With less than six weeks to go before the Trade Deadline on July 31, the market remains in wait-and-see mode. A number of bubble teams could tilt toward selling, but for now, the list of definitive sellers is remarkably short.
Entering play on Saturday, 24 of MLB’s 30 teams were within six games of a playoff spot, with 22 of those clubs no more than three games back.
As we await clarity, the 10 bubble teams below should be particularly interesting to watch in the weeks ahead, considering the intriguing players they could deal. Here is one trade candidate from each of them who could shake up the Deadline -- if their teams choose to sell.
All stats below are through Friday.
Braves: Marcell Ozuna, DH
Record: 34-40 (11 GB in NL East, 6 GB for 3rd NL Wild Card spot)
In a recent radio appearance, president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos was adamant that the club is not trading reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale under any circumstances. He also made it clear that he is currently operating with a buyer’s mentality, even though the Braves have been one of this season’s biggest underachievers. However, he did leave open the possibility of a Trade Deadline sale if things go further south between now and late July.
With superstar outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. quickly regaining his MVP form in his return from his second ACL tear and ace pitcher Spencer Strider starting to look like his old self after undergoing right elbow surgery last year, the Braves have the pieces in place to make a run. But this is also a team that has put together two separate seven-game losing streaks this season and just lost Sale to a fractured left rib cage, so another prolonged skid can’t be ruled out.
Anthopoulos has made it clear that controllable assets like Sale, who has a 2026 club option, aren’t going anywhere. But if he’s forced to reassess the club’s Deadline approach, we could see Atlanta trade away its pending free agents. Ozuna is by far the best player on that short list, which also includes relievers Raisel Iglesias and Rafael Montero and outfielder Alex Verdugo. While Ozuna’s power numbers have dropped off in 2025, he’s still reaching base at a .379 clip. He’s also not far removed from producing 79 homers and a .552 slugging percentage across 2023-24, making him an appealing middle-of-the-order bat for contending teams in need of offensive reinforcements.
Brewers: Freddy Peralta, SP
Record: 41-35 (4.5 GB in NL Central, T-3rd NL Wild Card spot)
The Brewers seem to defy expectations every year, and 2025 has been no exception. After a 25-28 start, Milwaukee has won 16 of 23 to climb back into the playoff picture. Still, the Brewers have never been shy about making bold, forward-thinking moves. In 2022, the club dealt closer Josh Hader at the Trade Deadline -- even while leading the division. Prior to the 2024 campaign, the Crew sent ace Corbin Burnes to the Orioles in another blockbuster. Both pitchers had a full year of team control remaining before free agency (or a year and change, in Hader’s case).
Granted, the Brewers took a different path with shortstop Willy Adames last summer, opting not to trade the pending free agent. But Milwaukee was in a much stronger position at that point, sitting comfortably atop the NL Central. This time around, with far less certainty in the standings, the Brewers could be more open to a significant move, and Peralta is the type of asset -- a frontline starter with a year of team control remaining via an affordable $8 million club option in 2026 -- who would command a sizable return. While trading a pitcher of his caliber would be a tough pill to swallow, Milwaukee’s pitching depth might give it the confidence to go through with it, especially knowing Peralta likely won’t be around past his current deal.
Cardinals: Steven Matz, RP
Record: 41-35 (4.5 GB in NL Central, T-3rd NL Wild Card spot)
After an offseason marked by inactivity -- months of Nolan Arenado trade talks yielded nothing, and Phil Maton was their lone free-agent addition -- this was expected to be a transition year for the Cardinals. While St. Louis has managed to outperform its modest preseason forecast, it has done so in wildly uneven fashion, creating more questions than answers about where the team is headed.
The Cards seem more likely to sell than buy at this point, though they aren’t exactly brimming with obvious trade candidates. Sonny Gray has a full no-trade clause that he reportedly wasn’t keen on waiving in the offseason. Arenado has two years left on his contract and is sporting a .707 OPS this season. (He also has a full veto power on trades.) Closer Ryan Helsley, a pending free agent, has taken a step back after winning the NL Reliever of the Year Award in 2024. And fellow rental hurlers Miles Mikolas and Erick Fedde are closer to back-end rotation options than true difference-makers on the trade market.
Given all of those factors, the Cardinals’ most intriguing trade candidate is arguably Matz, who is in the final year of a four-year, $44 million deal. Initially signed to be a starter, Matz dealt with injuries and had a 4.47 ERA in 197 1/3 innings during the first three years of his deal. However, he has found new life as a multi-inning reliever in 2025, posting a 2.66 ERA with a 1.89 FIP, 38 strikeouts and four walks over 40 2/3 innings. That could make him a coveted option for clubs seeking bullpen help, though the Cardinals will likely have to eat some money to get back a notable return.
Guardians: Emmanuel Clase, RP
Record: 37-37 (9.5 GB in AL Central, 1.5 GB for 3rd AL Wild Card spot)
Coming off an American League Championship Series appearance in 2024, the Guardians have not looked right all season. Although they opened with a 23-15 record, their -8 run differential in that span hinted that something might be off, and that's proven to be the case. On the year, Cleveland’s offense has MLB's sixth-lowest scoring average (3.77 runs per game), and its pitching hasn’t been good enough to compensate. In other words, a pivot into seller mode at the Deadline wouldn’t come as a surprise.
Given their lack of enticing options on expiring deals, it would behoove the Guardians to gauge the trade value of their All-Star closer, Clase, who has rebounded from a rocky start to 2025. Parting with the righty would be difficult, but with setup man Cade Smith in the fold as a ready-made replacement, Clase might hold more value to the franchise as a trade asset than as its long-term closer. At 27 years old and with three years of control remaining (one guaranteed year and two club options) beyond this season, Clase should fetch a substantial return at a time when relievers are always in high demand.
D-backs: Eugenio Suárez, 3B
Record: 38-37 (8 GB in NL West, 2.5 GB for 3rd NL Wild Card spot)
The D-backs have an elite offense once again, but the pitching problems that caused them to narrowly miss the postseason last year have only gotten worse in 2025 -- and are likely to be further exacerbated by recent UCL injuries suffered by Corbin Burnes and Justin Martinez. Arizona has won seven of its past 10 games to get back above .500, but the club is still in fourth place in the NL West and sits behind four other teams in the race for the third NL Wild Card spot.
Given the dearth of attractive trade targets among this year’s obvious sellers and the myriad of enticing players on expiring deals they have on their own roster, the D-backs could be positioned to shake up the Trade Deadline if they opt to sell. That won’t be an easy call for a club that is two years removed from a World Series appearance, but it might be the right one for the future of the franchise.
With Zac Gallen struggling, Suárez and starter Merrill Kelly are the two most attractive trade chips among the D-backs’ list of pending free agents, which also includes relievers Shelby Miller, Jalen Beeks and Kendall Graveman (2026 mutual option), first baseman Josh Naylor and outfielder Randal Grichuk (‘26 mutual option). While Kelly carries plenty of trade appeal on the mound, Suárez’s bat may be even more valuable. The veteran third baseman looked like a candidate to be designated for assignment last June amid a massive slump at the plate, but he turned things around in the second half and has kept it up in 2025. Over 148 games dating back to July 7, 2024, Suárez has produced 48 homers with the sixth-best OPS (.925) among MLB qualifiers.
Orioles: Ryan O'Hearn, 1B
Record: 33-42 (10 GB in AL East, 6 GB for 3rd AL Wild Card spot)
Is it a stretch to call the Orioles a playoff bubble team when they are nine games under .500 with a -74 run differential? Perhaps. But the fact is they’ve gone 17-8 in their past 25 games and now sit just six games out in the AL Wild Card race. So at the very least, they are on the fringes of postseason contention.
That said, Baltimore’s poor start to 2025 has left it with very little margin for error, which means a Deadline sale remains the most likely outcome for the club, especially with catcher Adley Rutschman landing on the IL due to a left oblique strain on Saturday. The focus is likely to be on shopping players on expiring contracts while holding onto controllable core pieces as the O’s shift their attention to contending in 2026. Accordingly, O’Hearn could be a name you hear a lot this summer, as we noted here. Once designated for assignment by the Royals, O'Hearn is now tracking toward his first All-Star selection and could be one of the top lefty bats available on the trade market. He's due to reach free agency at the end of this season.
Rangers: Adolis García, OF
Record: 37-39 (7 GB in AL West, 2.5 GB for 3rd AL Wild Card spot)
García’s lackluster performance this season is one of the many reasons why the Rangers have one of the worst offenses in baseball and are sitting two games below .500. However, the memory of what he did two years ago, hitting 39 homers in the regular season and helping Texas win it all with a record-setting postseason, still resonates. He also has performed better in June, hitting .339 with a .941 OPS over 15 games.
Most of the Rangers’ best players are on lucrative long-terms contracts or are otherwise controllable for multiple years beyond 2025, so they aren’t built to be a major seller at this year’s Deadline. But it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Texas make the 32-year-old García available prior to his final year of arbitration eligibility in 2026.
Red Sox: Alex Bregman, 3B
Record: 40-37 (4 GB in AL East, 3rd in AL Wild Card standings)
As we look ahead to the Trade Deadline, arguably no team is as compelling as the Red Sox, if only because no one has any idea what they are going to do next after making the stunning decision to trade Rafael Devers to the Giants on June 15. Further complicating Boston’s situation? The fact that it has won 11 of 14, including three of four since the Devers trade.
Barring a collapse over the next five weeks, the Red Sox could opt to buy, with a chance to repurpose some of the money they saved in the Devers trade. Of course, it’s not a given that Boston will be able to sustain this surge. After all, the team just traded its best hitter and still has a suspect rotation behind ace Garrett Crochet. We may very well see the Red Sox reverse course again, in which case chief baseball officer Craig Breslow could be tempted to shop Bregman to avoid potentially losing him for nothing in free agency. The third baseman signed a three-year, $120 million deal with Boston last offseason but can opt out at the end of 2025. Due back soon from a right quad strain, Bregman is hitting .299 with 11 homers and a .938 OPS this season.
Royals: Seth Lugo, SP
Record: 38-38 (9.5 GB in AL Central, 1.5 GB for 3rd AL Wild Card spot)
After a feel-good 2024 season that saw them improve their record by 30 games and reach the playoffs for the first time since their ’15 World Series title, the ’25 campaign has been much more trying for the Royals. Kansas City followed up an 8-14 start by winning 16 of 18, but then dropped 22 of its next 32. The Royals won four straight to get back to .500 entering Saturday, but their offense remains a major concern, with only the Pirates scoring fewer runs in 2025.
As the Royals assess their place in the postseason picture prior to the Trade Deadline, Lugo’s contract situation looms large. Given the right-hander can opt out of his deal at the end of 2025, Kansas City may need to weigh the possibility of trading him. The 35-year-old has been one of the AL’s most effective starters over two seasons with the Royals, posting a 3.02 ERA in 283 1/3 innings, so he’d surely draw plenty of interest if Kansas City decides to make him available.
Twins: Jhoan Duran, RP
Record: 37-38 (10 GB in AL Central, 2 GB for 3rd AL Wild Card spot)
The Twins have followed a similar roller-coaster path to their division rivals in Kansas City this season. Minnesota bounced back from a 7-15 start by winning 22 of 29, but a subsequent 8-16 stretch put the team a game below .500 going into Saturday. With Pablo López and Royce Lewis both sidelined due to injuries and Carlos Correa showing no signs of snapping out of his season-long slump, the Twins are short on impact players and could have trouble staying afloat in the playoff race as the Deadline approaches.
Much like the Guardians with their big-name closer Clase, the Twins would be wise to entertain offers for the flamethrowing Duran, who is controllable through 2027 and could bring back a strong return.