Everything you need to know about the 2026 Trade Deadline

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With less than 48 hours left for teams to wheel and deal, here is everything you need to know about the 2026 MLB Trade Deadline.

What time is the MLB Trade Deadline?

• For 2026, it is Monday, Aug. 3, at 6 p.m. ET.

• For many years, the Deadline was always on July 31 at 4 p.m. ET. The Commissioner's Office can now set the Deadline for any date between July 28 and Aug. 3, in an effort to avoid conflicting with games.

What is the MLB Trade Deadline?

• The Trade Deadline is the last point during the season at which players on 40-man rosters can be traded from one club to another. Those players may still be placed and claimed on outright waivers, but trades will no longer be permitted after Aug. 3 at 6 p.m. ET. Prior to 2019, July 31 was referred to as the non-waiver Trade Deadline, and players could be traded after that date if they first cleared revocable trade waivers. The August waiver trade period was eliminated in 2019, with MLB moving to a single Deadline.

• Minor Leaguers not on 40-man rosters can still be traded after the Deadline. However, any player must be in an organization by the end of Aug. 31 (whether on the 40-man roster or not) in order to be eligible to appear in the postseason for that club.

Read more here.

Where can I follow MLB Trade Deadline news?

• News and rumors: Stay up to date on all the latest Trade Deadline rumblings here.

• Trade tracker: We are tracking every trade made between now and the Aug. 3 Deadline here.

Who are the top trade candidates?

Here are some of the notable players who could be on the move leading up to this year's Deadline:

• Starting Pitchers: (Marlins), (Angels), (Tigers) (Blue Jays), (Reds), (Nationals), (Mets), (Royals), (Cardinals), (Tigers), (Mets), (Giants), (D-backs), (Orioles), (Twins), (Reds), (Tigers), (Angels), (D-backs), (Royals)

• Relief Pitchers: (Red Sox), (Marlins), (Tigers), (Blue Jays), (Tigers), (Padres), (Padres), (Cardinals), (Mets), (Rockies), (Mets)

• Position players: (Nationals), (Giants), (Angels), (Giants), (Reds), (Rockies), (Giants), (Giants), (Red Sox), (Marlins), (Padres), (Nationals), (Rockies), (Pirates), (Twins), (Twins), (Mets), (Marlins), (Reds), (Rockies), (Angels), (Cardinals), (Giants), (Mets), (Orioles), (Cubs), (Angels), (Blue Jays), (Mets), (Tigers), (Blue Jays), (Orioles)

What are the key storylines to follow?

Which teams are in the Skubal sweepstakes?

We've known for months that this year's Trade Deadline would revolve around Tarik Skubal's prized left arm. Whether the Tigers were actually willing to part with the two-time Cy Young Award winner was in question for much of that time, but it seems the chances are increasing that the ace will be wearing a new uniform by Aug. 3.

ESPN's Jeff Passan said Wednesday that Detroit will trade Skubal. That came after he threw 6 2/3 stellar innings that afternoon against the Orioles, only to see his team squander a 7-0 lead en route to a dispiriting 10-9 loss. Now it's less of a question of will the Tigers trade Skubal and more about where he'll end up.

The top suitors appear to be the Dodgers, Rays, Brewers and Cubs while the Yankees, Braves and Phillies could also be in the race. Skubal, who will be a free agent after this season, missed five weeks after undergoing surgery on his left elbow in May. However, he has looked like his usual self over his past six starts, posting a 1.95 ERA across 37 innings with 50 strikeouts and six walks.

Which teams are actually selling?

With Monday's Deadline fast approaching, we have seen a few notable trades, but no true blockbuster deals. This lack of action is due to the fact that so many teams are on the periphery of the playoff race, many of which have not made their Deadline direction clear yet. Only six of the 30 clubs were more than 4 1/2 games out of a postseason spot entering Saturday, so there is currently a shortage of supply in the market.

The known sellers are the Mets, Giants, Rockies, Angels, Royals and the aforementioned Tigers, although Detroit is just 3 1/2 games off the pace in the Wild Card race, so even a Skubal trade may not signal that it is ready to give up on 2026. The A's (45-65) are buried in the AL standings, but MLB Network Radio's Jim Bowden said Saturday that they are not selling.

With so many teams kind of caught in the middle at the moment, those few known sellers could take advantage of the high demand for talent across the league.

Will starting pitchers dominate the Deadline?

Skubal is at the top of the list, but there could be a plethora of notable starters wearing new uniforms in August. We already know of one: Luis Castillo was acquired by the White Sox from the Mariners on Saturday night.

Other popular trade candidates include Freddy Peralta, who hasn't had a great first season with the Mets, but he was one of the game's best strikeout artists from 2023-25 and finished fifth in the NL Cy Young voting just last year. The Giants want to hold on to Logan Webb, but pending free agent Robbie Ray, who has been solid since the calendar turned to June, could be appealing to the many teams that need a rotation boost.

There's a "50-50" chance that Reds fireballer Hunter Greene will be traded, per MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. Sandy Alcantara appeared to be off the trade block a few weeks ago, but the Marlins' recent swoon could have them reconsidering. The Nationals' Foster Griffin, who has a sub-3.00 ERA, made his first career All-Star team after spending the past three seasons in Japan.

In the AL, the Angels' Reid Detmers and the Twins' Joe Ryan are among the top 25 in FanGraphs WAR, while the Blue Jays' Kevin Gausman and the Royals' Michael Wacha are two more reliable right-handers who could garner interest.

So, while Skubal dominates the discourse, he's far from the only impact starting pitcher worth tracking.

Which right-handed hitters will be on the move?

It feels like many teams that are buyers -- or at least intend to be buyers -- are on the hunt for right-handed hitting. The reason why is also a problem: There simply aren't as many good right-handed hitters as there used to be. So, if a selling team has one or more such bats to offer, it could receive a big return in this market.

We've already seen one team pay a pretty hefty price for a righty bat. The Red Sox acquired infielder Curtis Mead from the Nationals on July 26. In return, Washington received left-handed rookie starting pitcher , who owns a 3.24 ERA over his first 21 big league starts and was a Top 100 prospect before this season, according to MLB Pipeline.

That leads us to teams such as the Giants and Angels. Two of those West division clubs are Deadline sellers with multiple productive right-handed hitters to put on the block. San Francisco has Heliot Ramos, Willy Adames and Matt Chapman. The Angels have Zach Neto and Jo Adell.

Beyond those clubs, the Mets' Luis Robert Jr. is drawing interest from multiple teams. The Blue Jays' George Springer is one year removed from a Silver Slugger season. The Orioles' Taylor Ward is among the league leaders in on-base percentage. The Padres' Ty France is a dependable vet who can mash lefty pitching. The Twins' Ryan Jeffers is a popular name because many contending clubs need help at catcher, too.

With right-handed hitting down across MLB, these players could be highly coveted by playoff-bound squads.

What happened at the 2025 Trade Deadline?

Mason Miller, Carlos Correa, Eugenio Suárez and Jhoan Duran were some of the best players traded last year. If you would like a full refresher on what went down ahead of the 2025 Deadline, click here.