MLB trade deadline rumors are heating up as the August 3rd date nears. USA Today baseball columnist Bob Nightengale’s piece today, “5 MLB teams who will be most aggressive at 2026 trade deadline” will be the primary source of these rumors. The Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, and Philadelphia Phillies will be the teams discussed today.
The Dodgers are obviously not shy about pursuing big-name talent. They will spend whatever it takes to get their guy, and sometimes that means going overboard.
Nightengale noted that the Dodgers are expected to be greedy, according to rival executives. If Tarik Skubal becomes available, expect them to be all over him.
The Detroit Tigers continue to be on the fence regarding a potential Skubal trade, but the Dodgers have the prospects to push them to a deal. Detroit has reportedly wanted MLB-ready pitchers in any deal for their ace, and Los Angeles has just that and more. They could offer River Ryan (MLB #70) along with top prospect Josue De Paula (MLB #4) as well as some other pieces.
The Red Sox have a ton of notes from Nightengale today; let’s take a look at some of the most notable ones.
First off, Boston has now been placed into the “aggressive buyers” tier of teams at this deadline. Their current 15-game winning streak has obviously pushed them into that mode.
Shea Langeliers appears to be the main guy they are looking at; however, the A’s don’t seem in a rush to trade their All-Star catcher. He’s hitting .277 with 31 home runs this season. The Red Sox have “salivated over the idea” of acquiring him.
CJ Abrams is another player they have their eyes on. The Washington Nationals shortstop has shown impressive growth this season. He’s hitting .286 with 24 homers on the season.
Zach Neto is another name to watch for the Red Sox, but his name wasn’t the Los Angeles Angels player that stuck out the most. Nightengale stated that Boston has attempted to acquire Mike Trout in the past. Probably nothing to read into in terms of this year’s trade deadline, but an interesting note, nonetheless.
The Phillies are another team that has been noted as expected to be “adding aggressively”, this time by ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Multiple things have come out about potential moves in Philadelphia from numerous sources, so let’s try and straighten this out.
First off, The Athletics Matt Gelb reported that Philadelphia is interested in acquiring a “higher-caliber arm” and “the kind of pitcher who would be capable of starting a postseason game”.
The Phillies have not found any success from the number five spot in the rotation, but pushing for another major arm would make them an incredibly scary rotation. Names like Tarik Skubal, Clay Holmes, and Robbie Ray have been floated around as potential targets.
The next rumor comes from Nightengale, where he mentioned the Phillies as having interest in Jeff Hoffman. He has not been as good with the Toronto Blue Jays as he was when he was in Philadelphia, but he has found recent success. He is an interesting option in a setup role for Jhoan Duran.
The final rumor, and perhaps the biggest, comes from Phillies reporter Jim Salisbury on “The Phillies Show”. He stated that “[Byron Buxton] apparently told a Phillies player last summer he would waive [his no-trade clause] to come [to Philadelphia].”
Buxton would be the superstar player that would give the Phillies an opportunity to make a true push in the playoffs. The price would not be cheap, but if he truly is willing to waive his NTC, Dave Dombrowski should be all over that.
Full list of Philadelphia Phillies potential trade targets
The MLB trade deadline is always a fun time to listen to and read all of the rumors that are going around. Some seem crazy, while others garner actual fan interest and speculation.
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