MLB: 5 players who will be traded by the July 31 deadline

Looking at five marquee name players (really six) who will, or at least should, be traded by the July 31 trade deadline. 

We’re nearing the time of year when Major League Baseball goes into buy-and-sell mode. Teams who are serious about making a run to the playoffs, and possibly the World Series, are likely to field calls from teams whose eyes are set on the future.

The July 31 trade deadline is, in a sense, unofficial. Teams can still make trades after the deadline so long as the players in the trade pass through waivers unclaimed. However, since there is no guarantee a player will slide through unclaimed, the July 31 deadline has become one of the more important dates on the MLB calendar each and every year.

Last year there were a few pre-deadline deals of great significance. For example, Billy Beane mortgaged his franchise’s future by sending Addison Russell and Billy McKinney to the Chicago Cubs for Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel.

At the deadline he made a blockbuster trade, dealing All-Star outfielder Yoenis Cespedes for ace left-hander Jon Lester. Beane’s Oakland Athletics played worse after the two deals and barely hung onto the final AL Wild Card spot.

Lester started the Wild Card game in Kansas City – a game no true baseball fan will forget anytime soon (as could be said of many of the Royals’ postseason contests a year ago) – and delivered a roller coaster performance. However, after the team’s loss management determined his impact on the A’s was not what Beane initially hoped it would be.

Lester and Hammel are now joined together in Chicago and make up, along with Jake Arrieta, one of the better trios in baseball. The A’s made another aggressive trade in the offseason, sending third baseman Josh Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Another trade for Beane, another backfire. The “moneyball” genius is 0-fer in his last three go-rounds on the trade market. While you shouldn’t expect him to be as active as last year, there is a guy who stands out as the type Beane would “sell high” on.

And with so many teams sitting here in the middle of June within just a few games of a division lead, don’t expect too many big deals – at least not until the standings shake themselves out a bit further.

But the standings will shake themselves out, and at least a few teams will be aggressive in pursuit of the playoffs and a possible championship. That leads to the greater question of which players will be prioritized. Which guys are most likely to be targeted by contending teams in the next month and a half?

Next: Could Oakland trade their star pitcher?