

What do contenders look for at the trade deadline? Pitching, pitching and more pitching. There could be quite a number of decent options when it comes to rotation arms—depending on which teams take the plunge and decide to sell.

Let's have a look the Top 10 Starting Pitchers who could be available at the trade deadline, starting in the NL.

Top starting pitchers available at MLB trade deadline

Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers
Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks
Merrill Kelly, Arizona Diamondbacks
Sandy Alcantara, Miami Marlins
Edward Cabrera, Miami Marlins
Mitch Keller, Pittsburgh Pirates
Seth Lugo, Kansas City Royals
Kris Bubic, Kansas City Royals
Charlie Morton, Baltimore Orioles
Adrian Houser, Chicago White Sox

Peralta would be the most impactful name on this list, as the Brewers ace is having a Cy Young-caliber year (non-Paul Skenes Division). He's 11-4 with a 2.66 ERA and has the Brewers just a game and a half out of top spot in the NL Central. But due to that, it would be shocking to see Milwaukee deal him. The backlash they got from trading closer Josh Hader a couple of years back in the middle of a pennant race (and then missing out on the playoffs by one game) will be forefront in their thinking.

Alcantara is a former Cy Young winner, but isn't pitching like one yet in his return from Tommy John surgery this year, with a 7.22 ERA. There will be a lot of eyes on his last three starts before the July 31st deadline.

The same could be said for Zac Gallen, who would be the next-best pitcher on this list—IF he were pitching like the old Zac Gallen. Instead, the D-Backs' former Cy Young finalist is having a dreadful season in his contract year. He'll be a free agent this winter, but he'll need to right the ship from his 5.40 ERA. Teams will be watching.

The Royals have a couple of excellent starters on this list, but they are still on the edges of the Wild Card race, at 4.5 games back. Will they sell, is the big question. But if they do, both Lugo and Bubic would be in high demand.

Morton, at 41, has the longest track record of any of these pitchers to go on, and he's a veteran of the playoff wars as well (with a 3.60 postseason ERA across 80 innings). He had a horrible start to the 2025 season with a 9.45 ERA through April. But in his last 59 innings, he has a 3.05 ERA, and with the Orioles likely to be sellers, he will be on teams' radars.

Houser has come out of nowhere since the White Sox picked him up off the scrap heap in late May. He has a ridiculous 1.56 ERA in nine starts on the South Side, and Chicago will be looking to cash him in for an asset.