With the trade deadline just about a week away, the pressure is starting to hit every front office in the league. The American League has three division races that are still tight, and both leagues have wild card battles that feel like a seven- or eight-team free-for-all for the last two spots. That leaves general managers with a simple but brutal question: buy or sell?
At the bottom of the board, the picture is mostly about planning ahead. The Colorado Rockies are trying to avoid a fourth straight 100-plus loss season, and they’re on pace for 63-99.
The Los Angeles Angels are the AL version of that story, except they still have a first-ballot Hall of Famer on the roster who remains fun to watch. Kansas City has Bobby Witt Jr. and Jac Caglianone, but little else has gone right, with Pasquantino, Maikel Garcia, and Cole Ragans all having miserable seasons because of injuries.
The Athletics had a brief stretch that hinted at something better, but the pitching staff has fallen apart. The Mets are slogging through another lost season in Flushing.
San Francisco is a team to watch on the trade market, with Logan Webb and Luis Arraez drawing attention. Toronto’s season unraveled early because of injuries, and it never really recovered.
Cincinnati has talent, but the Reds have slipped too far back in the wild card chase, which points them toward a reset built around a better bullpen and less swing and miss. Detroit fans are stuck wondering what they’re even supposed to root for now, with Tarik Skubal trade talk hanging in the background even though the club is going nowhere this year.
Baltimore has won 8 of its last 10 and is right in the AL wild card mix, but the bullpen looks like the thing that will eventually cap the ceiling. San Diego could use Mason Miller as its biggest trade chip, either to restock the farm or clear out bad contracts.
There are still a handful of teams living in the gray area between hope and reality. Houston’s record is ugly and the roster looks mediocre, but the Astros are still hanging around in the AL West.
Minnesota probably should be selling, yet it’s only 2.5 games out of a postseason spot. Washington has hovered around .500 for about a month and has a nucleus to build around, though the Nationals could still move CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia in search of pitching.
Miami has lost 9 of its last 10 and appears to have slid back to where it was before the recent hot streak, which makes selling the sensible route. St.
Louis is in the middle of the NL wild card race, but it wouldn’t be a shock if the Cardinals dealt pitching instead of adding it, even with a rotation that has done admirable work despite the lack of enough starters to matter in October.
The teams in the playoff hunt have a little more urgency, but not much more certainty. Pittsburgh finally moved on from early-season closer Dennis Santana, and the bullpen still needs help if the Pirates want to chase a National League wild card spot.
Arizona has been hot and now sits in the final NL wild card position, though four teams are within 2 games. Cleveland got through the absence of its best hitter and now has Jose Ramirez back as it pushes toward the Central Division title.
Boston looked finished three weeks ago, then ripped off every win it could find and climbed into the final wild card spot; no team has been hotter over the last month. Seattle and Texas are both stuck in the AL West mess, with the Mariners and Rangers occupying the “nobody wants to win this thing” lane.
Chicago’s Cubs are holding the top wild card spot in the National League, with enough bats and gloves to win games, but the pitching question still hangs over them. On the South Side, the White Sox have made this season a lot of fun, and while a move to keep it rolling would be interesting, Tarik Skubal on that roster is just a fantasy.
At the top, the contenders are still sorting themselves out. Philadelphia is a little farther back than expected after fading a couple of games behind Atlanta, and the Phillies need to wake back up if they want to chase the East.
The Yankees get a boost from Max Fried’s return, but they still need the big guy back in the lineup, and he’s not swinging a bat yet, so that’s still at least a couple of weeks away. Atlanta has stopped the bleeding and rebuilt its lead to 4.5 games over Philly, with Ronald Acuna expected back soon and pitching help likely coming at the deadline.
Tampa Bay still leads the East by 2 games, though the question is whether the Rays will actually add to the roster. Milwaukee remains the second-best team in the National League and the second-best team in baseball overall, which means the Brewers ought to be active on the phone.
And at No. 1, the Dodgers are still coasting, protected by a double-digit lead in the West while Edwin Diaz works his way back and Shohei is being rested.
In Other News...
Tomoyuki Sugano Just Changed The Rockies Deadline Conversation
Tomoyuki Sugano gave the Rockies exactly the sort of steady start they needed in a 5-2 win over the Brewers, working 5 1/3 innings and allowing two runs. For a club trying to sort out its place as the deadline approaches, outings like that matter beyond the box score, because they remind everyone that Sugano has been one of the more dependable arms in the rotation even in a season that has not always been smooth.
Sugano is now 10-4 with a 4.69 ERA, and his profile has only become more interesting because of the way he has navigated damage all year. He has allowed 20 home runs, but most have been solo shots, which helps explain why teams are still paying attention as the deadline picture takes shape around Colorado. [Read more 🡒]
Coors Field Still Creates The Rockies Chaos Fans Never Stop Debating
Coors Field did what Coors Field so often does on July 24, 2024, when the Rockies turned a night against Boston into a 20-7 rout with 21 hits and a reminder that no visiting staff ever really feels safe in Denver. The outburst tied the franchise record for runs in a game at the time, and it came with the familiar mix of altitude, spacious gaps and a ballpark that has long made Colorado baseball feel like its own category.
Ezequiel Tovar opened the show with a leadoff homer, Jacob Stallings drove in four runs and Brenton Doyle added five RBIs with his first career grand slam, the kind of spread-out damage that keeps fueling the old debate about how much of Rockies offense is skill and how much is the setting. The record has since been pushed even higher, but the larger question still hangs over every big night at home: when the scoreboard starts spinning like that, is it a breakthrough or just Coors being Coors again? [Read more 🡒]