The next milestone in your 2024 Fantasy Baseball season is the MLB's trade deadline. That deadline is July 30 at 6 p.m. ET this season, and it's the last big shakeup to the Fantasy landscape we'll have to deal with. In AL- and NL-only leagues, that can mean huge changes in a player's value – some players will be completely pulled from your player pool while others will be added as the biggest waiver-wire targets of the season – but even in shallower, mixed leagues, the deadline is going to shake things up. Closers will lose their jobs, roles will open up for part-time players, while others will lose their jobs to new additions, and it's important to be ready for what's coming.
I can't predict the future, but there's enough reporting out there that we can read the tea leaves. I've been keeping track of CBS Sports' deadline rumors tracker, and used the trade deadline rankings from R.J. Anderson to put together my list of the 10 players most likely to be moved at this year's deadline. I've got some thoughts on each player's value, their ideal landing spot, and what the fallout of a trade might be here, so let's get to it.
Trade deadline preview
Garrett Crochet, SP, White Sox
On the other hand, trading Crochet right now makes perfect sense – he's been one of the best pitchers in the league this season, but his injury history makes it tough to know how sustainable all of this is. He's already thrown significantly more innings than any prior season dating back to college, and some degree of innings limitation is going to have to be placed on him the rest of the way. Crochet's biggest impact the rest of the way might be as a high-leverage reliever, honestly.
Best landing spot: Literally any contender, though whether one of those contenders will give up what the White Sox are sure to ask for given his likely limitations the rest of the way is a significant hurdle. There's too much smoke here not to think he'll be moved, but it's genuinely hard to find a match.
Jazz Chisholm, OF, Marlins
The Marlins all but telegraphed their desire to move Chisholm with a recent look at him back at second base. He's a decent center fielder, but having the flexibility to play multiple spots around the diamond can only help his value. Chisholm has his flaws, but he's a dynamic athlete with big power who has shown signs of improving against lefties this season, so he should be a fit in pretty much any contender's lineup. And it wouldn't just be a rental, as Chisholm has two years under club control left.
Best landing spot: How could it be anyone but the Yankees? They could use him in either the outfield or the infield, and Chisholm's lefty swing would play incredibly well at Yankee Stadium.
Tarik Skubal, SP, Tigers
I'm kind of stunned to see Skubal mentioned in trade rumors; he seems like the frontrunner for the AL Cy Young and has two years of arbitration eligibility left at what will almost certainly be significant discounts. The Tigers almost certainly won't make the playoffs this year – they are 7.5 games back of a Wild Card spot – but they aren't far enough where it makes sense to move a superstar like Skubal. If Skubal is moved, expect to see a massive crop of close-to-MLB-ready contributors in return.
Best landing spot: I mean … it's the Orioles, right? They made the aggressive move to trade for Corbin Burnes before the season, and they still have Colton Cowser, Heston Kjerstad, and Kyle Stowers all playing less-then-everyday, with Coby Mayo down at Triple-A still. It would be a lateral move in home park for Skubal, but his chances of picking up a win in any given start would be greatly increased.
Luis Robert, OF, White Sox
About a month ago, it was reported that the White Sox would be looking for a package comparable to the one the Padres gave up for Juan Soto a few years back. That's asking a lot – Mackenzie Gore, CJ Abrams, and James Wood were all part of that deal – but you can see the case for it, as Robert was a 5.0-WAR player last season and is on a similar pace this season. There's no question he's a difference maker when healthy, he is just so rarely healthy, having played more than 100 games once in his five years.
Best landing spot: I could see the Phillies getting involved, and that would be an awesome spot for Robert. They've been getting by with Johan Rojas in center field, with Cristian Pache and Brandon Marsh filling in, but Robert would be a significant upgrade for a team that has been aggressively chasing a championship. The biggest question is whether they have the prospects to make a run at him.
Mason Miller, RP, Athletics
The Athletics aren't going to be contending any time soon, and an elite closer is the kind of luxury a non-contender doesn't need. The problem is, Miller has been one of the few bright spots for the A's and he has four years of club control left, so there really isn't any rush. Miller seems like a long shot to get traded, but if some contender convinces themselves that a closer who can throw multiple innings while striking out 47% of opposing hitters is what they need to make a long run into October, the A's might get the kind of offer they simply can't turn down. For what it's worth, Jon Heyman recently speculated that there is roughly a 15% chance Miller gets moved.
Best landing spot: There isn't a team in baseball that wouldn't be improved by adding Miller and his electric right arm to the back end of their bullpen. The Yankees have been linked to Miller, and the Phillies also have a clear need at the back end of the 'pen with Jose Alvarado's regression this season.
Bo Bichette, SS, Blue Jays
My guess is that the Blue Jays recognize that this would be the exact wrong time to trade Bichette (and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who has also been mentioned in trade rumors), because he is struggling through the toughest season of his career, both as a hitter and with injuries. What the Jays have to balance is whether Bichette's struggles this season are likely to drive his price down enough that he'll fetch less now than he would in the offseason, when he would presumably be healthier. Bichette is a free agent after next season, so if the Jays don't think they can contend in 2025, it seems all but certain he'll be gone by then.
Best landing spot: If Bichette were willing to move to second base, the Yankees would seem like a pretty natural landing spot – though cross-division trades are always tricky. The Dodgers could certainly use an upgrade in the middle infield, and I'd probably feel better about Bichette's chances of turning things around with them than anyone else.
Zach Eflin, SP, Rays
The Rays already traded Aaron Civale, and with a few more pitchers coming back from injuries in the coming weeks and months, another trade seems possible, if not likely. Eflin has regressed from last year's breakout, but his peripherals still point to at least an above-average pitcher, and after years of injury issues, he has missed just two starts over the past two seasons.
Best landing spot: Eflin isn't an ace, but he should be a stabilizing force for any rotation, and he might come pretty cheap in terms of prospects if the trading team is willing to take on all of the salary. Sounds like a fit for the Dodgers, especially after this spring's Tyler Glasnow trade.
Jack Flaherty, SP, Tigers
Flaherty has been one of the bounce-back stars of the first half, but he's also operating on a one-year deal for a team with no real path to contention this season, so a trade seems like a pretty reasonable prospect. The biggest hurdle might be the back injury Flaherty has fought through for the past few weeks, so interested suitors might want to see how he looks coming off the break before springing for a deal. But if Flaherty's velocity looks fine and he comes out in his first start with a bunch of whiffs, expect the market to heat up quickly.
Best landing spot: The Orioles already went down this path last summer and it didn't work out so that one seems unlikely. I could certainly see the Dodgers having some interest, though adding another pitcher with injury concerns may not appeal to them. So I'll go with the Brewers, who have gotten decent results out of a patchwork rotation but could certainly use someone with Flaherty's strikeout skills.
Tanner Scott, RP, Marlins
As a Marlins fan, I'll tell you I would be extremely frustrated if they didn't trade Scott before the end of the month. He's been much better than anyone expected this season, but there are some real red flags in his profile; his strikeout rate is down to its lowest level since 2020, and his walk rate is nearly double last season's breakout. Scott is a pretty good high-leverage pitcher, but he's an impending free agent with a likely unsustainable ERA, making him one of the most obvious trade candidates in the league this July. For what it's worth, I would expect A.J. Puk to get the first crack at saves if Scott is moved, given his resurgence out of the pen.
Best landing spot: The Yankees and Phillies seem like the contenders most in need of late-inning help, and he might at least have a chance of working into the ninth inning in either spot; Clay Holmes has been pretty shaky for a while, so the Yankees seem like a pretty obvious fit. But how about the Orioles? It wouldn't be a closer job for Scott, but that's where he started his career, so a fit seems easy enough to see.
Carlos Estevez, RP, Angels
It sure seems like the Angels should be looking to move Estevez, and his expiring contract before he suffers through another second-half swoon. Estevez is riding career-best control to what looks like a career-best season, but it always feels like he's dancing on a knife's edge. With Ben Joyce waiting in the wings as the next hard-throwing, frustration-inducing Angels closer, the Fantasy player in me would like to see a move, too.
Best landing spot: The thing about Estevez is, I'm not sure any contender is likely to trade for him to be the closer, so there's probably no true "best" landing spot for him. Given Paul Sewald's recent struggles, maybe you could see the Diamondbacks making a move for him to help out the back-end of the bullpen, and he could maybe work his way into a ninth-inning job there?