Over the years playing for both the New York Rangers and Hartford Wolf Pack, Matt Rempe and Adam Edström built a strong friendship.
For a large part of the past two seasons, Rempe and Edström have played a fourth-line role together, as the two spent a lot of time playing on the same line.
However, the Rangers traded Edström to the Nashville Predators this offseason in exchange for Massimo Rizzo and a fifth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.
Last week at the Shoulder Check Showcase, Rempe expressed his emotions regarding Edström being traded from the Rangers.
"Obviously, he's my brother. I was over in Sweden with him for a week,” Rempe said. “Always sad to see him go because we've kind of grown up together and stuff, but it's a business and things happen.
“I know he's gonna kill it in Nashville, and I'm gonna miss him lots. I know he'll do great. He'll do great.”
Rempe, meanwhile, has one year remaining on his two-year, $1.95 million contract with the Rangers, and he’s set to compete for an opening-night roster spot at training camp.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MAY 10: Ciryl Gane and Rudy Gobert #27 of the Minnesota Timberwolves pose for a photo before the game against the San Antonio Spurs during Round Two Game Four of the 2026 NBA Playoffs on May 10, 2026 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Interim UFC Heavyweight champion, Ciryl Gane — coming off a technical knockout win over Alex Pereira — showed off his basketball skills on social media.
Gane didn’t just go against any Average Joe, either. On the contrary, UFC’s two-time title holder went 1-on-1 with four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Rudy Gobert. Mixed martial arts (MMA) fans are used to seeing the 6’4” Gane tower over his Heavyweight foes, but he was completely dwarfed by the Minnesota Timberwolves center in this playful session.
He did show some decent skills, though.
Watch Gane get a couple of buckets, including a pretty smooth looking step-back three over the 7’1” NBA star:
Ciryl Gane going 1-on-1 with Rudy Gobert, 4-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year 🏀
Crossing over to other sports isn’t easy even for high-level athletes, whether it’s NBA vets Michael Beasley and Lance Stephenson fighting each other, or Gane’s former opponent in Jon Jones embarrassing himself in this classic video with five-time All Star Al Horford:
Gane and Gobert are popular French athletes and friends, who have trained together in the past. They sparred one year ago, with the UFC star helping Gobert with his boxing.
Gane’s next fight is expected to be a Heavyweight title unification rematch against one-eyed division champion, Tom Aspinall, later this year; however, an official date has not yet been locked in (details here).
PHOENIX, AZ - APRIL 17: Dillon Brooks #3 Jalen Green #4, and Jordan Goodwin #23 of the Phoenix Suns is interviewed by JayDee Dyer after the game against the Golden State Warriors during the SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament on April 17, 2026 at PHX Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Kate Frese/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Suns fans and fans across the country.
Hypotheticals and projections. That’s what’s keeping us engaged at this point in the offseason. It’s August, the regular season is still two and a half months away, and we’re all wondering what the Phoenix Suns are going to look like. We speculate about the three-point shooting. We debate the defense. We try to project the rotations.
Devin Booker will lead the Suns in scoring. If he doesn’t, that will create an entirely different conversation. But the odds overwhelmingly favor Booker finishing as the team’s leading scorer once again. The balance this organization has worked to build is a welcome sight, especially when you think back to two seasons ago, when the roster was so heavily tilted toward a handful of players.
That balance is a good thing. At the same time, it leaves you wondering one simple question. Who’s going to be the second leading scorer on this team? Yeah, you might be thinking, “Who cares?” I care. I think it’s an interesting thought exercise, and the results could reveal something interesting.
Allow me to introduce the candidates.
First up is Jalen Green. He is the explosive, athletic, and at times inconsistent shooting guard who will certainly have every opportunity to fill up the stat sheet. Last season with the Suns, he averaged the third-most field-goal attempts on the team at 16.0 per game and finished third in scoring at 17.8 points per game.
By Green’s standards, it was a quiet season. It was his lowest scoring average since his rookie year in 2021–22, and he also posted the lowest three-point percentage of his career at 31.3%. You can certainly point to the circumstances. Green played only 32 games and started 27 of them as he battled multiple hamstring injuries throughout the season. He never truly found a rhythm or the consistency needed to get his game rolling.
The question is whether he can return to the level he reached in Houston during the 2022–23 season, when he averaged a career high 22.1 points per game. That year, he also averaged a career high of 17.9 field goal attempts per game.
Next up is Dillon Brooks. Brooks took more shots than he ever had in his career last season, averaging 17.1 field goal attempts per game. The previous high came in 2021–22 with the Memphis Grizzlies, when he averaged 16.4 attempts on a team that finished 56–26 and earned the second-best record in the Western Conference.
He responded by posting a career high 20.2 points per game for the Suns despite shooting 34.4% from beyond the arc, the fourth lowest mark of his career. He also attempted a career high 6.6 three pointers per game.
Was last season an outlier for Brooks? You can certainly make that argument. Jalen Green missed 50 games and Devin Booker missed 18, forcing Brooks into a much larger offensive role than anyone anticipated. His usage climbed accordingly, and so did his shot attempts.
Then there’s the newly acquired Miles Bridges. Bridges averaged 21.0 points per game during the 2023–24 season with the Charlotte Hornets while taking a career high 17.5 shots per night. He’s entering a new system with new teammates and new opportunities, so we don’t yet know exactly how he’ll be utilized offensively. But as someone who can attack the rim and who once shot 40% from three during the 2020–21 season, he certainly has the ability to elevate his offensive production and put points on the board.
So who do you think will finish as the Suns’ second leading scorer this season? That’s the question at the heart of this week’s Suns Reacts survey. Go cast your vote, then head to the comments and tell us why you made your choice. I’m curious to see where everyone lands on this one, because there’s a legitimate case to be made for all three candidates.
Ducks sign Pavel Mintyukov to five-year contract extension
The 2026 offseason for the Anaheim Ducks hasn’t gone as expected, to say the least. The team was seemingly on a meteoric rise, putting their long rebuild in the rearview and primed to make several significant additions to take them over the top and into true Stanley Cup contention.
In actuality, they parted with two young roster pieces at the Draft (Olen Zellweger, Mason McTavish), signed some depth roster players (Nick Jensen, AJ Greer, Jeff Malott, Laurent Brossoit), and saw their cap sheet monumentally dented by an offer sheet signed by their franchise center, Leo Carlsson.
Looking forward, the Ducks will be banking on their current young core continuing their progressions toward stardom, veterans to fend off Father Time for another season, and a slew of rookies and/or relatively inexperienced youth to seamlessly fill gaps on the depth chart.
Roster players Tim Washe (24), Ian Moore (24), and Tyson Hinds (23) have all “graduated” and will presumably assume everyday roles in the NHL, based on their experience, roles in high-leverage playoff games, and current depth chart makeup.
Fortunately for the Ducks, their pipeline is filled to the brim with young, NHL-ready (or near-NHL-ready) talent who, if afforded the opportunity, could find themselves elevated in the lineup and potentially move needles for the organization in yet another important transition year.
Here’s a preview of some of those players looking to carve out a consistent role and provide an impact at the NHL level.
Nikita Nesterenko (24), W
Nesterenko will be entering his fifth season (fourth full season) with the Ducks organization after he was acquired at the 2022 trade deadline. The long, skilled, playmaking winger split his time between the AHL and NHL in 2025-26, playing 29 games with the Ducks and 35 with the Gulls.
He’s put in work to develop a “B game” and was rewarded with 0:50 TOI on the penalty kill per game with Anaheim when called upon early in the season. He’s shown flashes of offensive impact, highlighted by a four-assist game in Oct. 2025, but if he’s given a role high in the lineup again, those flashes will need to become more consistent if he’s to stick. He has the makings of a useful bottom-six player for the Ducks who could fill in and provide an impact in the middle six.
He’s no longer waiver-exempt, and the Ducks would risk losing him should they attempt to reassign him to the Gulls.
Sam Colangelo (24), W
Colangelo has been one of the Gulls’ top point-producers for the last two seasons, but took a slight step back in 2025-26 as the organization switched their systems to one less conducive to Colangelo’s game. He’s still capable of scoring at the NHL level, as suggested by his ten goals in 32 games in 2024-25.
A prototypical power forward with a quick release, Colangelo requires a scoring role to fulfill his true potential. When given an elevated role, he can provide needed goalscoring, but his lack of pace and two-way habits have kept him in the AHL, as he struggles to influence on a forecheck or disrupt without possession.
Luckily for him, the Ducks’ top nine projects to be chock-full of opportunity, especially early in 2026-27. Like Nesterenko, he’s no longer waiver-exempt, and the Ducks would risk losing the former second-round pick should they attempt to send him to the AHL.
Tristan Luneau (22), RHD
Luneau is far and away the Ducks’ biggest “X-factor” on this list. He’s “paid his dues” with two healthy and productive seasons with the Gulls, scoring 93 points in 129 games and working to refine his two-way abilities.
Anaheim’s blueline will be far younger this year than its predecessor and thus rife with opportunity. Luneau is the Ducks’ lone remaining prospect with true No. 1 potential. He’s an explosive, creative puck-mover with a desirable combination of physical and mobile defending in every zone.
Zellweger’s departure and Pavel Mintyukov’s offensive inconsistency may lead to Luneau seeing ice time with a man-advantage. If he’s afforded extended power play time, it’s not far-fetched to predict Luneau’s placement among the NHL’s top rookie defensemen in 2026-27.
Nathan Gaucher (22), C
Gaucher never projected as a top-of-the-lineup point-producer, but his difficulty translating what offense he did have to the AHL level has been disappointing thus far. Toward the end of the 2025-26 season, his third full season with the Gulls, he began to accumulate more puck touches and manufacture more offense, finishing the regular season with nine points (7-2=9) in his final ten regular season AHL games and even made his NHL debut in early April.
Gaucher has the capability of providing the Ducks with much-needed forechecking prowess, an aspect absent during their playoff run in the Spring of 2026. He’ll likely top out as a third-line center, but his speed, physicality, defensive impact, and tenacity could provide the Ducks with a needed complement to their dynamic core at the top of the lineup.
He’ll likely be battling Nesterenko and Colangelo for NHL ice time. Still, his versatility will likely give him an advantage over the former two and afford the coaching staff more lineup options.
Stian Solberg (20), LHD
With more years of professional experience and experience against grown men than anyone on this list, Solberg wrapped up his first full year in North America in 2025-26, playing all 71 games on the Gulls’ schedule and representing Norway for the third consecutive spring at the IIHF World Championships.
The first season on a smaller ice sheet was a success for the former first-round pick (23rd overall in 2024), as he tallied 24 points (12-12=24) and translated his trademark physicality, piling up 102 PIMs. If the Ducks feel the NHL roster is lacking, Solberg can restore some of the sandpaper they lost during the 2026 offseason with the departures of Jacob Trouba and Radko Gudas.
He still has some details to add to his game like angling, gap control, and puck retrieval success rate, but with the only LHDs ahead of him on the Ducks organizational depth chart being Jackson LaCombe, Pavel Mintyukov, and Tyson Hinds, it’s more likely than not he makes his NHL debut in 2026-27. Two years removed from playing in Norway’s top professional league indicates he’s already come a long way in his development in a short amount of time. Will the NHL be a leap too far? We’ll soon find out.
Roger McQueen (19), C
McQueen finally put together a complete, healthy season in 2025-26 and signed his ELC after a freshman year at Providence College that saw him tally 27 points (11-16=27) in 36 games. The production isn’t entirely telling, as he was third on his team in scoring, trailing their leading scorer (John Mustard) by just two points. Providence plays pro-style defensive systems and relies on depth and details to win games at the NCAA level.
He finished his season with the Gulls, scoring three points (1-2=3) in seven games, utilizing the habits he learned at Providence to ease his transition to the AHL. He could benefit from more manufactured puck touches to gain acumen and confidence on the offensive side of the puck to realize his NHL potential fully.
McQueen is long, skilled, powerful, and can cover a lot of ice with his stride. He has all the tools to become a dynamic complement to Leo Carlsson down the middle and one half of a lethal 1-2 punch. The Ducks could certainly utilize his skillset in their middle six, and he would fill a need, but rushing him to the NHL could limit his overall offensive upside if he’s not fully ready. His development at this stage will be a delicate balancing act for the Ducks’ front office and coaching staff.
Nikita Klepov (18), W
Klepov joins the likes of Carlsson and Beckett Sennecke as a player that Ducks GM Pat Verbeek and the scouting staff identified and pursued as “their guy” in the first round of the NHL Draft. Klepov was the key piece in a trade that sent McTavish to the St. Louis Blues, and Verbeek stated that had Klepov not been available to the Ducks at 15th overall, the trade would not have happened.
Klepov led the entire OHL in scoring in 2025-26 with 97 points (37-60=97) in 67 games and was slated to begin his NCAA career in 2026-27 at Michigan State University before the Ducks signed him to his ELC in July. Verbeek mentioned after his draft that he was a player who could be on a “fast track to the NHL.” However, a full 2026-27 season in the NHL seems like a tremendously fast track.
He is an offensive dynamo with the IQ, handling, and deception skills to quarterback minute-long cycle sequences singlehandedly, as well as create and finish endless dangerous chances. Though tenacious and talented, he’ll likely aim to add to his 6-foot, 186-pound frame. It remains a possibility Klepov plays NHL games this season, but a reliance on him to make a nightly positive impact may not be advisable if the Ducks are to remain competitive in 2026-27.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - JULY 18: Starting pitcher Dustin May #3 of the St. Louis Cardinals pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Chase Field on July 18, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After what was a fairly quiet trade deadline for Milwaukee through roughly 2 p.m. CT, the Brewers finally made their first move at roughly 2:15, acquiring right-handed starter Dustin May and left-handed reliever JoJo Romero in a trade with the Cardinals, per Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic.
Brewers acquiring RHP Dustin May and LH reliever Jo Jo Romero from Cardinals, source tells me and @WillSammon
Nearly 40 minutes later, Brewer beat reporter Adam McCalvy has reported that the return in the deal is outfield prospects Alexander Frias and Josiah Ragsdale.
Alexander Frias and Josiah Ragsdale are going to St. Louis in the trade, per source.
May, 29 in September, is a former third-round pick by the Dodgers back in 2016. Initially ranked as a top prospect, he had a strong start to his career with Los Angeles before missing the entire 2024 season due to injury. He struggled in 2025 between the Dodgers and Red Sox, with a 4.96 ERA and 4.88 FIP across 132 1/3 innings, but he’s looked better this year with St. Louis.
Across 21 starts this season, he’s 5-7 with a 4.38 ERA, 3.14 FIP, and 106 strikeouts over 109 innings. Despite that high ERA, you can see from his FIP that a stronger defense should do him some favors, and as a groundball pitcher, Milwaukee may just be the perfect fit. He tossed a complete game shutout against the Padres earlier this year, and he also took a no-hitter against the Brewers into the eighth inning back in May, flashing his potential.
Romero, 30 in September, is a former fourth-round pick by the Phillies in 2016. He’s in his seventh big-league season and fifth with the Cardinals, and he’s been a reliable arm for St. Louis for several years now, with a 3.07 ERA, 3.60 FIP, and 207 strikeouts over 214 innings for them between 2022 and 2026. He’s made 44 appearances this year with a 3.35 ERA, 4.00 FIP, and 43 strikeouts across 43 innings, though he’s missed the last several weeks after an emergency appendectomy. He’s expected to return to action by mid-August.
Frias, 18, and Ragsdale, 22, both ranked among Milwaukee’s top prospects. Frias, ranked No. 11 in the system by MLB Pipeline, was an international signee out of the Dominican Republic in January 2025 and was hitting .236/.328/.418 in 28 games with Low-A Wilson after hitting .441/.518/.678 in 32 games at Rookie ball to begin the year.
Ragsdale, ranked as Milwaukee’s No. 13 prospect by MLB Pipeline, started the season at High-A Wisconsin before a call up to Double-A Biloxi, and he’s hit .316/.441/.581 with 19 homers, 21 doubles, two triples, and 31 steals over 86 games between the two levels. He was a seventh-round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft out of Boston College.
While his family moved to the Dominican Republic when he was 8 years old, Garcia has rocked No. 2 most of his life because Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano were two of his favorite players growing up.
Now 26 years old, he has the opportunity to put the pinstripes on himself.
“It means so much,” Garcia said Monday via a translator. “I was born here in New York, so to be able to play for this team, you ask players and I think everybody wants an opportunity to wear these pinstripes.
“Also to be able to be able to play in front of my family, it means a lot -- I have a lot of family members here in the city still, so to be able to do that, it’s going to be a pretty cool opportunity.”
It remains to be seen where exactly he’ll fit in defensively with the Bombers, as he spent the majority of his time with the Nationals this season starting at first base.
He'll likely stick there or slide in as the DH most nights against right-handed pitching, but is ready for whatever opportunities his new club decides to throw his way.
“I’m just here to help,” Garcia emphasized. “Wherever they need me, I’m going to be right there -- that’s the honest answer regarding on that front, I’m just here to help this team.”
The biggest boost he'll be able to provide certainly will be with his bat.
Garcia has always been a relatively steady producer, but he's been enjoying himself a breakout season offensively, putting together 23 homers and a NL-best .560 slugging percentage through 104 games.
One of the biggest keys behind that has been him pulling the ball in the air at a career-best rate (18.6), which figures to make him a nearly perfect fit for the short porch in the Bronx.
"That’s one of the adjustments I’ve made this year, get the ball in the more and pull it with authority," he said. "It's no secret playing here at Yankee Stadium it's exciting to be part of that, so we'll see what happens."
At last, the final checkpoint of the regular season is here. The Trade Deadline is today, and as of writing the Yankees have made one significant upgrade having acquired Luis García Jr. from the Nationals to boost their lineup with a genuine power threat, though it looks as though he’s going to be a platoon bat against righties as he has some extreme splits. There’s more work to be done, but it may go down to the last minute before we see what the fruits of Brian Cashman’s labor end up being.
What is clear is that by the end of the day, we’ll be looking at a different landscape across the American League. The Yankees aren’t the only team looking for upgrades after all, and their direct rivals are working hard on covering all their bases. Did the Yankees do enough to improve themselves, and what’s your confidence level in them pushing for the division now that the rosters are all said and done? Did they get taken to the bank for all their prospects, or did they manage to make the most of who they sent off? And did they manage to get better than their rivals, or did the gap grow after Monday night? If you have questions like these, or anything else on your mind, send ‘em in for a chance to be featured in our Yankees mailbag.
Answers will run on Friday afternoon. All questions received by the night of August 6th will be considered. You can leave your submissions in the comment section below or by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.
DENVER, COLORADO - JULY 31: Antonio Senzatela #49 of the Colorado Rockies walks through the dugout after coming out of the game in the eighth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Coors Field on July 31, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) | Getty Images
We’re counting down to the final two hours until the trade deadline at 4:00 pm MDT.
On top of the Guardians’ win-loss column looking ever so slightly better than previous weeks, the team made some noise off the field that has the potential to keep that win total moving up.
New Faces in CLE
While the Guards have spent recent years waiting until the last minute of the trade deadline to make any moves, they surprised us fans by announcing a trade on Saturday. Catcher Bo Naylor and relief pitcher Codi Heuer were sent to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for outfielder Blake Perkins and pitcher Craig Yoho. Naylor has spent most of the 2026 season in Triple-A Columbus, hitting just .143/.200/.238 in his time with the Big League club this year. Heuer’s story was much the same, pitching to a 4.66 ERA in just 9.2 innings of work. For the return, the Guards got a 3.00 ERA pitcher with 19 strikeouts in 21 innings with Yoho, and a .157/.250/.258 hitter in Perkins. This seems to be an off year for the outfielder so far, but maybe a change of scenery will be exactly what he needed to get his bat going again.
Ohio Cup Stays in Cleveland
Thanks to a 2-1 series win against the Cincinnati Reds this week, the illustrious Ohio Cup will be staying in Cleveland for the 11th time in the past 12 years. While Monday’s game was postponed due to rain, it may have been exactly what the Guardians needed. They had lost their last five games in a row, and things were beginning to look a little bleak. However, thanks to the break, they claimed game one in a 6-5 victory thanks to a grand slam by Kyle Manzardo, and sacrifice outs from Chase DeLauter and Brayan Rocchio. The Guardians were shut out in game two, but came right back to take the finale in a no-doubt 6-1 victory.
History Made in Springfield
Okay, no, this isn’t related to the Guardians, but there is no way I could’ve written a whole article about positive moments from the week and NOT mention the Women’s Professional Baseball League. After more than 70 years, women are once again playing professional baseball. On Saturday night, the Los Angeles Queens took on the New York Heights in the very first game of the new WPBL. The Queens earned the come-from-behind 10-8 victory over the Heights thanks to a stellar closing performance by pitcher Meggie Meidlinger. In game two, it was the San Francisco Firebells versus the Boston Hunters where the face of women’s baseball, Kelsie Whitmore, made her debut. The Firebells earned a dominant 11-3 win over the Hunters after getting the scoring started early. The four teams will play each other in 14 more games over the next month, all taking place at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois.
Mike Elias built the Baltimore Orioles around Adley Rutschman for seven years. On Monday he shipped him up I-95 to Boston in a move that people in Baltimore are going to be arguing about longer than Elias is the Orioles GM.
Rutschman was the first pick Elias ever made, No. 1 overall in 2019, five months after Baltimore hired him to clean up a team that had just lost 115 games. He turned into the best prospect in the sport, then a three-time All-Star, then the face of a rebuild that made the playoffs twice and stopped. He's 28 and under contract through 2027 and he'll be fighting his old team in division.
Boston also gets catcher Jake Rogers. Baltimore gets right-handers Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon, center fielder Enddy Azocar and catcher Carlos Narvaez. The Orioles will also get a player to be named later.
Adley Rutschman trade details
Red Sox receive: Adley Rutschman, Jake Rogers
Orioles receive: Anthony Eyanson, Kyson Witherspoon, Enddy Azocar, Carlos Narvaez, PTBNL
Red Sox grade: B+
Boston had the worst catching in the division and just got the best. Conor Wong and Narvaez combined for a .615 OPS this year, 25th in baseball. Narvaez by himself was hitting .187. Rutschman is at .251 with eight homers, 47 RBI and a .764 OPS, and by the expected number he'd been as good at the break as any year of his career except 2023.
Defensively, Rutschman is in the 93rd percentile in framing pitches among major league catches. He has thrown out 14 runners attempting to steal a base. His 37.2% success rate at throwing out runners is tops in the majors.
The Red Sox paid up. Eyanson is the 49th-best prospect in the game. Witherspoon went 15th overall a year ago for $5 million and was the best college righty in that draft. That's a lot of arm to give away, but Breslow paid because the Yankees and Rays were circling as well.
Baltimore had just grabbed Rogers from Detroit on July 30, because Rutschman and his replacement Samuel Basallo are on the injured list. Rutschman's been on the IL since July 19 with a wrist injury. It's his third IL stint this year after an ankle issue in April and a concussion in June. Boston looked at the medicals and signed off.
Orioles grade: B
Elias got real potential back. Eyanson is 21, out of LSU, with a 1.32 ERA in 16 pro starts between High-A and Double-A, with 12.4 strikeouts per nine innings and a slider that grades out at 65 (on the scouting scale of 80). Witherspoon has four pitches at 60 or better and looks like a mid-rotation starter if he throws more strikes. Azocar is just 19, hitting .268 with 10 homers and running well in center. Narvaez is slashing .187/.260/,275 and basically a placeholder.
When is the 2026 MLB trade deadline?
The MLB trade deadline for the 2026 season is set for Monday, Aug. 3 at 6 p.m. ET.
MLB schedule today
Here is the full Major League Baseball schedule for Aug. 3 and how to watch all the games. Or see our sortable MLB schedule to filter by team or division.
After landing back-to-back Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal in the biggest trade of the summer, Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman sat at the podium and was mum on whether he'd continue to add to the big league roster in the final 24 hours ahead of the deadline.
"Less likely," he said at the time. "I think coming into this deadline again, our mindset was we're going to be really aggressive for one player. If that player doesn't get moved, if that player goes somewhere else, it's a different mindset. ... You never say never, but fortunately we don't have that acute need where it's, 'you have to do this or our team is in real danger.'"
Turns out, Friedman wasn't done making moves. The Dodgers are trading for Kansas City Royals reliever Kris Bubic in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Carlos Duran, as first reported by MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. It's a low risk move for LA as they add another bullpen arm in Bubic, who has been on the IL with left shoulder inflammation since May 18.
He has pitched well when healthy, as seen by his 2025 All-Star season in which he posted a career-best 2.55 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in 116.1 innings. But outside of that, the 28-year-old has pitched a total of just 96.2 innings in 2023, 2024 and 2026 combined as he's been hampered by nagging shoulder and elbow injuries.
The move is a clear flier for the Dodgers, and the Royals got a prospect in return, so how did each team fare in this trade?
Dodgers: B-
As Friedman said on Sunday, they didn't need to make any more trades. The roster is as complete as it can be, especially once the rotation gets back to full health. The bullpen was already performing well without Edwin Díaz, and the star closer looked much better in his return to the mound last week than he did in his disastrous start to the season before undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies from his right elbow.
Bubic has been steadily increasing his throwing progression and was most recently up to 80 feet on July 27, according to his latest injury report. He should be back sometime in August, but the Dodgers are in no rush and could take a more cautious approach.
If nothing else, this was an anticipatory move to clear out a spot on the 40-man roster. With Blake Snell on track to return this week after one more rehab start and Tyler Glasnow set to go on a rehab assignment of his own, Duran was a likely candidate to be waived to make space for one of their returning starters. Rather than take the chance of losing him for nothing, the Dodgers get some value back, even if it's just depth.
Royals: C+
Kansas City moves on from a talented but oft-injured relief pitcher, and they get back what they can in Duran, who is outside the Dodgers' top 30 but has pitched well in Triple-A Oklahoma City with a 3.38 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 61 strikeouts. At 25 years old, Duran probably doesn't have much more upside left to project, but he could probably turn into a decent reliever for the Royals.
MIAMI, FLORIDA - MAY 19: Braxton Garrett #20 of the Miami Marlins in the game against the Atlanta Braves at loanDepot park on May 19, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Jasen Vinlove/Miami Marlins/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Cubs made an interesting deal today before the trade deadline, getting left-hander Braxton Garrett from the Marlins.
The Chicago Cubs are acquiring left-hander Braxton Garrett in a trade with the Miami Marlins, sources tell ESPN.
The left-handed Garrett, who turns 29 on Wednesday, is still under team control until 2029 and still has one minor league option left, although that only applies to this year. That’s important because after a breakout in 2022 and 2023, Garrett underwent Tommy John surgery in 2024. He missed most of that year and all of 2025. He’s healthy now, but after two poor starts in the majors in May, he’s been pitching in Triple-A Jacksonville since then.
Garrett’s major league numbers this year are ugly—0-1 with a 14.54 ERA over two starts. But his minor league numbers have been good with a 2.90 ERA and more than a strikeout an inning, although the walks are a bit up and his underlying numbers in Triple-A aren’t quite that good. (They’re not bad, though!) If you assume it takes a while for a pitcher’s control to return after Tommy John, then maybe his walk totals aren’t that bad.
Garrett was the seventh-overall pick of the 2016 draft out of high school in Alabama. He’s mostly a sinker/slider guy who gets the kinds of ground balls the Cubs want.
So Garrett serves as starting pitching depth for this year and an upside play for the next two years afterwards. He can report to Iowa for now and be ready to step in if the Cubs still have even more injuries to their pitching staff for the rest of 2026.
Jonathon Long is a promising bat who got off to a bad start to start this season but has lately been turning things around. He’s a good right-handed hitter with above-average power. But he’s also pretty much limited to first base (Long can play left field in a pinch) and he’s pretty much blocked by Michael Busch with the Cubs. But the Marlins could use a first baseman and he could make his major league debut immediately
Baseball America had Long as the Cubs’ 16th-best prospect. MLB Pipeline ranked him tenth. I ranked him 11th in my mid-season update.
The Cubs signed the right-handed Beck as a minor league free agent after the Mets released him this offseason. He dominated Double-A for the Cubs, posting a record of 6-2 with a 2.87 ERA over 20 games and six starts. He struck out 102 batters over 59.2 innings. That got him promoted to Triple-A Iowa, where he has struggled in five appearances and a 6.60 ERA. But Beck was starting to show up on some prospect lists, with Baseball America and MLB Pipeline both listing him as the Cubs’ 28th-best prospect .
President of baseball operations A.J. Preller used No. 4 prospect Miguel Mendez and No. 9 prospect shortstop Joniel Hernandez to acquire the 34-year-old veteran, who has been one of the top pitchers in baseball over the past two months.
In 10 starts and 60 innings pitched since June 1, Ray has a 1.65 ERA. He has a 3.08 ERA for the season in 122.2 innings with 107 strikeouts to 57 walks.
Ray features a low-90s four-seam fastball and sinker along with a knuckle curve, a slider, and a changeup. He figures to slip into the rotation behind Michael King as the No. 2 starter for the Padres.
Depending on what else Preller can add, the Padres can count on one less bullpen game per trip through the rotation by adding Ray. The report is that the Padres and Giants will split the remaining $8 million owed to Ray for the rest of the 2026 season. He is a free agent at the end of the year.
The Padres relinquish a shortstop who has made a big splash in the Dominican Summer League in his first season after signing as a top international prospect. Joniel Hernandez has plus tools on both sides of the ball but is only 17 years old and a good distance from helping any team as a major league player.
RHP Miguel Mendez has been a starter for the Padres since being signed as an international prospect in 2021. He made his stateside debut in 2022 and recently began a rehab assignment with Fort Wayne at High-A after suffering a shoulder injury earlier this season while playing for Double-A San Antonio.
Mendez, 24, excelled last year with Fort Wayne, pitching to a 1.32 ERA in 12 games started, but has had issues with command and injuries this season.
With Robbie Ray added to the Padres’ starting rotation, the Padres have King, Ray and RHP Walker Buehler for their current rotation and hope to get RHP’s Nick Pivetta and/or Joe Musgrove back later this month after their rehab stints are completed.
Both Musgrove and Pivetta are scheduled to start their rehab with Lake Elsinore on Tuesday.
LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 28: Dallas Mavericks guard Klay Thompson (31) drives on Los Angeles Lakers guard Gabe Vincent (7) during the NBA Cup game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers on November 28, 2025, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
While the Lakers have more players than can be rostered once the season starts, it doesn’t mean they have a complete team.
The obvious need for a wing has fueled their chase for Jonathan Kuminga. However, as more time passes, the less likely it feels that an agreement will be reached.
That means the Lakers may have to look elsewhere to fill that void, which could include revisiting old friends. All reports this summer have indicated there’s no interest from the purple and gold in frontcourt players from the Mavericks, but there hasn’t been anything about Klay Thompson.
Notably, Thompson picked Dallas over the Lakers in the 2024 offseason, a time when Luka Dončić was still on the Mavericks. However, things changed quite a bit in a short time for both franchises and Thompson has long felt like someone who doesn’t make much sense in Dallas.
However, a mixture of his big contract and declining play made it nearly impossible to move him. Much like the Lakers, the Mavs are in a bit of a roster crunch and the aging Thompson, who is in the last year of his deal and is due $17.5 million, is an obvious candidate for the team to part with.
On Monday, Christian Clark of The Athletic wrote about the Mavs’ situation and had some insight on Thompson, noting that it is unclear if he returns next season. According to Clark, Dallas has explored trade talks, but nothing has come of it.
It is not known whether the Lakers were among the teams that have spoken with the Mavs about Thompson, but Clark did reveal that Thompson would be open to playing in Los Angeles.
My understanding is that Thompson would welcome a return to Los Angeles, where he spent part of his childhood and still owns a home. The Miami Heat are another team frequently mentioned in NBA circles as a potential landing spot for the future Hall of Famer.
As things stand, multiple things would have to happen before Thompson playing in LA became a realistic scenario. Similar to their links with Jericho Sims, the Lakers need to make a consolidation trade just to be roster-compliant, let alone make a move for another player.
Unlike Sims, though, this scenario could end in a buyout and a free-agent signing. Thompson being a veteran and the Mavs being a non-contender is the perfect equation for a buyout. From there, it would depend on whether he wants to go to Miami to potentially play a bigger role with the Heat or return to California. And in that last scenario, you would imagine the Warriors would be an option, too.
If you’re getting the sense that this doesn’t feel likely, then you’re not alone. A trade feels quite unlikely in this scenario and if free agency is the route, the Lakers would seemingly be down the list of suitors. He’d have to really want to play in LA or alongside Luka again, to say nothing of LA’s interest.
But crazier things have happened. Klay doesn’t fill a direct need for the Lakers, but it’s hard to say no to a player with his pedigree and shooting, even if it’s tailed off, especially if it’s on a minimum deal.
Jul 12, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher Luke Weaver (30) at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The trade deadline bananza continues for the Mets, who have shipped out arguably their most valuable asset in Luke Weaver. The team acquiring the veteran reliever is the Pittsburgh Pirates (a team that nobody would have expected to be a team buying from the selling Mets, but alas), and the return is middle infield prospect Sammy Stafura.
In a season where just about every single one of David Stearns’s offseason acquisitions went terribly, Weaver has been the one bright spot. The 32-year-old righty has posted a 1.84 ERA in 42 appearances and has provided immense stability to the back of the team’s bullpen. He is also under control for next season, meaning the Mets didn’t necessarily have to trade him at the deadline, but they undoubtedly deduced that his value would never be higher and decided to capitalize on that.
Stafura is the result of that. A second-round pick out of high school in 2023, the 21-year-old is a right-handed hitter who has had time at both shortstop and second base in A and A+ ball this season. Across both levels, he has combined to put up a .276/.367/.593 slash line with 20 homers in 60 total games (albeit with a somewhat alarming 30.1% strikeout rate). As with all these deadline deals, we will want to wait to hear from credible prospect evaluators to get an up-to-date assessment of Stafura’s current outlook before fully evaluating the trade. At first glance, it does seem perhaps a bit surprising that he is the only player Stearns was able to get in the swap for Weaver, given the extra year of control at play. But in any event, the wheeling and dealing continues for the Mets.
