2026 MLB Trade Deadline: Every Contender’s Biggest Need, Player Fits

Get ready for a wild weekend ahead. As the Aug. 3 trade deadline approaches, a plethora of teams still remain on the bubble between buying, selling or doing a little of both. That’s what happens when only nine teams are more than three games out of a playoff spot. The other 21 clubs are all jockeying for position. Over the next few days, though, they’ll all have to make their decisions. As teams figure out what direction they want to go, below is each contender’s biggest need and one possible target who could fit the mold. (For the purposes of this exercise, all teams within three games of a playoff spot entering Thursday are included.) THE TOP CONTENDERS Biggest Need: … None Possible Target: LHP Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers They don’t need to do anything at the deadline. Edwin Díaz and Kiké Hernández are back.  Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are working their way back. Will Smith has resumed baseball activities. And yet…can you really see them standing pat, especially if Skubal becomes available? As much as the Dodgers are publicly downplaying their desire to add, they have everything they need — the surplus of outfield prospects, the big-league depth and the motivation to win a third straight title — to get this done. Biggest Need: Starting pitching/impact talentPossible Target: RHP Freddy Peralta, New York Mets Last year’s NLCS should be a deadline wake-up call, and the Brewers should absolutely push the chips in to add a star, be it in the rotation to pair with Jacob Misiorowski or in the middle of the lineup to better contend with the elite arms they’ll see in October. Tarik Skubal? CJ Abrams? Zach Neto? They should all be options…Only, that’s not the Brewers’ usual way of operating. So, even though my heart says Skubal to the Brewers, my brain does not. Perhaps a reunion with Peralta is in the cards. They would at least have as good of a chance as any team to get him back to his productive ways. Biggest Need: Starting pitching Possible Target: RHP Kevin Gausman, Toronto Blue Jays Atlanta’s rotation exceeded expectations through the first couple months of the season, but the group has fallen back down to earth since. Braves starters have an ERA close to 5.00 since the start of June, a tally that ranks 25th in MLB over that stretch. Spencer Strider and Spencer Schwellenbach remain out, and while AJ Smith-Shawver returned from injury, it’s hard to know what to expect there. They could really use another starter that they can trust alongside Chris Sale in October. They should at least be placing calls for all of the top arms on the market. Biggest Need: Impact batPossible Target: 2B Luis Arraez, San Francisco Giants Tampa Bay might be the most interesting buyer at the deadline, considering both its playoff position (they have the best record in the American League) and its needs at multiple spots. The Rays could use an upgrade offensively at every spot up the middle. They might want another starter to ease workload concerns and raise the October ceiling. They might look for another high-leverage reliever to help a bullpen that has an ERA over 4.00. The AL is there for the taking; why not seize this opportunity? Biggest Need: CatcherPossible Target: C Tyler Stephenson, Cincinnati Reds The Yankees could use help anywhere while Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton are down, but they’ve needed more offensive production behind the plate all season. The catching market will be interesting to monitor. Just a week ago, it seemed robust. Now, the options are dwindling. A’s All-Star Shea Langeliers is done for the year. Ryan Jeffers is a rental that seemed to be a perfect fit in the Bronx, but the contending Twins could choose to keep him. The Reds’ Tyler Stephenson or the A’s Jonah Heim are among the other rental options. Stephenson’s hot last couple months — entering Wednesday, he had an .842 OPS since the start of June — could make him one of the more appealing candidates for the Yankees, unless they’re willing to pay up for someone like Colorado’s Hunter Goodman, who leads all catchers in home runs and is under team control for three more seasons. Biggest Need: Pitching Possible Target: RHP José Soriano, Los Angeles Angels Are you a productive big-league pitcher? Congrats, the Cubs should be interested. They have four starters and seven relievers on the injured list. The good news is that most of them are expected to return in some capacity in the second half. Still, it’s hard to know what to expect from those injured players. The Cubs could use immediate help to bolster a middling rotation and bullpen for the stretch run as they try to cut into the Brewers’ sizable division lead, but they could also use a more reliable option to start games in October. Someone like Soriano, a groundball pitcher who can also miss bats and benefit from the Cubs’ elite defense, would make a lot of sense. Biggest Need: Right-handed outfielder? Reliever? Starter? All three? Possible Target: OF Jo Adell, Los Angeles Angels You could make the case that a high-leverage reliever or another depth starter is more important in Philadelphia, but it’s hard to feel great about an offense that entered Wednesday with a lower OPS than the Rays and the Reds. Phillies outfielders have the lowest wRC+ in baseball, and that’s despite Brandon Marsh being an All-Star this year. They could use another right-handed bat to feel more comfortable about this offense against the elite arms it will see in October. HERE THEY COME Biggest Need: Infield bat Possible Target: SS Zach Neto, Los Angeles Angels Boston is surging, but the Red Sox are already 0-for-1 at the deadline. Curtis Mead, acquired over the weekend in exchange for pitcher Connelly Early, fractured his wrist in his first game with his new club and is now on the injured list. That should only increase the urgency for the hottest team in baseball to find more infield pop. The Red Sox seem to be interested in finding a right-handed-hitting shortstop, but the best ones potentially available (Neto, Otto Lopez, Jeremy Peña) are controllable and would cost an exorbitant amount. If they’re not willing to pay up but still are seeking an infield bat, maybe they won’t care as much about handedness or position and pivot to a rental such as Gleyber Torres. THE TURNAROUNDS Biggest Need: Starting pitching Possible Target: LHP Reid Detmers, Los Angeles Angels It’s a party on the South Side. Chicago’s young, powerful offense has slowed down a bit in July, but there’s enough pop in place to envision the White Sox holding on for their first division title in five years…as long as more pitching help arrives. The White Sox rank 17th in starters’ ERA, and their best pitcher this year, Davis Martin, has a 6.00 ERA in July. Sean Burke has helped pick up the slack, but they need another arm if they want the festivities to continue to and through October. With Kyle Teel hurt again, it also wouldn’t be surprising to see them add a catcher. Biggest Need: Relief pitching Possible Target: RHP Luke Weaver, New York Mets The Pirates have gone from the worst offense in baseball last year to one of the best this season. Their rotation, while not quite performing to expectations, has two All-Stars in Paul Skenes and Braxton Ashcraft, plus talented arms behind those two. The clear need is in the bullpen, and they should be shopping at the high end of the market as they attempt to reach the postseason for the first time since 2015. Biggest Need: Relief pitching Possible Target: RHP Ryan Zeferjahn, Los Angeles Angels The upstart Nationals’ offense leads MLB in slugging and home runs. The pitching…is another story, and this is a team that still could end up selling despite the unexpectedly strong start. All-Star Foster Griffin and Cade Cavalli give the rotation a solid starting point, but their starters rank 24th in ERA as a team. The bullpen, which ranks 28th in ERA and has the lowest strikeout rate in MLB, is an even bigger problem that needs to be addressed if Washington wants to buy and capitalize on an auspicious start to the Paul Toboni era. THE WILD WEST Biggest Need: Relief pitching Possible Target: RHP Huascar Brazobán, New York Mets The Rangers have yet to recapture the offense that guided them to their 2023 World Series title, but the bats have been better compared to the last couple years. They need to keep Wyatt Langford healthy and get Corey Seager and Josh Jung back on the field, but the biggest need is another relief arm to help fix a bullpen that has an ERA close to 6.00 in July. They already made their first move of the deadline, acquiring catcher Logan O’Hoppe and reliever Chase Silseth from the Angels. But it wouldn’t be surprising to see them get another right-handed high-leverage reliever to pair with lefty All-Star closer Jacob Latz. Biggest Need: Right-handed batPossible Target: OF Tyrone Taylor, New York Mets The Mariners could use another high-leverage reliever, too, but they entered this week last in MLB in OPS against left-handed pitching. Unfortunately for them, there aren’t many right-handed impact bats on the market. If the Marlins decide to sell, Heriberto Hernández could be a fit here. If not, Taylor or the Dodgers’ Alex Call could be platoon options against lefties. If the Mariners want to go bigger, they could trade some of their surplus of starting pitching. Whatever they do at the deadline, though, their biggest problem is that their best players aren’t producing consistently enough. That needs to change quickly. Biggest Need: Outfield Possible Target: OF Jake McCarthy, Colorado Rockies In the final season under contract, general manager Dana Brown is going to look for any reason to buy. Yordan Alvarez, the MVP frontrunner, has provided one all year. Now, the rest of the team is, too, with better play to start the second half. The rotation could use more help, but the bigger need might be an outfield that entered Wednesday with the lowest OPS in MLB. A match with Colorado, either for McCarthy or Mickey Moniak, would seem to be an obvious fit. CENTRAL CHASING Biggest Need: More offensePossible Target: OF Luis Robert Jr, New York Mets Another year, same story. Rookies Chase DeLauter and Travis Bazzana have given Cleveland a lift, yet the Guardians still have the lowest OPS in MLB as a team. Getting Jose Ramirez back is obviously huge, but this team still needs to find more offense if it wants to do anything of note. Biggest Need: Relief pitching Possible Target: LHP Brock Burke, Cincinnati Reds A couple of weeks ago, everyone was trying to concoct Joe Ryan and Byron Buxton deals (no matter how many times Buxton, who has a no-trade clause, has made it clear he wants to stay). Now, the Twins, on the cusp of the wild-card picture, have declared themselves buyers. That’s unfortunate news for the catching-needy teams who could have used Ryan Jeffers. Maybe the Twins ultimately do a little buying and selling, but after last deadline’s reliever sell-off, there’s a lot of work ahead to repair a bullpen that ranks 26th in ERA. WILD-CARD HOPEFULS Biggest Need: First base Possible Target: 1B Luis Garcia Jr, Washington Nationals Wait, not pitching? Sure, the D-backs could use help both in the rotation (4.27 ERA) and bullpen (4.15), but the most glaring weak spot on the team is first base, where they rank last in MLB in both OPS and wRC+. The problem is there aren’t many impact players available at the position. Perhaps someone like Nathaniel Lowe will be the answer…or, maybe they can convince the Nationals to part with Garcia, who would represent a significant upgrade and is under team control for one more season. Biggest Need: Starting pitchingPossible Target: RHP Emerson Hancock, Seattle Mariners The Padres are one of the toughest teams to figure out. Their star hitters are finally starting to perform, but they still have a lot of needs and entered Wednesday with 21.9% odds to make the postseason, according to FanGraphs. Then again, this is AJ Preller we’re talking about. It wouldn’t be surprising to see both some buying and some selling. If they do the former, starting pitching has to be a priority. Maybe they find a way to use some of their bullpen arms to get rotation help and a bat. ON THE BUBBLE Biggest Need: Third base/bullpen Possible Target: UTIL Nick Loftin, Kansas City Royals It seems more likely after that historic 12-game losing skid that the Marlins will sell. But if they choose to buy, or do a little of both, the Marlins’ bullpen has an ERA over 6.00 in July while their third basemen entered Wednesday with an MLB-worst .548 OPS on the year. Helping either spot would make sense. Biggest Need: Lineup depth Possible Target: 3B Matt Chapman, San Francisco Giants Because the Cardinals’ unexpectedly strong start was driven by a bevy of young talents — Jordan Walker’s breakout, JJ Wetherholt’s production, etc. — it felt like there was no ceiling to where the offense might go. I guess there was no floor, either. The Cardinals’ offense has the lowest OPS in baseball this month. When things start to spiral, as they are now, sometimes a veteran in the clubhouse can help. While it seems more likely that the Cardinals would lightly sell rather than buy, someone like Chapman could help lead the next wave of St. Louis talents. Biggest Need: PitchingPossible Target: LHP Brooks Raley, New York Mets Considering their pitching injuries, both the rotation and bullpen have helped up quite well this month. That said, with Ryan Helsley down and Felix Bautista’s return date uncertain, the Orioles could use another reliable high-leverage arm. If they decide to sell, rentals Taylor Ward, Trevor Rogers and Andrew Kittredge could help a lot of teams. So would Adley Rutschman, if they’re willing to deal controllable players. Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.