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3 teams who should buy at the upcoming MLB trade deadline, and 3 teams who should sell.
As Major League Baseball gets closer and closer to the always-hectic trade deadline, we’re starting to get a clearer idea of who’s going to be buying and who’s going to be selling. The Angels have already swung a deal for one of the biggest names that figured to be on the move, so they’ve clearly established themselves as buyers while also making it clear that they’re going all-in on retaining the services of Shohei Ohtani this offseason.
With that being said, it’s time to take a look at which teams should clearly be looking to shore themselves up for a run at a title and which teams should be looking towards the future. The good news is that there’s further reason for more teams to be buyers since the Philadelphia Phillies proved that the expanded playoffs were worth it following their shocking run to the 2022 World Series. Simply getting into the postseason means that you have a shot and who knows? Maybe we’ll see another one of these teams making a surprising run deep into October
Baltimore Orioles: Buyer
While the Tampa Bay Rays went on an early season run that dominated the headlines and gave MLB an incredible first impression, they’ve actually fallen to second place in the AL East behind the team that has stayed on their heels all season: the Baltimore Orioles. The O’s were the source of disappointment last season when they decided to sell at the deadline despite being in contention for a Wild Card spot. This season, it should be a different story as the team seems like a lock for a postseason spot barring a major collapse.
The biggest need for the O’s appears to be starting pitching. While Baltimore has been fueled by the likes of Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson in their lineup, their rotation doesn’t really have much when it comes to pitchers who can be relied upon to get deep into games while preventing runs. Kyle Gibson is going to need some more help in that rotation and while the Orioles have been doing fine with their rotation so far, they need to bolster it if they want to have any serious chance of going deep into the postseason.
Pittsburgh Pirates: Seller
For a while in the early stages of this season, the Pirates appeared to be the surprise package of the season and it seemed like the Jolly Roger flag would be flying high in October. Unfortunately for fans in the Steel City, Pittsburgh came crashing back down to earth in a major way and now they’re heading for another season in the dark. Hopefully the Pirates and their fans can have some hope that things can get better in the future after their positive start for the season but for now, it’s time to sell again.
The Pirates have Rich Hill and it’s pretty clear that he’s got to go since keeping him on this team past the deadline would be a bit of baseball malpractice. Apparently Pittsburgh has been listening on offers for both Mitch Keller and David Bednar as well, though you could argue that it’d be in their best interest to keep both of them if they figure to be in their future plans. Bednar would be the most likely to go if they do decide to go down that path, as you could imagine one of the top relievers in baseball would command a haul if he was to be dealt to a contender.
Texas Rangers: Buyer
The Rangers may be in first place in the AL West but if they learned anything this month, it’s that the defending World Series champions are breathing down their necks. The Rangers and the Astros played six times here in July and the Astros went 4-2 across those two series. That alone should convince Texas’ front office that they need to give their team a bit of a boost at the deadline if they want to enter the playoffs as AL West Champions instead of a Wild Card team.
You don’t have to look too far to find the weakness for the Rangers. While their offense is arguably the best in all of baseball (they lead MLB in team wRC+ and are the AL leaders in team wOBA) and their starting rotation has been as good as any unit that you will see in the big leagues, their bullpen has routinely cost them some games this season. Texas has already tried to address their weak spot with the addition of Aroldis Chapman from the Kansas City Royals but they’re going to have to continue bolstering their relief corps. If they can pull it off then they’ll have a good chance of holding off their rivals to the South while also having a good shot of going deep into October.
New York Mets: Seller
This has been a wildly disappointing season for the Mets, as their splashy offseason failed to materialize into another great season on the field. This is a shocking turn of events for New York as you figure that they’ve got enough talent to potentially go on a run but at the same time, they’re in too big of a hole to dig out of. They’ve fallen 17 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the division and are closer to the Washington Nationals in last place than they are to the Miami Marlins in third place. As such, the writing appears to be on the wall and it’s time for the Mets to punt on this season.
They’ve already gotten started, as they’ve shipped reliever David Robertson to the Miami Marlins. The fact that they’re willing to trade within the division seems to indicate that they’re going to be serious about trying to get what they can from their trade chips this season. While it would be a bit of a shock to see the Mets decide to move on from their two frontline starters in Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, they’re probably going to be the subject of a fair amount of speculation going forward. Tommy Pham would’ve been a prime candidate to get moved but his injury has thrown things into flux in that regard. Either way, it’s time for the Mets to start looking towards 2024.
Miami Marlins: Buyer
Miami got off to a good start this season and just kept it going up to the point where they are now very credible buyers at the deadline. The main concern now is that they’ve slowed down a bit in recent days to the point where they’ve fallen out of the Wild Card spots. They’re still well-within striking distance of even getting the first Wild Card spot, so it makes sense that they should load up since all of the other contenders will likely be doing so as well.
The Marlins have already started work on getting their team ready for the stretch run, as they acquired David Robertson in the aforementioned trade with the Mets. With that being said, they probably need more help in terms of offense — Miami’s offense has below average wRC+ as a team, as it is painfully clear that Luis Arraez’s bat alone is not going to be enough to carry the Marlins to any type of glory this season. Miami’s bats need a big boost and it’ll probably take multiple moves in order to get this team to a point where they can feel good during the stretch run to the playoffs.
Chicago White Sox: Seller
If the White Sox have been rebuilding this whole time, then it’s pretty clear that their rebuild needs a reboot. Chicago is going in the wrong direction and it’s going to take a while before they can get things going back on the right path. Despite being in a weak division, the White Sox are far out of contention and should be trying to get as much as they can for anybody who is remotely tradeable on this big league roster.
They’ve already got things going as they were able to get two top prospects for Lucas Giolito. In fact, Edgar Quero and Ky Bush are both considered to be in the top five of Chicago’s top prospects according to MLB.com. If the White Sox go even further by trading Lance Lynn, then Quero and Bush could have some company up there at the top of the farm system rankings. If Chicago goes all in on their rebuild reboot by trading away Dylan Cease, then this could end up being a bit of a transformational moment for the White Sox when it comes to their farm. I’d say that considering how their big league club has looked in recent years, they should go ahead and go all in on focusing on the future.
