15. San Francisco Giants
Justin Verlander
Even though Justin Verlander has been pitching a lot better for the San Francisco Giants as of late, it still seems almost certain that he will be one-and-done with San Francisco this year. His ERA is down to a very respectable 4.09 ERA on the season and even though he had a stint on the IL in the first half he has still made 25 starts for the Giants which they surely would have been thrilled with when they signed the 42-year-old.
However, as the future Hall of Fame pitcher chases 300 career wins he must be a little ticked that the Giants have consistently blown leads that he has helped give the team which is why his record is 3-10 on the season. He will probably keep pitching next year but with a different teams he probably wants a change of scenery while the Giants most likely want a pitcher they could sign to a two or three year deal rather than re-upping on another one-year contract with Verlander.
-Nick San Miguel, Around the Foghorn
14. Kansas City Royals
MJ Melendez
Kansas City’s patience has to have worn out by now. For all his production at Triple-A, those numbers simply haven’t translated to the big-league level, and Melendez’s defensive deficiencies mean there’s no reason to put up with his subpar bat. The guy who hit 41 homers in the Minors in 2021 and burst onto the scene with the Royals in 2022 simply isn’t coming back, and there’s no reason to pay him a second year of arbitration. K.C. needs to seriously shake up its outfield picture if it wants to contend in 2026 and beyond; new blood is needed, and Melendez is out of runway.
-Landers
13. Texas Rangers
Adolis Garcia
Texas will be facing significant upheaval on its pitching staff this winter, with Tyler Mahle, Merrill Kelly, Patrick Corbin and Jon Gray all facing free agency and/or retirement (not to mention relievers like Phil Maton, Danny Coulombe, Chris Martin and Hoby Milner). While Chris Young will undoubtedly look to free agency to patch some of those holes, he could also look to the trade market – where moving on from Garcia could help bolster the Rangers’ depth elsewhere.
Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter have both taken encouraging steps forward this season, establishing themselves as two-thirds of Texas’ outfield for the foreseeable future. Joc Pederson, for better or worse, isn’t going anywhere as the team’s DH. All of which should put Garcia’s future on this roster in question: He’s 32 now, 33 next March, and he’s slumping through a second straight disappointing (and injury-marred) season after helping carry this team to a World Series title in 2023. He’s set to hit free agency next winter, and it feels like Texas doesn’t have a ton of interest in bringing him back; why not get out ahead of it now, and flip him to an offense-needy team – the Royals, perhaps? – in exchange for some pitching?
-Landers
12. Seattle Mariners
Luis Castillo
The three players the Mariners got at the trade deadline — Eugenio Suárez, Josh Naylor, and Caleb Ferguson — are all slated for free agency, and Jorge Polanco and Mitch Garver are likely to leave via the open market as well. Yet Castillo is the pick here because A) he represents less of a layup and B) there’s precedent for the Mariners to trade pitchers they don’t want to pay anymore.
They did it with Robbie Ray in January of 2024, at which time he was two years into a five-year, $115 million deal and recovering from Tommy John surgery. Though Castillo, 32, is a different case in that he’s perfectly healthy, his fastball is waning and his effectiveness is going with it. The M’s didn’t have an easy time trading him last winter, but the difference this time is that he’ll “only” have $48.3 million owed to him through 2027.
Castillo does have full no-trade protection for the rest of this year, but not after the calendar turns to 2026. That figures to be when the Mariners will have a real shot at moving him, even if it will require pitching in some money or prospects to sweeten the deal.
-Zachary Rymer, SoDo Mojo
11. San Diego Padres
Robert Suarez
Take your pick here: The Padres’ trade deadline splurge has left them with a lot of question marks come the winter, from Dylan Cease to Ryan O’Hearn to even the mutual option on righty Michael King. But while most of those feel like open and shut cases – there’s virtually no way that San Diego brings back either Cease or Luis Arraez – Suarez’s future is a little murkier.
The righty has been a stalwart at the back of San Diego’s bullpen for the last couple of years, nabbing two All-Star nods in the process. But he figures to turn down his $8 million player option for next season, hoping to exceed that on a multi-year deal in free agency as he gets set to turn 35 in March. With the Padres having more than enough bullpen depth behind him, a divorce here feels likely.
-Landers