\n\tWhile we are still about a month and a half away from the trade deadline, it’s starting to get late early for some teams across Major League Baseball. With the trade deadline set for July 31, we are roughly a month away from the hot stove reaching its inferno. However, there are a handful of teams that we can pretty confidently say are going to be sellers around the deadline. Who are they, what do they have to offer, and how could the Minnesota Twins benefit? Let’s dive in.<\/p>\n
Chicago White Sox \n\tAthletics \n\tBaltimore Orioles \n\tTwins Needs
The White Sox are 12 games below .500\u00a0and 13 games out of the playoff spot. They acknowledged a multi-year rebuild over the off-season, so it shouldn’t be surprising that they are sellers once again. Potential rentals include outfielders Michael A. Taylor<\/a> and Austin Slater<\/a> as well as recently acquired starter Aaron Civale<\/a>. Otherwise, intriguing players who are controlled beyond 2025 include infielder Josh Rojas<\/a> and outfielder Mike Tauchman. However, it\u2019s more realistic that teams aggressively kick the tires on outfielder Luis Robert Jr.<\/a>, who has been the subject of trade speculation for a while now. Robert Jr. signed a pre-arbitration extension that included $20 million in team options for 2026 and 2027, which can be bought out for $2 million. Once a top prospect in baseball, the 28-year-old has had a hard time staying healthy throughout his career and has struggled at the plate over the last two seasons.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Athletics are in a free fall ever since they started their season 22-20. In their last 28 games they have just four wins. While they are a young team with some exciting talent, they’re obviously not ready yet and have a handful of rentals that teams could kick the tires on. Most notably are utility players Miguel Andujar<\/a> and Luis Urias<\/a> who have both produced above average at the plate this season. Third baseman Gio Urshela<\/a> is more than two years removed from his last productive season and has a mediocre glove at the hot corner, but could be an intriguing option to handle the short side of a platoon. On the mound, Jose Leclerc<\/a> and T.J. McFarland<\/a> are two potential reliever rentals, though Leclerc has been sidelined with a lat strain since April and McFarland has been plain bad. It seems likely that at least one of Andujar, Urias, or Urshela are traded ahead of the deadline.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Injuries aside, it’s still pretty shocking to see the Orioles struggling this much. After winning 91 games and earning a playoff berth in 2024, they are currently 13 games below .500 and 8.5 games out of a playoff spot. The difference here is that the Orioles are not in the midst of a rebuild, so it’s likely they limit their moves to players on expiring deals. Those names include: pitchers Zach Eflin<\/a>, Charlie Morton<\/a>, Tomoyuki Sugano<\/a>, and Gregory Soto<\/a> as well as outfielder Cedric Mullins<\/a>. Of those players, Eflin, Sugano, and Soro are having successful seasons on the mound and will draw significant trade interest. However, two names that have been the subject of trade rumors but are controllable beyond 2025 are first baseman Ryan Mountcastle<\/a> and outfielder Heston Kjerstad<\/a>. Mountcastle, who will miss the next 8-12 weeks with a hamstring strain, is having a down year with a .628 OPS and two home runs. Kjerstad, who was recently optioned to Triple-A Norfolk, has also struggled this season but has often found himself as the odd man out of a stacked group of young talent.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Like the last few seasons, the offense has been inconsistent which would explain the Twins peaks and valleys as a team. Generally speaking, they don\u2019t have one specific weakness but could benefit from an improvement in their lineup. However, it’s hard to see where that might happen. Twins third baseman have one of the lowest OPS\u2019 of any team\u2019s third baseman in baseball, but they’re surely not taking Royce Lewis<\/a> out of the lineup. They don’t have a solid answer at second base, but that position has produced the ninth highest OPS in baseball. Catcher has been a bit of a black hole but it’s hard to see them bringing in someone without dealing one of Jeffers or Vazquez (and who’s trading for one of them?). That leaves designated hitter, but the Twins roster construction isn’t built for a full-time DH. They need to improve their offense but I don’t see how that happens without dealing one of their regular offensive contributors. On the other side of the ball, if this were two weeks ago, the Twins would have been potentially looking to flip a starter for a hitter. Now, the Twins are one injury away from (such as a Bailey Ober<\/a> hip issue) from being in a very, very bad spot. All of that said and we haven’t even broached the topic of money.<\/p>\n