6:05 p.m.: The Chicago Cubs reportedly did not trade Willson Contreras or Ian Happ. It was expected at least one of, if not both, players would be moved ahead of the deadline to assist in Chicago’s rebuild. Contreras is a free agent following the season.
6:02 p.m.: The Kansas City Royals reportedly made a buzzer-beating shocker, trading away franchise cornerstone Whit Merrifield to the Toronto Blue Jays. Merrifield was ineligible to play in Toronto earlier this season due to his vaccination status.
Merrifield batted .240 in 95 games for the Royals in 2022, driving in 42 runs.
6 p.m.: The Major League Baseball trade deadline has officially passed. Expect moves to continue to filter in over the next couple of hours. We will have them all right here.
5:54 p.m.: The Yankees have been busy over the last few days and it doesn’t look like they’ll stop until the bell rings. New York has sent pitcher Jordan Montgomery to the St. Louis Cardinals for outfielder Harrison Bader.
5:53 p.m.: And just like that, Noah Syndergaard is a member of the Philadelphia Phillies.
5:48 p.m.: The Philadelphia Phillies are reportedly close to acquiring former division rival Noah Syndergaard from the Los Angeles Angels.
5:46 p.m.: The Twins have been busy, adding former All-Star Michael Fulmer to their rotation.
Minnesota also made a trade for former Red Sox catcher Sandy León.
5:29 p.m.: Following their addition of Joey Gallo, the Dodgers are shipping outfielder Jake Lamb to the Seattle Mariners.
5:11 p.m.: The Brewers made an addition to their bullpen. not long after their trade of former closer Josh Hader. Trevor Rosenthal is heading to Milwaukee from San Francisco.
4:39 p.m.: The Seattle Mariners have added another bat, acquiring catcher Curt Casali from the San Francisco Giants.
Casali will serve in a rotation with Seattle’s current every-day catcher Cal Raleigh, who is batting .204 on the season with 14 home runs and 37 RBIs. Casali has a slightly better batting average at .231, but has struggled to produce runs at the bottom of San Francisco’s order.
4:27 p.m.: A.J. Preller and the Padres are having themselves a very busy day, and they’re reportedly adding Brandon Drury from the Reds.
The versatile veteran — he’s played five different positions in the field this season — is hitting .274 with a career-high .855 OPS in 92 games. His 20 home runs are also the best of his career, as he’s taken full advantage of a hitter-friendly ballpark. Even if he can’t keep up that pace, he’s still a solid depth piece for a team with clear World Series aspirations.
4 p.m.: A bit of a flurry of activity leading up to the 4 p.m. hour, centered around a pair of pitchers on the move.
The Chicago Cubs started selling off pieces, trading reliever David Robertson to the Philadelphia Phillies, according to multiple reports.
Additionally, and perhaps even bigger, is the Reds trading pitcher Tyler Mahle to the Twins for a handful of prospects, according to multiple reports.
Mahle quietly has put together a few good years since going 3-12 with the Reds in 2019. He had a career season a year ago, going 13-6 with a 3.75 ERA while striking out more than 10 batters per nine innings. He hasn’t been quite as effective in 2022, but he’s still a dependable addition to the Twins’ rotation.
3:18 p.m.: The Giants are technically still in the mix for a playoff spot, but it looks like they’re open to selling. Carlos Rodon has been very good for them this year, and there’s some interest out there in the left-hander. One thing worth noting with Rodon: He has an innings-based opt-out clause that almost certainly will hit this season. So, how long do you get him for?
3:15 p.m.: The Blue Jays bolstered the bullpen earlier in the day, and they might not be done. It sure looks like Noah Syndergaard will have a new home by day’s end.
2:25 p.m.: The Padres appear to have found an Eric Hosmer solution with the first baseman reportedly heading to the Red Sox.
Hosmer is still owed $39 million over the next three seasons (after this one), though he does have an opt-out clause. It seems unlikely he’d take that clause, so it’s a pretty good chunk of change. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, though, the Padres will eat a lot of that money.
2:21 p.m.: The dominoes are about to start falling. The Los Angeles Dodgers, who were in on Juan Soto before the Padres made their splash, are moving to a backup plan. LA is pivoting to Yankees slugger Joey Gallo, as New York had to make a move of its own after its own recent additions.
Can’t imagine there will be much of a return for Gallo, who’s making more than $10 million this season but has struggled mightily, striking out more than 38% of his plate appearances. Obviously, he’s not Soto, but he can add some depth for LA in the stretch run.
1:45 p.m.: The Blue Jays have been largely quiet so far, but it appears they’re getting some bullpen help.
12:50 p.m.: In the latest episode of as the Juan Soto world turns, starring Eric Hosmer, it appears this deal is going to get done regardless of whether Hosmer is part of it.
That certainly makes sense. Both the Padres and Nationals stand to benefit from this getting done, and each are way too committed to let it fall apart over Hosmer’s consent.
12:30 p.m.: Eric Hosmer is reportedly part of the Juan Soto megadeal, and that’s causing a bit of a hang-up. According to multiple reports, he has limited no-trade protection that includes a list of 10 teams to which he must approve a trade. The Nationals, of course, are on that list.
That’s not to say the deal won’t get done, and Hosmer won’t be involved. Someone will have to sweeten the pot in order for it to happen, but how that gets done and by whom is a remaining hold-up, it seems.
11:55 a.m.: There’s even more to the Juan Soto trade return than initially reported, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
11:50 a.m.: And there we have it: Juan Soto is about to become a San Diego Padre.
11:34 a.m.: Sounds like reporters are tied in to a lot of the same sources right now, as a Juan Soto deal gets closer and closer to happening.
11:22 a.m.: We now have the moves before the moves.
10:50 a.m.: Yet more speculation the Padres are in the Juan Soto driver’s seat.
10:38 a.m.: The Twins, somewhat quietly sitting in first place in the American League Central, have just done a real nice job to solidify their bullpen. Minnesota is getting right-handed reliever Jorge Lopez from the Orioles, according to multiple reports.
The All-Star pitcher is having a career year, in large part due to his ability to induce weak contact. He currently ranks in the 95th percentile of hard-hit percentage allowed with a two-seam fastball that not only sits in the upper 90s but has 2 more inches of run than the average two-seamer.
Here’s the return on that deal, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
That’s a return of relative lottery tickets; Povich is the only prospect of that group that ranked in the Twins’ top 30 prospects (No. 21), per Baseball America.
10:30 a.m.: The Phillies have won five games in a row and currently hold a one-game advantage over the Cardinals for the final wild-card spot in the National League. That means it might be time for Dave Dombrowski to do the Dave Dombrowski thing, and Jon Heyman says the Phils are in on Angels right-hander Noah Syndergaard.
9:45 a.m.: It’s worth wondering whether we might have the Juan Soto deal done before lunch on the East Coast.
The Athletic’s Jim Bowden furthered the report about the Padres being hot on the case with Josh Bell also in the mix. Bowden adds some relatively unsurprising pieces of the reported return in a Padres-Nationals blockbuster.
9:08 a.m.: Even more chatter about the Padres getting both Juan Soto and Josh Bell:
8:55 a.m.: The Padres have arguably the best package of assets, and they probably should be the most motivated to land Juan Soto. So it’s not a huge surprise they’ve reportedly emerged as a front-runner, for lack of a better term, and as Barry Svrluga reports, they could also land slugger Josh Bell.
That Bell’s name is being thrown around only adds intrigue to what San Diego might have to give up to get this thing done. It’s also a sign that the Padres are really, really going for it here. They have a first baseman — Eric Hosmer is in the middle of an eight-year, $144 million contract — and Luke Voit is a serviceable designated hitter. Hosmer does have an opt-out following 2022, and his no-trade protection is gone, so perhaps he could be involved in the blockbuster? That’s pure speculation at this point, though.
8:35 a.m.: Again, Juan Soto is arguably the best player — especially factoring in age, contract and overall skill level — we’ve maybe ever seen available at the deadline. The good news for the Nationals is there’s a good deal of competition to land the so-called second coming of Ted Williams, as the sweepstakes are apparently down to three teams: the St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers.
“All three are in,” a Nationals source told the New York Post’s Jon Heyman.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal wrote Tuesday morning San Diego seems “to be the most motivated to give the Nationals what they want,” and it also sounds like the Dodgers might be bringing up the rear.
The Cardinals, meanwhile, are unwilling to add Dylan Carlson to a package that also includes their top prospects, according to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi.
It’s a four-way game of chicken at the moment.
8:15 a.m.: All things considered, it was a relatively quiet Monday night after a busy afternoon of wheeling and dealing. One team that was busy, however, was the Atlanta Braves. The defending World Series champions reportedly fortified the starting rotation by landing veteran right-hander Jake Odorizzi from Houston, while also plucking outfielder Robbie Grossman from the Tigers.
The Odorizzi swap is especially interesting given the trade partner. The Astros, who had a busy day themselves, were apparently comfortable parting with an established big league arm in order to shore up their bullpen with the playoff-tested southpaw in Smith. It’s also quite rare to see two teams with legitimate World Series hopes making deals with each other at the deadline. In this case, though, it’s one that makes sense for both teams.
8 a.m.: If Monday was any indication, Tuesday could be a wild day in Major League Baseball with the trade deadline just hours away.
Aug. 2 is upon us, and the 6 p.m. ET deadline is in sight. The flurry of activity got a head start Monday as a handful of blockbusters went down, most notably the New York Yankees acquiring Frankie Montas from the Oakland Athletics, and Josh Hader going from Milwaukee to San Diego.
As far as actual deadline day goes, we have arguably the best player on the block we’ve seen in decades with Washington Nationals superstar Juan Soto up for grabs. It will be interesting to see whether a deal gets done early, allowing the floodgates to open elsewhere, or whether the Nats take this all the way down to the buzzer.
Regardless, we’ll be following all of the latest deals and rumors right here, so check back throughout the day.
