SPECULATOR: Trade deadline, part 1: the market for pitching

Every July in this space, we spend the weeks leading up to the MLB trade deadline speculating about what may transpire on July 31. Some years we have been right on the money with our reading of the market, in others we have been dreadfully off base. Above all, we think there's value (in an entertainment sense, as well as to our fantasy teams) in the thought exercise of "playing along" with the MLB GMs. After all, part of the reason we play our games is as a proxy for acting as a GM of our favorite team.

Let's kick off this year's coverage with a review of how the landscape has changed from prior years, and then, with the context properly set, we will assess the market for starting pitching.

Effects of the new CBA

MLB's new...

Almost!

You’re just a few clicks away from accessing this feature and hundreds more throughout the year that have a singular goal in mind: Winning your league. Subscribe to BaseballHQ.com here!

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

More From Speculator

Applying lessons learned from George Springer's 2025 breakout to this year's player pool
Mar 4 2026 3:04am
This week's exercise is all about picking holes to help avoid early-round busts.
Feb 25 2026 3:10am
Sure, they struggled last year, but if we remove some recency bias, granting mulligans could be a lucrative exercise.
Feb 18 2026 3:06am
Our annual look at who changed their pitch mix the most in-season last year, and (most importantly) whether it worked.
Feb 11 2026 3:06am
Could Jakob Marsee lead the majors in plate appearances? We'll take our component playing time metrics for a spin to see who could bubble up.
Feb 4 2026 8:30am

Tools