5 Players Most Likely To Be Moved At Trade Deadline
Here are the five players generating the most consistent trade buzz across the league.
Tarik Skubal - Detroit Tigers
The most coveted name on any trade board this summer just returned from a lengthy injury.
Skubal had a 2.70 ERA through seven starts before going on the 15-day IL with loose bodies in his elbow on May 4, and the Tigers were 9-21 in his absence.
He just returned on June 13 and threw 4.2 innings, and allowed three runs (two earned).
Multiple league executives told Feinsand that Detroit is more likely than not to trade him, with one AL executive saying flatly: "They are sending him somewhere. No doubt about it."
He would be the first pitcher traded within two years of winning a Cy Young Award since 2012, and the return would set Detroit's rebuild back years ahead of schedule.
CJ Abrams - Washington Nationals
Abrams received three executive votes in MLB.com's polling, the most of any position player on the board.
He has posted a bWAR between 3.3 and 3.5 in each of the past three seasons while averaging 19 home runs, is signed through 2028, and plays for an organization that traded MacKenzie Gore in January and is very clearly not contending.
Joe Ryan - Minnesota Twins
Ryan received three executive votes alongside Abrams and is the Twins' biggest trade chip in a rotation they are widely expected to begin dismantling.
He carries a $6.2 million salary with arbitration eligibility through 2027, making him an affordable multi-year option for any team that acquires him.
The Twins were sellers last deadline and will almost certainly be sellers again given a current record that has them sitting far outside the playoff picture.
Isaac Paredes - Houston Astros
Paredes has been a deadline rumor name since last November and the situation has only intensified.
The Astros are 33-40, carrying the worst pitching ERA in baseball, and have a clear organizational motive to convert Paredes's remaining two years of control into a rebuilding package.
He has been linked to the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, and Phillies at various points this offseason, and the asking price has been widely described as a package anchored by two top-half-of-the-first-round prospects.
Aroldis Chapman - Boston Red Sox
Chapman has been named as the best player potentially available from Boston, and the numbers make the case without any additional argument.
He has a 0.44 ERA across 21 appearances with 28 strikeouts, is making $16 million this season, has a vesting option for 2027 that kicks in at 40 innings, and plays for a team that is 29-39.
Photo Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
