Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The A's invested heavily in a key starter but face pitching struggles at their minor league ballpark.
- Miami's ace enters his final contract year after recovering from surgery and posting career-worst numbers.
- Contending teams will monitor several starters closely as the trade deadline approaches this summer.
The MLB season does not stop for anybody. As we bathe in the afterglow of Opening Day, some fans are ready to hit the panic button. Others are ready to plan the parade route. There's nowhere to look but forward, whether your team is destined to win it all or on the rebuilding path.
Of the 30 Opening Day starters league-wide, you can bet at least a handful will end up on the trade block ahead of August's deadline. Here are the names you need to keep an eye on:
Luis Severino, A's
The Athletics inked Luis Severino to a three-year, $67 million contract ahead of the 2025 campaign — what felt like a rare major investment for the organization at the time. Severino was supposed to provide the young A's with stability atop the rotation. Instead, he brought turbulence in his first season, posting a 4.54 ERA and 1.30 WHIP across 29 starts.
Severino was particularly bad at home, which led to vocal complaints about the A's current setup at Sutter Health Park — a Minor League stadium in Sacramento. The A's wanted better production from Severino, no doubt. And they probably wanted their expensive ace and veteran leader to not cause a stir in the media. He's on the hook for $25 million this season, with a $22 million player option for 2027. It won't be easy for the A's to offload so much money, but if Severino comes out of the gate strong, the door at least opens.
The A's want to contend this season, generally. Their talented young lineup has more firepower than a lot of teams with twice the payroll. That said, the pitching staff is abysmal and Severino didn't exactly help their cause in his first go-around. If the A's start to tumble in the standings again, getting out from under the Severino contract probably becomes priority No. 1.
Sandy Alcántara, Miami Marlins
Sandy Alcántara has finally reached the final year of his contract, worth $17.3 million. He has a $21 million club option for 2027, but that's essentially a Get Out of Jail Free card for any potential suitors. It's a bit confounding as to why the Miami Marlins didn't pull the trigger on a deal sooner.
Alcántara has been through the wringer in recent years — a Cy Young in 2022, career-worst numbers in 2023, Tommy John surgery in 2024 and then new career-worst numbers in 2025. Miami probably gets more value for trading Alcántara at any other point during that turbulent stretch, but here we are. He is Miami's Opening Day starter and the Marlins hope to build on last season's quiet success, with an Alcántara resurgence top on their list of needs for a postseason push.
He ended last season stronger than he started, but there are precious few ways to frame a 5.36 ERA in a positive light. He pitched 174.2 innings, so the durability and availability were a plus. But opponents hit .272 against his signature sinker in 2025, with a .300 expected batting average. Alcántara is now on the wrong side of 30 and it's unclear how close to his Cy Young heights he is even capable of reaching.
Plenty of contenders are probably willing to take a flier on Alcántara, though. Maybe he settles in with a more competitive rotation, where he's not relied upon as the so-called ace. If the Marlins can squeeze a few promising starts out of the righty early in the campaign, his pedigree is such that the Miami might even get a decent return. It's hard to imagine Alcántara finishing the season in South Beach unless he just completely bottoms out.
Drew Rasmussen, Tampa Bay Rays
Drew Rasmussen has dealt with his share of injuries over the years, but he was sensational for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2025. The Rays typically aim to compete on a budget each and every season, but a hectic offseason left Tampa Bay far behind the curve in MLB's most competitive division. Rasmussen, in the final year of his contract, should get a nice payday next winter. The Rays know damn well they won't be providing it.
Tampa's rotation might be strong enough to keep them in the Wild Card mix for a while, so a Rasmussen trade is not guaranteed. If it becomes clear that the Rays aren't going anywhere this season, however, Tampa's front office is savvy enough to cash in. The Rays tend to fare well on the trade front; this team evaluates and develops talent better than most.
Rasmussen will need to prove his durability long term, but he's still in his prime at 30 years old, coming off a season in which he posted a 2.76 ERA and 1.02 WHIP across 150 innings. He has a career 2.88 ERA over seven years and 131 appearances (82 starts). The consistent execution when Rasmussen does take the mound is undeniable, and it should mean Tampa gets a lot in return.
Joe Ryan, Minnesota Twins
Joe Ryan made his first All-Star appearance in 2025 and he's off to another stellar start this go-around, pitching 5.1 scoreless innings in the Minnesota Twins' 2-1 Opening Day loss to Baltimore. Ryan is a unique candidate on this list: Not only is he arguably the best pitcher to prominently feature in trade rumors, but he's also under club control through 2027. So his hypothetical next team gets 1.5 years of production, give or take.
Pitching has never been more at a premium, as evidenced by the deals that even second- or third-tier starters are receiving in free agency. That means Ryan is of considerable value on the trade front. Minnesota would like its fans to believe this is a team serious about contending, but last year's deadline fire sale made their goals abundantly clear.
The Twins aren't exactly rife with proven arms after Pablo López's season-ending injury, so trading Ryan would leave Minnesota in dire straits the rest of the way. Even so, the Twins are focused on the future, and trading Ryan soon — while teams can still squeeze multiple postseason runs out of him, and before any injury complications pop up — is the only way to ensure maximum return value.
Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks
After years of steadfast excellence, Zac Gallen hit a wall in 2025. His ERA ballooned to 4.83 and his once-unhittable knuckle curve became, well, hittable. Gallen finished the campaign strong enough to still earn a one-year, $22.5 million contract in free agency and a bit of faith from the Arizona Diamondbacks, with whom he spent the last six years blossoming into an ace.
That faith was not exactly rewarded on Opening Day, as Gallen gave up four runs in four innings to the Dodgers. Let's not hit the panic button after a single bad start against the most stacked lineup in baseball, but Gallen wasn't very sharp in spring training either. The 30-year-old's track record will buy him patience, but the stuff's not where it needs to be.
Arizona has the overall talent to compete for a postseason spot in 2026, but a beat-up rotation could prove problematic early in the campaign. If we get closer to the deadline and the D-backs are slowly fading from contention, trading Gallen — despite all he means to Arizona — is the only logical move. Plenty of better teams will want to take a flier on Gallen toward the back end of their rotation. As less than a one-year investment, risk is mitigated.
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