The Major League Baseball trade deadline is exactly one week away, set for Aug. 3. Thanks in part to the playoffs having expanded (again) before the 2022 season and a general state of mediocrity, mostly in the American League, much of the league is in limbo right now.
This is to say that the teams don’t necessarily look good, but that’s not the bar for contention these days. “Good enough to contend for a playoff spot” doesn’t mean good. The front offices of these teams are tasked with figuring out just how much of the future to mortgage in order to roll the dice for what is likely a team to miss the playoffs, but also has the chance at a 2022 Phillies- or 2023 Diamondbacks-like run.
And there are so many of these.
Astros – They are three games under .500, but only two games out in both the wild card and the lackluster AL West. They were on a five-game winning streak before Sunday’s loss
Twins – One game under .500 with a -27 run differential is hardly good, but the Twins are only one game out of a playoff spot right now
Mariners – Two games under .500 and they’ve been disappointing all season, but the Mariners are still only 1 ½ games out in both the wild card and AL West.
Orioles – No, the Orioles haven’t been a good team this season. In fact, they haven’t been over .500 since they were 9-8. And yet, they are 2 ½ games out of a wild-card spot.
Tigers – With every contender eyeing two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, the Tigers continue to linger in contention. They are 3 ½ games out of the wild-card race despite being six games under .500.
Cardinals – The Cards are just a game over .500 with a -1 run differential, but they are only 1.5 out of playoff position.
Nationals – One of the biggest surprises of the season, the Nats still are in the midst of rebuilding the roster with a new front office and are a dreadful 22-32 at home. And yet, they are only one game out of a wild card.
Pirates – They’re 9-13 in Paul Skenes starts and still just a game back
Padres – Since April 27, the Padres are 34-44. They overall have a -21 run differential. And yet, here they sit, just two games out of a playoff spot
Marlins – They have now lost 12 in a row. Twelve! And they are still only three games out of a wild card
The Red Sox, Rangers, Guardians and Diamondbacks are all in playoff position right now but haven’t exactly inspired confidence all season.
Prepare for a hectic week of trade rumors while we watch how the game results unfold as well. It’s gonna be fun
Biggest Movers
7Nationals
10Marlins
| Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Dodgers | Max Muncy is now fifth all-time in Dodgers home runs behind Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Eric Karros and Roy Campanella. | — | 67-39 |
| 2 |  Brewers | Ho hum, just a 7-2 homestand to start the second half. Now the Brewers head to the road to face … the Giants and Angels. | — | 66-39 |
| 3 |  Braves | The Braves are 7-3 since the All-Star break and seem to have weathered the proverbial storm that was the late June and early July slump. | 1 | 62-43 |
| 4 |  Rays | After losing five straight to close last weekend, the Rays bounced back with a 6-1 week. | 1 | 62-43 |
| 5 |  Cubs | Shota Imanaga had a 2.32 ERA through nine starts. He followed that up with a pitiful four-start stretch (10.80 ERA). Since then? He has a 2.00 ERA in eight starts. In July, that mark is 1.19 in four starts. | 2 | 59-46 |
| 6 |  Yankees | Already without Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, the Cody Bellinger injury makes that lineup look pretty bleak, given the expectations this team has. | — | 59-46 |
| 7 |  Phillies | Trea Turner has had a rough season, but has heated up in the second half so far. Maybe he’ll get as hot as he did in the last two months of 2023? | — | 57-49 |
| 8 |  White Sox | In Munetaka Murakami, Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas, the White Sox have three players on pace for 30+ home runs. That has only happened three times in franchise history (2004 with Paul Konerko, Carlos Lee and Jose Valentin; 2006 with Konerko, Joe Crede, Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome; 2008 with Dye, Thome and Carlos Quentin). | — | 55-49 |
| 9 |  Red Sox | Trading for Curtis Mead is fun and his power will certainly play well in Fenway. | 1 | 54-50 |
| 10 |  Nationals | With two homers each on Sunday, James Wood and CJ Abrams are now on pace to slug 40+ homers. This franchise has never had multiple players hit 40 home runs and, in fact, has only had four 40-homer guys ever (Vladimir Guerrero in 1999 and 2000, Alfonso Soriano in 2006 and Bryce Harper in 2015). | 7 | 54-52 |
| 11 |  Diamondbacks | How about the season 26-year-old catcher Gabriel Moreno is putting together at the plate? He’s hitting .315/.396/.458. | 2 | 55-51 |
| 12 |  Pirates | Tough week but they closed it strong with Sunday’s win. There’s now a good opportunity with the D-backs visiting Pittsburgh. | 3 | 54-52 |
| 13 |  Guardians | That’s five straight losses now for the Guardians and they’ve only scored four runs total in the last four games. | 2 | 54-53 |
| 14 |  Rangers | The Rangers have a tough week coming (one more vs. SEA, at TB, at HOU), but after that have one of the easiest remaining schedules in baseball. The AL West is there for the taking. | 1 | 53-52 |
| 15 |  Cardinals | They’re hanging around but appear to be running out of gas. The Cardinals have gone 13-21 since June 16. | 1 | 53-52 |
| 16 |  Twins | Joe Ryan is dealing with arm fatigue. He had a total meltdown in his previous start (July 20). For whatever reason, his first-half ERA in his career is 3.17 vs. 4.93 after the All-Star break. | 4 | 53-54 |
| 17 |  Mariners | Before the late comeback Sunday, the Mariners had lost 10 of their last 14. | 1 | 52-54 |
| 18 |  Tigers | Splitting a four-game series against the hapless Royals really hurts. The Tigers are operating with an incredibly low margin of error right now. | 1 | 50-56 |
| 19 |  Padres | With a six-game homestand against the Rockies and Giants, the Padres players have a good chance to tell their front office to be buyers and not sellers. They’ve already gotten started with a three-game sweep in Miami. | 2 | 53-53 |
| 20 |  Orioles | Since the seven-game winning streak, the Orioles have lost four of six. | 2 | 51-55 |
| 21 |  Astros | Injuries have been an issue, but these last two seasons, when healthy, Jeremy Peña has shown himself a very capable hitter. After two homers on Sunday, he’s slashing .319/.373/.504 on the season. | 1 | 52-55 |
| 22 |  Marlins | We almost made it past the trade deadline without Sandy Alcantara rumors. This losing streak might well change matters. | 10 | 52-54 |
| 23 |  Reds | Too little, too late, but kudos to the Reds for a 6-3 road trip coming out of the All-Star break. | 1 | 49-55 |
| 24 |  Blue Jays | I suppose at 5 ½ games back, the Jays are technically still alive in the playoff race, but it sure feels like it’s not in the cards this time around. | 1 | 48-58 |
| 25 |  Royals | Atop the leaderboard for career home runs with the Royals is Salvador Perez with 318, breaking George Brett’s club record. No one else has even reached 200 with the ballclub. | 4 | 45-62 |
| 26 |  Mets | Clay Holmes threw 51 pitches for Triple-A Syracuse in his rehab start on Thursday. He’s on his way back just in time to be traded and help a contender down the stretch. And he will help. | 1 | 44-62 |
| 27 |  Giants | Luis Arraez is hitting .327 and has only struck out 19 times in 438 plate appearances. He’s even 8 for 8 in stolen bases. Old-school types are fanning themselves right now. | 1 | 44-61 |
| 28 |  Athletics | What a total bummer to hear Shea Langeliers could be done for the season. | 1 | 44-61 |
| 29 |  Angels | Mike Trout went 4 for 4 on Sunday. It was the seventh four-hit game of his career and his first since 2020. | 1 | 42-64 |
| 30 |  Rockies | Rookie first baseman TJ Rumfield is putting together quite a nice season and has put himself in position to be part of the Rockies’ next contending core. Small victories like this make down seasons worthwhile. | 2 | 42-65 |
