Ideal Landing Spots for MLB's Top 8 Trade Targets

There have been a few intriguing trades already in this 2025 Major League Baseball season. With essentially an entire starting rotation on the IL, Milwaukee acquired Quinn Priester from Boston two weeks ago, and he immediately blossomed into one of the Brew Crew's top starters. The following day, Atlanta got Rafael Montero from Houston to bolster its bullpen.

The swapping chaos has only just begun, though, with plenty of bigger names sure to be on the move in the three-plus months between now and the July 31 trade deadline.

The eight players on this list are those we consider to be the top trade candidate from each of the eight teams already listed by DraftKings as +500 or worse to make the postseason. Namely, that's the Angels, Athletics, Cardinals, Marlins, Nationals, Pirates, Rockies and White Sox.

By no means are we proclaiming that any of the eight is already dead and buried for postseason purposes—well, we probably could do so for the Rockies and White Sox—but these are the teams most likely to put a "For Sale" sign on at least one quality trade chip.

Teams are presented in descending order of postseason odds.

Contract: $13M this season, FA this winter

2025 Stats: 21.2 IP, 2.08 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 8.7 K/9

The Los Angeles Angels have been better than anticipated, winning five of their first seven series behind the strength of one of the most homer-happy lineups in the majors. Mike Trout is only batting .184, but eight of his 14 hits have been round-trippers. Logan O'Hoppe, Taylor Ward and breakout star Kyren Paris have each clubbed five home runs, as well.

However, it's still looking quite likely that the Halos will miss the postseason for an 11th consecutive year.

Should they accept that fate two months in advance and embrace a fire sale, Tyler Anderson just might land at the top of the list of rental pitchers on this year's block.

An All-Star in each of 2022 and 2024, Anderson has been on point in the early going, allowing just five hits in his last 16.2 innings of work against the Guardians, Astros and Giants. Walks have been an issue (12 free passes to date), which is why his FIP (4.69) is more than double his ERA. Anderson has mostly wriggled his way out of those self-inflicted jams, though, and will be a hot commodity if that continues.

Ideal Landing Spot: Chicago Cubs

The Cubs have been scoring at will, but they were likely to be on the hunt for a rental starting pitcher this summer even before losing Justin Steele to season-ending surgery. Now, they're borderline desperate for one, and may well swing big for one if at any point they lose their grip on first place in the NL Central.

For what it's worth, Anderson does have excellent career numbers at Wrigley Field, making five starts there with a 2.45 ERA, 0.73 WHIP and 10.6 K/9.

Contract: $21M this season, $16M in 2026, $15M in 2027

2025 Stats: .288/.395/.452, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 1 SB

Closer Ryan Helsley and starter Erick Fedde would also be coveted trade chips if the Cardinals continue down their path of suffering 11 losses in their last 16 games. If anyone is willing to take on Sonny Gray's back-loaded contract, he, too, could be on the move to a contender.

But Nolan Arenado has been one of the biggest (and perhaps the singular most frequent) names popping up in trade rumors over the past five months, and the Cardinal whose potential departure this summer would officially signal a bit of a rebuild for the red birds.

Thus far, he's seeing the ball as well as he ever has before, with more than twice as many walks (12) as strikeouts (five) and a career-best .395 on-base percentage to show for it. (Three of the walks were intentional.) Arenado has also been, per usual, one of the best in the business at the hot corner.

Kind of the perfect storm for trade purposes, in which he has been better than he was over the past two seasons...while the Cardinals have not been.

Ideal Landing Spot: Philadelphia Phillies

One big factor to keep in mind with Arenado is his full no-trade clause, and the reports from December that he would be willing to waive it to go to one of the Dodgers, Padres, Angels, Phillies, Mets or Red Sox.

That list could change, and if he's willing to go to the Yankees this summer, that's probably the best marriage here. But Alec Bohm—a subject of trade rumors for six months now in his own right—has gotten out to a disastrous start for the Phillies, and they might need to do something a bit drastic.

Contract: $10M this season, FA this winter

2025 Stats: 8.2 IP, 6.23 ERA, 2.08 WHIP, 7.3 K/9

The A's likely are going to be mostly inactive this summer. They didn't sign Luis Severino to a three-year deal just to trade him away, and it's hard to imagine they'll be putting Jeffrey Springs right back on the trade block, either. And pretty much everyone else on the roster is either a long-term building block or a veteran with minimal trade value.

The one potential exception to the rule is José Leclerc, though the $10M reliever will need to bounce back from what has been a rough start.

From 2018-2024, Leclerc logged 299.2 innings pitched with a 3.26 FIP and a 3.24 ERA. Only a handful of relievers during that window pitched at least 250 innings with a sub-3.30 mark in both of those departments, and we're mostly talking about upper echelon closers like Josh Hader, Emmanuel Clase and Edwin Díaz.

However, early returns in West Sacramento have been rough. Leclerc has only entered the game in a save situation three times, blowing two of them and loading the bases before getting yanked and bailed out by a different reliever in the third. But he has plenty of time to turn things around.

Ideal Landing Spot: Philadelphia Phillies

To put it lightly, the Jordan Romano experiment has not gone well, and the Phillies are eventually going to need arms aside from José Alvarado, Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering who they can trust at least a little bit.

Ranger Suárez should be back soon, at which point either he or Taijuan Walker presumably serves in a long-relief role. Andrew Painter is also likely going to be in the bigs before the end of the year. But with a full bullpen ERA of 5.81 that ranks 29th in the majors, adding relief help is likely to be on their to-do list.

Contract: $5.25M this season, FA this winter

2025 Stats: 25.1 IP, 2.13 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 7.8 K/9

Toronto turned eight expiring or almost expiring MLB contracts into more than a dozen prospects ahead of last year's deadline, and the Pirates are likely to be on a similar path this summer.

Add utilitymen Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Adam Frazier, veteran outfielders Tommy Pham and Andrew McCutchen and relievers Caleb Ferguson, Tim Mayza and Ryan Borucki to the list here and Pittsburgh has quite the intriguing stockpile of affordable, impending free agents.

Andrew Heaney has been the star of the bunch, though, including a seven-inning, 10-strikeout gem against the Yankees a few weeks ago.

Heaney had been respectable and mostly healthy over the past few seasons, so it was surprising this winter when he had to wait until late February to settle for a major pay cut, going from a $13M salary in 2024 to what might be a $6M deal if he hits all his innings-based escalators this year. But at what will be somewhere around just $2M for a two-month rental this summer, there will be a ton of interested parties if he continues pitching at a middle-of-the-rotation level.

Ideal Landing Spot: Atlanta Braves

In our free agent big board from early February, Atlanta felt like the right landing spot for Heaney. That rings even truer now with Reynaldo López out until at least July and Bryce Elder struggling every time he takes the mound.

The Braves don't have much room in their budget, but they can absolutely fit Heaney in without exceeding the luxury tax threshold—assuming they even rally from their rough start and become buyers ahead of the deadline.

Contract: $6M this season, FA this winter

2025 Stats: 9.2 IP, 1.86 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 11.2 K/9, 8 saves

With one exception, Washington's bullpen has been a disaster of the highest order. Highest ERA, that is, with offseason acquisitions Colin Poche (15.88), Lucas Sims (15.26) and Jorge López (9.72) mostly responsible for a teamwide relievers ERA of 7.19.

That one exception, though, is closer Kyle Finnegan, who the Nats originally non-tendered before bringing him back on a slightly discounted one-year deal.

The 2024 All-Star has gone a perfect 8-for-8 on save chances for a club that has otherwise only won one game—a six-run blowout of the Dodgers, naturally. And with those eight successful conversions, Finnegan is now second only to Emmanuel Clase (95) with 74 saves since the beginning of 2023.

Granted, Finnegan does also have 13 blown saves and a 3.60 ERA during that time, which explains why he was an unclaimed free agent for more than three months this winter. Still, go ahead and take it to the bank that there will be at least one contender desperately searching in late July for someone capable of locking things down in the ninth inning 85 percent of the time. (And that the Nationals won't be a contender in late July.)

Ideal Landing Spot: Texas Rangers

Save for an implosion against Boston on Opening Day, Luke Jackson has been more than serviceable thus far for Texas, logging 7.2 scoreless innings over his last eight appearances.

There's little question, however, that the Rangers are most likely to be that aforementioned desperate contender a few months from now, as Jackson hadn't saved a game since 2019 and surely has a short leash in what promises to be a tight AL West race.

Contract: $17.3M this season, $17.3M in 2026, $21M club option for 2027

2025 Stats: 17.1 IP, 7.27 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 6.8 K/9

With the third-worst postseason odds of any team, you might think Miami would be a top candidate for a summer fire sale. However, with the exception of third-string catcher Rob Brantly, there's not a single player on this roster over the age of 30, and Cal Quantrill is the only Marlin who isn't signed through at least 2027.

Frankly, they might not make a single trade.

Or they might make a huge one, if they decide to make the 2022 NL Cy Young winner available to the highest bidder.

USA Today's Bob Nightengale said on Sunday that the Marlins are planning to hang onto Sandy Alcantara "until the final days before the July 31 trade deadline," while suggesting it's "unrealistic" he'll stay in Miami beyond that time.

Of course, that depends in a big way on whether he is able to regain his usual form. Alcantara looked solid in his first start back from Tommy John Surgery on Opening Day against Pittsburgh. However, after skipping what should have been his third start due to a rain postponement, he has posted a line of 7.2 IP, 9 H, 10 ER, 6 BB, 2 K over his last two appearances.

Ideal Landing Spot: Baltimore Orioles

Zach Eflin, Tomoyuki Sugano and Charlie Morton will all be free agents this winter—if Morton even lasts that long in Baltimore while losing each of his five starts thus far—so the Orioles are definitely in the market for a multi-year solution to a rotation that is already struggling mightily.

If the O's continue to play sub-.500 ball and aren't buyers, however, plenty of other teams figure to have a ton of interest in Alcantara's services. The San Diego Padres could be a great pairing, considering Dylan Cease is headed for free agency while Michael King has a mutual option for 2026.

Contract: $10M in 2025, FA this winter

2025 Stats: 16.1 IP, 8.27 ERA, 1.84 WHIP, 6.1 K/9

It speaks volumes to the state of this franchise that arguably the most intriguing trade chip is a 30-year-old starting pitcher with an 8.27 ERA after missing almost all of 2023 and almost all of 2024 due to Tommy John surgery.

Germán Márquez has spent his entire 10-year career with Colorado, but he has done his best work elsewhere, saddled with a 5.07 ERA at home compared to a 3.94 mark on the road for his career. And in his first appearance of this season, he went six shutout innings in Philadelphia—in what still ended up being a 6-1 loss for the Rockies, who have no offense and no bullpen and might as well start selling off now anything that isn't bolted down.

To that end, Márquez is one of the only impending unrestricted free agents on the roster. And once he becomes the first pitcher in Rockies history with at least 1,000 strikeouts (currently at 997), they almost owe it to him to set him free to pitch for a team actually trying to win.

Ideal Landing Spot: New York Yankees

The Yankees are more than scraping by with Will Warren and Carlos Carrasco in the regular rotation, but they are almost certainly going to be in the market for a rental starting pitcher this summer, even if Luis Gil (lat strain) returns in June looking no worse for wear.

Chances are the Bronx Bombers will aim a bit higher than Márquez, though the presumed ability to get him for next to nothing beyond salary relief for Colorado could be the right asking price.

Contract: $15M in 2025, $20M club option (or $2M buyout) for 2026, $20M club option for 2027

2025 Stats: .154/.282/.262, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 7 SB

Luis Robert Jr. is absolutely going to be available this summer, as it makes no sense for the still-disastrously-rebuilding White Sox to keep him around for the rest of this season, nor to exercise the $20M club option to bring him back next year.

The unknown is whether he'll play well enough for a contender to take on what will be around a $5M prorated salary for two months, plus at least a $2M expense against next year's payroll.

To that end, he does have two home runs and six stolen bases in his last 10 games and is playing respectable defense in center. He'll need to at least show some signs of getting the batting average north of the Mendoza Line, but it's a start after doing even less through his first nine games.

Ideal Landing Spot: New York Mets

Between Pete Alonso having a sensational start to his second contract year and the starting rotation drastically exceeding expectations, the Mets are in great shape in first place in the NL East, one game back for the best record in the majors.

However, there's little question that New York's centerfield situation is a hot mess.

FanGraphs has both Tyrone Taylor and Jose Siri down for both negative offense and negative defense during their time spent in CF this season, combining for negative-0.4 fWAR. Baseball Reference is slightly more optimistic at negative-0.1 bWAR, but still clearly agrees that the current status quo ain't great.

Adding Robert to the mix could be the final piece of the puzzle this year, and they may well want to bring him back again next year on that club option.