The MLB trade deadline is roughly two months away on Aug. 3, and the National League standings are pure chaos. Only four teams in the entire league are below .500 at the moment, with all five NL Central clubs in the green and vying for a spot in October. There’s still a lot of dust left to settle before the buzzer sounds on trade season, but plenty of teams are incentivized to be aggressive right now.
Let’s dive into every realistic NL Wild Card contender and determine one ideal trade candidate each.
Arizona Diamondbacks: RHP Pete Fairbanks
Pete Fairbanks has battled the injury bug again this season, which breeds real downside risk — especially for a half-season rental. His 7.04 ERA through 15.1 innings does not inspire much confidence either. The underlying metrics (3.07 xERA) tell a different story, however. Fairbanks is still throwing gas, with 22 strikeouts to date. Sharp, stark statistical improvement is a near guarantee.
When he’s right, Fairbanks is one of the most electric closers out there. Opponents are tattooing his fastball more than usual right now, but his slider is straight-up one of the best individual pitches in the Majors. Paul Sewald and Kevin Ginkel are solid enough in high-leverage spots, but with a deep rotation and plentiful offense, the D-backs would be smart to target another arm for the bullpen.
San Diego Padres: RHP Joe Ryan
AJ Preller has made his own life difficult, trading away the bulk of San Diego’s top prospects in recent years for win-now moves that, to date, have not panned out. The Padres are right back in Wild Card contention this season, but aside from a flat-out elite bullpen, it’s easy to poke holes in San Diego’s World Series case. The Padres need their major bats to wake up and, above all else, the Padres desperately need to upgrade the rotation before August.
Joe Ryan would require another all-out splurge from Preller, but at this point, it’s just how business is done in San Diego. Ryan’s contract features an additional year of club control, which means the Padres can at least count on Ryan, Nick Pivetta and Michael King to all be on the roster in 2027, along with their premium bullpen arms.
Cincinnati Reds: 2B Luis Arráez
Luis Arráez is one of the great surprises of this MLB season — and not because he’s hitting .323 with a .799 OPS and 131 OPS+. That’s nice, of course, but we know Arráez does not strike out and tends to put himself on base. What’s surprising is his sudden about-face as a defender. Long one of the worst second basemen in MLB, Arráez’s nine Outs Above Average in 2026 place him in the 99th percentile. He’s a Gold Glove candidate.
Maybe that’s Ron Washington voodoo, so buyers beware at the deadline. But if Arráez is going to hit above .300 in the leadoff spot and defend at anything resembling his current level, a lot of teams could use him. Especially the Reds, with Matt McLain hitting at a sub-replacement level again.
Chicago Cubs: LHP Tarik Skubal
As evidenced by the Kyle Tucker trade last season, Jed Hoyer and the Cubs front office are at least open to high-profile rentals. Tarik Skubal is a bit different in that he’s coming off of elbow surgery and only under lock and key for half a season, but he’s also the best pitcher in MLB when healthy. The Cubs need depth and stability in the rotation and, more importantly, they should want to keep Skubal as far away from Los Angeles or Milwaukee as possible.
The Cubs are blessed with a deep farm system. Once the rotation gets healthy, in a perfect world, Skubal would join the likes of Justin Steele, Shōta Imanaga and Edward Cabrera for the stretch run, giving Chicago plenty of options come October (Ben Brown is dealing right now, too, and Matthew Boyd was an All-Star last season). This is still an awesome roster on paper; Skubal puts them into that upper echelon of NL contenders.
Pittsburgh Pirates: C Adley Rutschman
Adley Rutschman is a free agent after 2027, and there’s zero sign of an imminent extension from the Orioles. The switch-hitting catcher is finally healthy and enjoying his most productive season in a while, with seven home runs and a .799 OPS. Samuel Basallo is already on the roster and mashing, though, which means the O’s will not need to worry about Rutschman’s successor. Selling high in a lost season is the smart business decision.
Pittsburgh has plenty of quality Minor League pitchers to toss Baltimore’s direction. Plus, the front office’s newfound willingness to spend competitively in free agency could open the door, at least a little bit, to extending Rutschman when the time comes. Even if it’s a 1.5-season rental, Rutschman is a huge upgrade over Pittsburgh’s current options behind home plate. He’s someone Paul Skenes, Jared Jones and that talented staff can get excited about throwing to on a weekly basis.
St. Louis Cardinals: RHP Casey Mize
The Cardinals are an extremely fun and feisty bunch, led by the best rookie in MLB (to date) in JJ Wetherholt. There’s more meat on the bone with St. Louis’ lineup than expected, but if the Cards want to stay in the Wild Card hunt for the long haul, something has to change on the rotation front. Michael McGreevy has tossed several gems, but he’s overperforming his metrics to a dangerous, unsustainable degree. Dustin May has pitched better than his 4.59 ERA looks, but his whole career tells us not to trust it.
If Chaim Bloom is willing to take a swing on a rental, Casey Mize would have a real chance to start Game 1 of a hypothetical postseason series for the Cards. His breakout has gone somewhat unrecognized on a depressing Tigers team, but Mize has a 2.27 ERA and 0.97 WHIP through nine starts and 47.2 innings; his stuff has never looked sharper.
Philadelphia Phillies: OF Taylor Ward
The Phillies’ turnaround under Don Mattingly has been wondrous to behold, but this team is still teetering on the brink of disaster. Cristopher Sánchez and Zack Wheeler will continue to prop up the win column, but Philadelphia’s offense is a complete nonentity most days. Kyle Schwarber is enjoying another MVP-caliber season, while Bryce Harper and Brandon Marsh are both deserving All-Stars. The rest of that lineup, however, has a sub-.700 OPS. The Phillies have a collective .660 OPS against left-handed pitchers this season; the righties in that lineup just are not carrying weight.
Enter Taylor Ward. This is a classic deadline rental for Dave Dombrowski, who made a similar outfield upgrade in the form of Harrison Bader last summer. Ward only has two home runs in an AL-leading 275 plate appearances this season after hitting 36 a year ago, but he’s still working deep into counts and generating solid results (.732 OPS and 112 OPS+). His profile should play well at Citizens Bank Park, where he has a career 1.471 OPS.
Washington Nationals: LHP Aroldis Chapman
Boston’s ongoing implosion could put 38-year-old fireballer Aroldis Chapman on the chopping block. He’s a pure rental, especially for a team like Washington, but he’s on the shortlist of MLB’s best relievers and he would address a crippling weakness for the Nats. It really feels like Washington can hit its way into the Wild Card hunt, but their inability to hold leads on the mound is a constant drag.
Washington should probably look at available starters, too — someone other than Cade Cavalli or Foster Griffin who can pitch deep into games without an opener or divine intervention (literally how is Mikes Mikolas still starting regularly in 2026?). That said, the Nats’ bullpen has consistently blown leads all season. Chapman can help put an exclamation point on wins.
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