Trade Rumor - Baseball Wiretap

While his team is mired in an offensive slump, Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer called the Aug. 3 trade deadline "the furthest thing from my mind," while also acknowledging the organization's needs if the Cubs are in the race at that time.

"Our position player group is deep, and it's pretty set," Hoyer said Friday morning. "The backbone of our team is our position players. They have to play well for us to be a good team.

"We'll be looking at pitching at that point. [But] sitting here talking about the deadline, given how we've played, is the wrong thing to talk about."

Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal is drawing widespread interest ahead of the August 3 trade deadline as the two-time Cy Young Award winner recovers from elbow surgery and his club sinks further out of playoff contention.

Skubal, who underwent an innovative procedure to remove a loose body from his left elbow, is scheduled to throw a simulated game Monday. If his recovery continues at its current pace, he could return within weeks. The Tigers are expected to delay any trade decision as long as possible to allow Skubal to demonstrate full health and maximize his value.

Detroit has gone 4-21 since Skubal's injury was announced, leaving the club 16 games below .500 and 11.5 games out in the AL Central. No team this far under .500 has reached the postseason under the current playoff format, which began in 2022. To win 85 games, the Tigers would need to go 63-39 the rest of the season.

A rival executive, speaking anonymously, described the difficulty of Detroit's position.

"Once you start your ascent, you can never stop it. You're done with your slumps," he said.

Should Detroit trade Skubal, his return would be reduced by his rental status, the remaining portion of his $32 million salary, and his ineligibility for a qualifying offer if dealt mid-season. Keeping him and losing him to free agency would yield only a compensatory draft pick for the Tigers.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers, and Tampa Bay Rays all have plausible cases for pursuing Skubal.

A blockbuster trade that would have sent Shohei Ohtani from the Los Angeles Angels to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for top prospects Junior Caminero and Carson Williams was seriously discussed before the 2023 trade deadline, according to sources briefed on the negotiations. Angels owner Arte Moreno ultimately declined, and Ohtani left for the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent four months later on a ten-year, $700 million contract.

The proposed deal would have sent Caminero, then a 19-year-old at Double-A, and Williams, then a 20-year-old shortstop at High-A, to Anaheim as the centerpiece of the package. The Rays were prepared to include additional pieces to close the agreement, per league sources.

It was the second consecutive year Moreno passed on a significant Ohtani trade. Before the 2022 deadline, the Angels held discussions with the San Diego Padres that would have generated a package comparable to the one San Diego ultimately sent Washington for Juan Soto, a haul that included outfielder James Wood, shortstop CJ Abrams, and left-hander MacKenzie Gore. Sources say center fielder Jackson Merrill was also part of those discussions.

Instead of selling, the Angels turned buyers in 2023, acquiring pitchers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez from the Chicago White Sox among other additions. The strategy collapsed immediately. The Angels lost 19 of their first 26 games in August before Moreno authorized a sweeping roster purge to get under the luxury tax threshold. Their only compensation for losing Ohtani to free agency was the 74th pick in the 2024 draft.

For the Rays, however, the failed deal proved fortunate. Ohtani tore the UCL in his right elbow on August 23, ending his pitching season, before suffering an oblique strain and ultimately undergoing his second major elbow reconstruction. Tampa Bay also lost Shane McClanahan to Tommy John surgery and had shortstop Wander Franco placed on the restricted list amid a league investigation.

Caminero, meanwhile, established himself last season as one of baseball's premier young sluggers, hitting 45 home runs. Williams remains a work in progress offensively but provides strong defense at a premium position.

The Angels, sitting on the American League's worst record with their general manager and manager both in the final years of their contracts, now face familiar questions about a potential selloff as another trade deadline approaches.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have acquired pitcher Chayce McDermott from the Baltimore Orioles for pitcher Axel Perez.

In five Triple-A Norfolk appearances, McDermott was 1-0 with a 6.75 ERA in five appearances. McDermott has one career MLB start.

Perez went 1-1 with a 5.48 ERA in 10 games for the Dominican Summer League Dodgers last year. 

The Toronto Blue Jays acquired infielder Lenyn Sosa from the Chicago White Sox on Monday for minor league outfielder Jordan Rich and a player to be named later or cash considerations, both teams announced.

Toronto made the move to address offensive needs following the weekend loss of outfielder George Springer to a toe fracture. Newcomer Kazuma Okamoto has also gotten off to a slow start, leaving the Blue Jays searching for a spark. Toronto ranks in the middle of the pack across most offensive categories, hitting 14 home runs in 15 games this season.

Sosa, 26, led Chicago last season with 22 home runs and 75 RBIs. He is hitting .212 this season in limited action and carries a .245 career average with 37 home runs across 315 big league games. A versatile defender, Sosa has played every infield position during his five-year major league career, with most of his time logged at second base.

The White Sox, carrying a surplus of middle infielders but thin on outfield depth in their system, addressed that need with Rich. The 18-year-old was selected by Toronto in the 17th round of the 2025 draft out of American Heritage High School in Plantation, Florida, and has yet to appear in a professional game.

To clear space on the 40-man roster for Sosa, Toronto transferred pitcher Shane Bieber to the 60-day injured list.

The Philadelphia Phillies are trying to find a new home for outfielder Nick Castellanos ahead of their first full-squad workout of spring training.

Castellanos was benched late last season after he made what Phillies manager Rob Thomson described as "an inappropriate comment" after he was pulled for a defensive replacement. Castellanos said in September that communication with Thomson had been "questionable, at least in my experience."

President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said the team has been talking to other clubs about Castellanos.

"That's our focus prior to the start of spring training," Dombrowski said Monday. "So, that's something that we'll continue to work on this week."

Star left-hander Framber Valdez and the Detroit Tigers reached agreement on a three-year, $115 million contract, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan on Wednesday. The 32-year-old receives the highest average annual value ever for a left-handed pitcher and the highest for a Latin American pitcher.

The contract includes an opt-out clause after the second season, sources said. The deal reunites Valdez with A.J. Hinch, his former manager in Houston.

Valdez hit free agency after spending his entire career with the Houston Astros. The Dominican Republic native compiled one of the best resumes of any starting pitcher over the past five seasons.

The left-hander is a dependable veteran with extensive playoff experience who has regularly posted ERAs in the high-2s to mid-3s. Valdez averaged a 3.20 ERA since 2021, driven by the highest ground ball rate in the league among starters during that span.

His sinker velocity increased slightly in 2025 after dipping in 2024. Valdez perennially ranks among the most effective sinker pitchers in baseball, finishing second this season behind Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sanchez.

The Astros tendered Valdez a $22.025 million qualifying offer, which he declined by the Nov. 18 deadline. Houston will receive a compensatory selection after competitive balance round B in the draft, around the 75th pick.

Since 2020, when he became a full-time starter, Valdez is tied for first in the majors in wins with 73. He ranks sixth in pitcher WAR at 20.3, fifth in innings pitched with 973, and first in groundball rate at 62%.

Valdez led the American League with 201.3 innings pitched in 2022. He has made two All-Star appearances and received AL MVP votes in two seasons. The left-hander received AL Cy Young Award votes in four races, peaking at a fifth-place finish in 2022.

Valdez is tied for first in baseball in multiple postseason categories: wins with seven, games started with 16, and innings pitched with 85.0. He won a World Series championship with Houston in 2022.

The pitcher signed with the Astros as an international free agent in 2015. Valdez made his big league debut in 2018.

Detroit adds a proven veteran to a rotation anchored by reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. The Tigers pursued multiple starting pitchers this offseason as they look to build on their 2025 playoff appearance.

The Pittsburgh Pirates emerged as one of the most aggressive clubs pursuing Valdez before Detroit finalized the deal. The Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres also showed interest in the left-hander throughout the offseason.

The Seattle Mariners acquired All-Star infielder Brendan Donovan in a three-team trade with the St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays, league sources told The Athletic. The deal caps an active offseason for Seattle following their deepest postseason run in over two decades.

Seattle will send prospects Jurrangelo Cijntje and Tai Peete to St. Louis, along with third baseman Ben Williamson to Tampa Bay. The Rays are sending outfield prospect Colton Ledbetter to the Cardinals. Both Seattle and Tampa Bay are also including two competitive-balance Round B picks in the package to St. Louis.

Cijntje is a switch-pitcher while Peete plays outfield. Both are former first-round selections.

Donovan, 29, was among the most sought-after trade candidates this winter. Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom stated dealing Donovan was not mandatory but would only happen for a substantial return.

Approximately half the league showed interest in Donovan during the early offseason. The Cardinals initially prioritized trading starter Sonny Gray in November before refocusing on Donovan ahead of December's Winter Meetings. Seattle and San Francisco emerged as frontrunners, though discussions with both clubs stalled.

The Giants signed free agent Luis Arraez on Saturday after failing to acquire Donovan, which intensified Seattle's final push. St. Louis had already traded veterans Gray and Willson Contreras to the Boston Red Sox in separate deals to clear payroll and create opportunities for younger players.

Drafted by St. Louis in 2018, Donovan emerged as one of the team's top performers over the past two years. He primarily played second base in 2025 after spending most of 2024 in left field. He has logged over 100 career innings at third base, first base, shortstop and right field.

Donovan was worth 2.9 fWAR last season and has a career 117 wRC+. He agreed to a $5.8 million salary for the upcoming season and has one additional year of team control before becoming a free agent.

General manager A.J. Preller says the San Diego Padres' offseason shopping is far from finished.

And while he's looking for another starting pitcher and another veteran bat or two over the next few weeks, Preller seems confident he'll also put ink to a contract extension for himself.

Speaking at the annual Padres FanFest at Petco Park on Saturday, Preller said the Padres' relatively quiet offseason wasn't the result of uncertainty around the club's possible sale or the GM's own lame-duck contract status.

The Washington Nationals traded left-handed starter MacKenzie Gore to the Texas Rangers for five prospects, a league source confirmed to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal on Thursday. The deal sends the 26-year-old pitcher to Texas in exchange for a package headlined by 2025 first-round selection Gavin Fien.

Gore made 89 starts for Washington from 2023-25 after arriving from the San Diego Padres in the August 2022 Juan Soto trade. He was set to earn $5.6 million in his second arbitration year with two seasons remaining before free agency.

The Nationals will receive infielder Gavin Fien, the 12th overall pick in 2025 from Great Oak High in California. Right-hander Alejandro Rosario, infielder Devin Fitz-Gerald, first baseman/outfielder Abimelec Ortiz and outfielder Yeremy Cabrera complete the prospect haul, sources told The Athletic's Jim Bowden.

Gore earned his first All-Star selection last season after posting a 3.02 ERA through 19 first-half starts with 138 strikeouts. Shoulder and ankle injuries derailed his second half and ultimately ended his season in September.

The left-hander demonstrated notable increases in velocity and pitch movement last year. Those improvements maintained his trade value despite the late-season injuries.

New president of baseball operations Paul Toboni explored Gore's market throughout the winter. Washington's front office and player development overhaul created flexibility to move controllable assets for long-term talent.

The Rangers addressed a critical rotation need with the acquisition. Jacob deGrom logged 30 starts with a 2.97 ERA when healthy, while Nathan Eovaldi posted a career-best 1.73 ERA over 22 starts before a rotator cuff strain ended his season.

Gore will likely pitch in the middle of Texas' rotation alongside Jack Leiter. The addition gives the Rangers one of the stronger starting staffs in the American League West.