One untouchable prospect each World Series contender must protect at the MLB trade deadline

It's a dilemma as old as time, faced by generations of MLB executives: How all-in is too all-in? In the heat of a pennant race, it can be all too tempting to throw caution to the wind and pay whatever price is necessary to acquire the piece you think can put your team over the top. That will be even more true at this year's trade deadline, given just how wide-open the landscape is in both the AL and NL.

And to be sure, sometimes fortune favors the bold; plenty of past World Series champions have been born with the right midsummer move or two. Of course, you also need to be careful, lest you fall short of a parade while giving up a future star. Each of the below title contenders — i.e., teams that entered play on Tuesday with at least a three percent chance of winning it all, per FanGraphs — needs to find a way to upgrade their roster in the present without sacrificing one particularly critical piece of the future.

Los Angeles Dodgers: OF Josue De Paula

It seems all but certain that the Dodgers are going to dip into their preposterously deep group of young outfielders in search of upgrades at the deadline. But that's even more reason to hold on to De Paula, who has by far the highest offensive ceiling of the bunch thanks to his combination of contact skills and crazy raw power. (He's currently excelling in Double-A at just 21 years old, with an OBP pushing near .400.)

De Paula is the least athletic of the top trio that also includes Zyhir Hope and Eduardo Quintero, but so what? The Dodgers have Andy Pages patrolling center field for the foreseeable future. They need a cost-controlled big bopper as the likes of Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernandez age out of star-level production, and De Paula looks like a future middle-of-the-order star.

New York Yankees: INFs George Lombard Jr. and Dax Kilby

Admittedly this is a bit of a cop-out. But New York's system is so thin on impact position-player talent— and so comparatively deep in pitching — that I'd caution Brian Cashman against moving either of Lombard Jr. or Kilby. The former is the team's top overall prospect, and it's not hard to see why: He's slick at shortstop and has answered a ton of hit-tool questions with his performance in the high Minors over the last 12 months or so. And Kilby, while not the same level of glove, is an incredibly advanced bat who should still be able to stick somewhere up the middle.

The Yankees simply don't have anyone else in their stratosphere right now, and developing hitters has long been a sore spot among fans. Brian Cashman has enough arms at his disposal — and is good enough at churning them out — that he should get as aggressive as he needs to be to add relievers and bench bats at the deadline. If a team demands either of his top infielders, though, that's too high a cost to New York's future.

Atlanta Braves: RHP Luke Sinnard

No, Sinnard isn't Atlanta's top pitching prospect; heck, he's not even in the top two or three on just about everyone's list. But that's not really about his ability on the mound — at 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds, he has a power arsenal that could very well play at the top of a big-league rotation in time. The question has always been health: The Braves drafted Sinnard in the third round back in 2024 despite the fact that he'd just undergone Tommy John surgery.

He made it back to the mound late in 2025, and he's picked up right where he left off so far this season, with a huge fastball and a wicked slider/splitter combination that can attack both righties and lefties. The risk involved here is real, but I'd argue he has a higher ceiling than any other pitcher in this system.

Seattle Mariners: INF MIchael Arroyo

It would really, really hurt to give up Kade Anderson, a lefty on a meteoric ascent to the Majors. But given the realities of Seattle's rotation and the needs they have in the infield moving forward, giving up Arroyo might hurt even more. He got off to a slow start to the Double-A season after a star turn in the World Baseball Classic, but he's started hitting up to his top-100 pedigree of late with an .805 OPS so far in May (in a difficult run-scoring environment). With JP Crawford aging off of shortstop and Cole Young hardly making a case to keep an infield job, Arroyo is an excellent all-around player at a position of real need moving forward.

Philadelphia Phillies: INF Aroon Escobar

You could copy and paste a lot of the Arroyo section for Escobar, at least as it pertains to how he fits into his team's future. The Phillies' threadbare farm system leaves them ill-prepared to deal with a rapidly aging core, but with Aidan Miller's back issues becoming more and more of a concern and both Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott hitting free agency this winter, they're going to need Escobar sooner rather than later. He doesn't have a standout tool anywhere, but he's a line-drive machine who can stick at second base and hopefully become an above-average regular there.

Tampa Bay Rays: OF Theo Gillen

Tampa Bay is in desperate need of more offense from its outfield — and, as it happens, the team's top prospect is a center fielder currently laying waste to High-A. I love it when a plan comes together. It's not the Rays' M.O. to take big dips from their cost-controlled talent anyway, but even if it were, Gillen looks to be too valuable a piece to give up for a system that has a ton of depth but not a particularly high ceiling. It would have to make them slam-dunk AL favorites for the gamble to be worthwhile.

Chicago Cubs: OF Josiah Hartshorn

With Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki both bound for free agency this winter, outfield is a clear area of organizational need moving forward. But the closest outfielder to the Majors right now, Kevin Alcantara, comes with serious hit-tool concerns that has me skeptical he can ever be more than a fourth-outfielder type. So instead we'll go a little deeper to Hartshorn, who the team went way overslot to take in the sixth round of last year's draft. He's responded by putting up an .883 OPS in his first taste of pro ball, with eight more walks than strikeouts. There's a way to go to the Majors still, but the ceiling here is enticing.

Milwaukee Brewers: INF Jesus Made

Sometimes it's simple. Made isn't just Milwaukee's top prospect; he might be the top prospect in the entire sport right now, depending on how you feel about A's infielder Leo De Vries. He's plus across the board, with crazy bat speed that leads to both lots of contact and lots of power plus the ability to stick at shortstop moving forward. The Brewers don't really have an answer long term at that position, which makes holding on to Made a no-brainer. The fact that they have other infielders to deal from just makes it an easier call.

Cleveland Guardians: OF Jaison Chourio

Injuries to both his wrist and shoulder helped throw Chourio's development off course. It's safe to say he's feeling better now, with a torrid start at High-A (.907 OPS, two homers and 10 steals) that resulted in his promotion to Double-A. The plate discipline never went anywhere, even when the explosiveness and athleticism did; now that he's healhty once again, it's all too easy to dream on a five-tool center fielder here. That's something Cleveland can't give up on yet, given the depth they have to deal from in the infield.

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