A couple more questions than last time, with 1 bonus question about the recent passing of a former MLB player. Enjoy the read!!
The link to the entire chat can be found here: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/07/ ... t-135.html
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Any Reds news?
Mark Polishuk
They’re planning to move (at least) their impending free agents at the deadline:
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/07/ ... racts.html
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I would like the Cards to look for bullpen help. They can get by with a weak starting staff but have to fix the bullpen.
Mark Polishuk
The fact that the Cards need help in both pitching areas isn’t great, so focusing on either the pen OR the bullpen leaves the club short. St. Louis is looking like they’ll buy to some limited extent at the deadline, but without moving any significant young trade assets. Bloom’s eye is likely still on the overall rebuild process, so the Cards probably feel 2027 is a better year to truly contend than 2026.
That all being said, I feel like I’ve made similar comments about the Cardinals in the last several weeks of chats, but they just keep surprising me and winning!
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Nats buy, sell or a combination of the both?
Mark Polishuk
I’m leaning like 52-48 in favor of selling. The Nats are another team that didn’t expect to be this good, so they’ve maybe been waiting for the other shoe to truly drop for a while now. But the offense has been so good that if I’m Toboni, I consider getting a couple of relievers and a starter and seeing what I can do in a wild card chase.
Even if the Nats (or Cardinals, White Sox, Marlins, etc.) may not feel like “true” contenders, getting involved in some higher-intensity games can be a nice learning experience for a young roster.
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Chicago seems to have no interest in making Kevin Alcantara anything more than a seldom used bench piece. Could they get a mid leverage type reliever for him?
Mark Polishuk
He has more trade value than that.
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Do teams with smaller payrolls like the Pirates, Rays, and Brewers that are in contention for the post season, push all theirs chips in and go for it? Does the lack of a true favorite give hope to these teams and they get more aggressive and make a big move they wouldn’t normally make?
Mark Polishuk
The Pirates are acting with more aggression than usual since they really want to break the playoff drought. The Rays might also be a little more aggressive than usual due to their new owner, or (as you mentioned) if they feel the AL is wider open than usual. But in general, going “all in” carries a lot of extra risk for teams that rely so much on internal development. If the Rays dealt some of their top prospects and the new acquisitions didn’t work out, that sets back Tampa’s plans for years, rather than just in 2026.
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Do the Reds trade Elly?
Mark Polishuk
Nope. He’s under arb control through 2029, so there’s no rush or any real need for Cincinnati to deal him. Moving Elly is the kind of burn-it-down move that signals a rebuild, and the Reds surely aren’t moving in that direction.
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Does Sproat ever become a good SP than can command?
Mark Polishuk
Sproat doesn’t turn 26 until September and he has all of 102 2/3 big league innings under his belt. We may have been spoiled by the number of pitchers who seem to figure it out immediately after arriving in Milwaukee, but Rome isn’t always built in a day.
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What are the chances Cubs end up with someone like Logan Webb or Mason Miller? And doing so without giving up Josiah Hartshorn?
Mark Polishuk
Posey already flatly shot down the chances of Webb being traded anywhere. Getting a long-term elite reliever in Miller would outweight Hartshorn’s long-term potential, in my view.
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What kind of return could the A’s get for Carlos Cortes?
Mark Polishuk
Cortes is an interesting and maybe underrated trade chip, probably because most players with his amount of team control aren’t really “trade chips” for a team in seller mode like the A’s. As I noted in the post earlier today, Cortes is 29, so the A’s might view his emergence as found money rather than putting him into their long-term plans. With Soderstrom, Butler, and Rooker also locked up to extensions, there isn’t much room anyway in the corner outfield or DH picture.
A team in need of an outfield bat (Brewers? Diamondbacks? Guardians?) can plug Cortes into their lineup tomorrow.
Oh, it occurs to me that I didn’t actually answer the question
I think an interesting pitching prospect or a pitcher who’s already in the bigs is a feasible ask for Cortes. Not a top-100 type or a frontline arm, but someone the A’s can use as a long-term asset to try and bridge the gap until they get to Vegas.-----------------------------------------------------------------
Do you think the Cubs should prioritize the rotation or bullpen at the deadline?
Mark Polishuk
Rotation.
The Cubs can push the excess starters into the relief picture more easily.
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When will the Pirates trade for bullpen help? The need is obvious.
Mark Polishuk
My suspicion is that other teams have been asking for the sun and the moon in trade talks for relievers, knowing that the Pirates are desperate. The asking prices will normalize as we get closer to the deadline, but the Bucs are taking some costly losses in the interim.
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RIP Duane Ward
Mark Polishuk
Shocking news during what was supposed to be a celebratory weekend for the 1992-93 Jays players. I had the pleasure of interviewing Ward early in my career, and as anyone who heard him on the radio can attest, he was a great interview with plenty of opinions to share.
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