MLB All-Star Week buzz: Latest intel on trade rumo...

The baseball world ascended upon Philadelphia for the 2026 MLB draft, Home Run Derby and All-Star Game this week, and our MLB reporters were there talking to execs, coaches, agents, scouts, players and other sources. While fans can see the action on the field, behind the scenes it's a perfect time to collect intel on what teams are planning with the MLB trade deadline just around the corner and to get the leaguewide pulse on topics dominating the season. Our reporters emptied their notebooks with the latest news and rumors. Which teams are ready to make a big splash at the trade deadline (Aug. 3 at 6 p.m. ET)? What's the latest buzz on the ace everyone wants? And which teams and storylines will rule the second half? Here's everything we heard during the festivities in Philly. What's the latest on Tarik Skubal's trade deadline status -- and which teams appear most interested in adding him? Jeff Passan: The Detroit Tigers' schedule before the trade deadline goes like this: Angels, Cubs, Royals, Orioles, A's. Meaning Detroit will be playing the worst team in the American League, the second-worst team, the third-worst team and a Baltimore team that was in the AL East basement for a time until it won four straight heading into the break. All of which is to say: The Tigers are not going to commit to dealing Tarik Skubal until they must. Should they, however, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves and Tampa Bay Rays are all worth keeping an eye on. The Dodgers don't need Skubal. They don't need anything, frankly, to be the favorite to win a third consecutive World Series. And yet with arguably the best farm system in baseball and an endless wellspring of cash, the impediments in place for others simply don't exist for Los Angeles. The Cubs have the most acute need, but their system isn't close to as healthy as the Dodgers', and gutting it for a wild-card berth is tricky business. The Braves, on the other hand, are holding on at the top of the National League East and would love to pair him with Chris Sale for the best 1-2 punch in baseball. And the Rays, with the best record in the AL and a deep farm system, have plenty of incentive, even if making expensive short-term deals is not their standard operating procedure. With an AL as winnable as this, the argument to go all-in is much easier to make. Buster Olney: The Tigers are 22-14 since the start of June, which means they've been playing at a 99-win pace for almost a quarter of the season. It's this trendline that has some rival executives extremely skeptical that Detroit will trade Skubal -- or, for that matter, Casey Mize. "They went in big on this year, making the decision to keep Skubal, and then they signed Framber [Valdez]," one official observed. "They're making up ground on the leaders -- and now they might trade [Skubal]? I don't see it, unless they lose a bunch of games [coming out of the All-Star break]." Scott Harris' peers say they believe he tends to be objective in his analysis, and that if the president of baseball operations believes his Tigers can't make the postseason, he'll move Skubal. But, with Skubal's impending free agency after the season, this might well still be his last games for Detroit, and it could be the last opportunity for the Tigers to win with the two-time Cy Young Award winner on their roster. Who will be the biggest name dealt at this deadline -- other than Skubal? Jesse Rogers: About 10 days ago, I would have said Aroldis Chapman and/or Sonny Gray but that calculus has changed for the moment. The Red Sox were built to contend for the playoffs and that's what they're finally doing. If they continue on this track, they won't be dealing players away. So let's look West. We know one team that is definitely in sell mode: the San Francisco Giants. Luis Arraez seems like a candidate who could move, but Robbie Ray might be the more important player. He's pitching lights-out right now, which is the only thing that matters -- not what he was doing in April or May. There might be a random closer or two who's traded -- just like last year -- but Ray is a playoff starter when he's going at his best. He'll be moved. Jorge Castillo: There are 23 teams either occupying a playoff spot or within four games of one, which doesn't leave many that have already decided they're going to offload veteran talent. One of the few is San Francisco, and it would be a shock if Arraez, the Giants' All-Star second baseman, is still in black and orange come Aug. 4. Arraez, a free agent after this season, could undoubtedly help a contender with his signature bat-to-ball skills that show no signs of erosion in his age-29 season, with a .330 batting average and a 4% strikeout rate. Just as important for interested clubs, metrics suggest Arraez has drastically improved as a defender, and he grades out as one of the top defensive second basemen in the majors this season. Arraez also has substantial recent experience at first base, giving him versatility that only helps his value for a team with October in mind. It's a surprising development, and one of the scarce bright spots in a dismal season for the Giants. This is a safe pick; several bigger names could be on the move depending on what happens over the next two weeks. But Arraez is the surest All-Star-caliber player on the move for now. Which contenders will go really big at this deadline? Olney: The Tampa Bay Rays. If you look at this situation like a weather forecast, a perfect storm of conditions are aligning for the Rays to be aggressive. They're a really good team, at a time when the American League is generally mediocre. The New York Yankees are without Aaron Judge. Tampa Bay is being operated by a new ownership group pushing for public support for a new ballpark. The team's farm system is flush with talent. And Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander is known to his peers to be aggressive, decisive and capable of moving quickly. Rogers: The Chicago White Sox. They have the assets and a hunger to return to the playoffs. And mostly they have a chance in a wide-open division and league. After this past weekend's draft, they also have so many infielders in their system now, there's nowhere to play them all. If the Yankees determine they aren't going to be healthy anytime soon, they also might go a bit bigger at the deadline than first expected. And never count out the Seattle Mariners, who might need a jolt in their clubhouse to wake that team up. Castillo: The Yankees need a catcher. Between Austin Wells, J.C. Escarra and Ali Sanchez, Yankees catchers rank last in baseball in OPS and wRC+. It is the most glaring weakness on the roster. There are two obvious potential upgrades via trade: Ryan Jeffers of the Minnesota Twins and Hunter Goodman, the Colorado Rockies' lone All-Star. The Twins appear unwilling to give up on their season just yet and it makes sense, considering they're just three games out of first place. Prying Jeffers, an impending free agent who recently returned from a hamate injury, will be difficult if the Twins remain within striking distance and want to make a playoff push. Landing Goodman could prove costly for another reason: He has three years of team control remaining beyond this season and would surely cost a team a substantial haul. The Yankees prefer to acquire players at the deadline who aren't just short-term additions. They have called on Goodman, though not recently, a source told ESPN. The 26-year-old is batting .254 with 27 home runs and an .863 OPS in 90 games. And, no, he's not a Coors Field creation; Goodman has been significantly better on the road, hitting 18 home runs with a .964 OPS away from the altitude and nine home runs with a .747 OPS in Denver. What does the muddled AL wild-card race mean for the deadline ahead? Olney: It's going to cause potential dealers to wait ... and wait, and wait... to decide whether to add or deal. It's possible that some teams might attempt Hail Marys to contend, but there are a bunch of teams -- from the Rays to the Yankees to the Mariners to the White Sox -- that can reasonably project a trip to the postseason, and maybe even to the World Series, to get a puncher's chance to face the National League champion. It was only three years ago that the Texas Rangers crawled into the postseason, got hot and won the World Series; it was only nine months ago that the Toronto Blue Jays came within one run and two outs of knocking the Dodgers off their throne. Passan: It's got a chance to make Aug. 3 a complete dud. Is that going to happen? Probably not, but it's more of a possibility than it's been in recent weeks. Should the standings remain flat, teams will have a difficult time lining up their options. Going into the deadline, they typically have primary targets -- and backup plans in case the prices on those first-tier options are too hefty. Here's the problem: Only the Giants and New York Mets, at the moment, have the combination of good players and a willingness to move them. Kansas City intends to hold on to Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo. The Angels have incentive to offload but little in terms of impact. Same goes for the A's. And the teams that might be able to benefit from the paucity of available talent -- Houston, Toronto, Baltimore and, of course, Detroit -- are close enough to a postseason berth to rationalize holding on to what they've got or even adding. Contenders are praying for clarity over the next two weeks, which would at least offer a couple days before the deadline to better understand the market and assign values accordingly. After disappointing first halves, what are the Mets and Red Sox planning to do at the deadline? Castillo: Trade every impending free agent -- with two possible exceptions -- and maybe a few players under control beyond this year. Clay Holmes will probably decline his $12 million player option for next season to capitalize on his successful conversion from reliever to starter over the past two seasons. The Mets could deal him. They also could keep him, make him a qualifying offer and receive a draft pick after the fourth round next year if he signs elsewhere. They could also extend him. Complicating the situation is that Holmes might not return from his broken fibula until after the trade deadline, but that shouldn't dampen interest. Holmes, 33, had a 2.39 ERA in nine starts before taking a comebacker off his right leg on May 15. Last summer, the Blue Jays acquired Shane Bieber from the Cleveland Guardians while he was on rehab assignment after Tommy John surgery -- and a fractured fibula does not scare teams nearly as much as a reconstructed elbow. Bo Bichette also has a player option for 2027, but it's for $42 million and he has a full no-trade clause. That price tag means there's a good chance he picks up the option, which complicates his value on the trade market. Otherwise, the list of impending free agents includes Freddy Peralta, A.J. Minter, Brooks Raley and Tyrone Taylor. Luke Weaver, a free agent after next season, could fetch the Mets a haul. The right-hander has been one of the best relievers in the majors this season and is owed $12.5 million in 2027. But the Mets want to compete next season and Weaver would help. The Mets could also look to move one of their catchers -- Francisco Álvarez or Luis Torrens -- with a few clubs thirsty for help behind the plate. Passan: On June 24, the Red Sox were 33-46, the fifth-worst record in baseball, a half-game out of last place. In the 15 games since, Boston has gone 13-2, the best record in baseball, and climbed to within a half-game of the final wild-card spot. And while that is the perfect illustration and encapsulation of why teams in the AL still haven't gone into full dump mode, it has brought up an entirely different question for the Red Sox: Should they be looking to add? For now, their plans are fluid. Boston isn't discounting pursuing help before Aug. 3. The Red Sox also know that for an entire half of the season, they personified mediocrity, and that 15 games does not a season make. So, like many others, they're weighing their options, knowing that if they stumble, they can pivot into dump mode and make a killing with Chapman as well as potentially Gray, Willson Contreras and Garrett Whitlock. How is the looming threat of a work stoppage impacting teams' roster decision-making? Rogers: That's still developing, but executives might be loath to give up a lot for players coming back with years of team control past this season. They could lose a year if there is no baseball in 2027. That means the easiest deals will be for short-term additions. Expect a maximum number of those this trade season and fewer deals involving players signed past this year. The team to beat in each league is ...? David Schoenfield: By win-loss record, it's the Rays. By run differential, it's the Yankees at plus-91 runs, a sizable edge over the White Sox (plus-35), Rays (plus-32) and surging Red Sox (plus-27). The Yankees, however, have struggled without Aaron Judge and remain without Max Fried and Carlos Rodon as well. They did win their final four games heading into the All-Star break, and split four games with the Rays last week, so maybe that will get them going again. The Rays have a top-heavy offense and could use some bullpen depth or another starter. And if the White Sox get some pitching help or the Red Sox start hitting ... You get the idea. There is no team to beat in the AL. The defending AL champion Blue Jays are in last place in the East but still hanging in the playoff race. "I think the season is called a season for a reason," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said at the All-Star Game. "You see where it shakes out after 162. You know, fortunate for the Jays, we're still doing OK and treading water to get to where we want to be." Maybe this is what MLB wants: mediocrity ... er, parity. "I think having more teams involved and more fan bases feeling like there's something to play for later in the season is always good," All-Star starter Dylan Cease said. Indeed, if the Blue Jays can get healthy and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. finally starts hitting, maybe they will be the team to beat. Castillo: The Dodgers are still in the National League, right? Yeah, it's the Dodgers. Underperformance from a few prominent players and a bunch of injuries across the board ... produced the best record and run differential in the majors. The Dodgers are getting healthy -- Edwin Díaz and Blake Snell are progressing toward returns soon. They can address any (relative) weaknesses by the trade deadline with one of the best farm systems in baseball. They're a machine primed for MLB's first three-peat since the turn of the century.