Everything you need to know about the 2026 Trade Deadline

July 23rd, 2026

As we make our way through July, trade season is about to go into full swing across MLB.

Here's everything you need to know about the 2026 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), (Mariners), (Angels), (Blue Jays), (Red Sox), (Nationals), (Mets), (Royals), (Cardinals), (Tigers), (Mets), (Giants), (D-backs), (Orioles), (Twins), (Tigers), (Angels), (D-backs), (Royals)

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

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

What are the key storylines to follow?

Will Tarik Skubal stay or go?

We've known for many weeks that this year's Trade Deadline will revolve around one prized left arm. Skubal, the reigning two-time American League Cy Young Award winner, hasn't had the best contract year; he missed five weeks after undergoing surgery on his left elbow, and he hasn't quite been his utterly dominant self since returning in early June. But there's no doubt that he is this year's No. 1 trade candidate, and there will be a litany of teams lining up their best offers to land one of the top pitchers on the planet.

But ... will Skubal actually be traded? That likely depends on where the Tigers sit as we get closer to the Aug. 3 Deadline. Once its ace landed on the injured list on May 4, Detroit lost 21 of its next 25 games. The Tigers were one of the more disappointing teams in the league, and the chances of a midseason selloff involving Skubal and others appeared to be rising. However, the Tigers got hot just before the All-Star break and are among the jumble of AL clubs that are within shouting distance of a Wild Card spot.

So, will the Tigers get what they can for their special starter, or will they decide to make one more postseason push with him? To be determined.

Who are the actual sellers?

You see the names of those potential trade candidates up above, but it's difficult to say definitively how many of them will be on the block leading up to Aug. 3. That's because there are so many teams on the periphery of the playoff race. Given that traffic jam in the standings, a fruitful week could suddenly turn a perceived seller into a buyer.

Take the Red Sox for example. They were 14 games under .500 and had the look of a seller on June 25. Then they won 14 of their last 16 games before the break and ultimately pieced together a historic 15-game winning streak to put themselves in the thick of the Wild Card race.

Conversely, the Mets have reportedly told teams that they are ready to sell. The Giants and Rockies are also at least 10 games under .500 in the powerful National League, so it's safe to say they will be Deadline sellers, too. The A's, Angels and Royals appear to be the likeliest AL clubs to offload talent.

The Dodgers, Braves, Phillies, Brewers, Cubs, Rays, Yankees and White Sox are currently in a good position to buy ahead of the Deadline. But that's kind of where the clarity ends.

Will starting pitchers dominate the Deadline?

Skubal is at the top of the list, but depending on what develops over the next couple of weeks, there could be a plethora of notable starters wearing new uniforms in August.

Freddy Peralta 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.

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

So, while Skubal dominates the discourse, he's far from the only impact starting pitcher worth tracking as Deadline season heats up.

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.

That leads us to teams such as the Giants, Astros and Angels. Two of those West division clubs will be Deadline sellers while the Astros might become one if they don't play well in the days leading up to Aug. 3. And all of them have multiple productive righty hitters to put on the block. San Francisco has Heliot Ramos, Willy Adames and Matt Chapman. The Angels have Zach Neto and Jo Adell. The Astros have Isaac Paredes, Jeremy Peña and Christian Walker as possible chips.

Beyond those clubs, the Mets' Luis Robert Jr. is drawing interest from multiple teams. The Orioles' Taylor Ward is among the league leaders in on-base percentage. The Twins' Ryan Jeffers is a popular name because many contending clubs need help at catcher, too. Speaking of which, the A's Shea Langeliers and the Rockies' Hunter Goodman are far less likely than Jeffers to be traded, but they have been mentioned in recent rumors, so you can't rule out a deal involving one of those All-Star backstops.

With right-handed hitting down across MLB, these players could be in very high demand.

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.