MLB Trade Deadline Tracker: What Every Deal Means for the Braves

Tracking every trade that affects Atlanta's deadline plans, with analysis of how each move reshapes the Braves' market.

The trade deadline is not a series of isolated moves. Every acquisition changes the market, removes an option, establishes a price or creates a new opportunity.

Braves Today will track the major deals between now and Monday, with analysis of what each move means for Atlanta. This is a living tracker that will be updated throughout the trade deadline. Bookmark this page and check back often, as new deals will be added at the top with fresh analysis of what each move means for the Braves.

Newest updates appear first.

Last updated: August 3rd at 3:30 p.m. ET

Latest Braves Market Outlook

• Starter targets off the board: Tarik Skubal, Jose Soriano, Robbie Ray, Kevin Gausman, Freddy Peralta, Luis Castillo, Dustin May

• Market trend: Early returns suggest relievers and offense may be cheaper than expected, but starter prices are expected to remain high.

• Atlanta’s leverage: Slightly diminished, due to lower supply, slightly offset by the Rays and Brewers (and maybe both Chicago teams) more than likely exiting the starter market after making their additions.

Mon, 8/3 - Flurry of deals coming through

Cubs receive SP Braxton Garrett, Marlins receive prospects 1B Jonathan Long and SP Joe Beck. Garrett’s a lefty backend starter with a bit of promise, and this price isn’t too onerous here.

Pirates receive RP Luke Weaver, Mets receive prospect SS Sammy Stafura. Tall price to pay for a reliever, but at least he has an additional year of control.

Brewers receive SP Dustin May, RP Jo-Jo Romero; Cardinals receive…something. Still waiting on those reports.

Red Sox receive C Adley Rutschman (on 15-day IL), Orioles receive MLB C Carlos Narvaez, pitching prospects Anthony Eyanson & Kyson Witherspoon, outfield prospects Enddy Azocar and Harold Rivas. A blockbuster deal for some of Boston’s top prospects in Eyanson and Witherspoon. I love the fit for Rutschman in Fenway, given that he has more pop as a lefty (and Pesky’s Pole is the closest foul pole in the league) and a more line-drive, ‘pepper-the-Monster’ swing from the other side.

Dodgers receive SP Kris Bubic (on 60-day IL), Royals receive prospect RHP Carlos Duran. Actually a smart move, stashing Bubic on the IL in case they have a need later.

Blue Jays receive utility Josh Smith, RHP prospect Josh Stephan; Rangers receive RP Adam Macko. A relatively small deal that wouldn’t have impacted Atlanta either way.

Padres receive SP Robbie Ray, Giants receive prospects SS Miguel Mendez, RHP Joniel Hernandez after retaining 50% of Ray’s money. With the Braves having Mahle, Ray was more of the same, just at a higher price in both dollars and prospect capital (Hernandez was in San Diego’s top five prospects)

Rays receive C/1B Liam Hicks, Marlins receive INF Brayden Taylor, SS Adrian Santana, SP Jacob Kisting. Hicks is out of the division, so that’s nice, while Taylor can hopefully one day fill that 3B hole the Marlins have seemingly had forever.

White Sox receive CF Brenton Doyle, Rockies receive prospects RHP Mason Adams, IF Carlos Vielma. Doyle’s been better on the road than at Coors Field, but even that’s a .612 OPS this season. He hasn’t come close to 2024’s breakout numbers (102 OPS+, 23 HRs), but he gives the White Sox fantastic defense in center. Adams is a command-over-stuff pitcher who has already had TJ, while Vielma is a 16-year-old lottery ticket coming off a great showing in the DSL (.981 OPS).

Mariners receive OF Taylor Ward, Orioles receive prospects RP Alex Hoppe, RP Brock Moore and SP Harrison Kreiling. No impact to Atlanta here, as the Braves already have their outfielder in Lane Thomas.

Guardians receive OF Jo Adell, Angels receive prospect C Jacob Cozart. No impact to Atlanta here, as the Braves already have their outfielder in Lane Thomas.

Dodgers receive catcher Ben Rortvedt; Mets receive recently-DFA’d Chayce McDermott. This is the third time the Dodgers have grabbed Rortvedt, who knows most of their pitching staff already and can help serve as a backup while Will Smith is down and Dalton Rushing is nicked up.

Phillies receive RP Brooks Raley, Mets receive prospect OF John Spikerman and RHP Luke Gabrysh. Again, the Braves had no path to a player from the Mets, but it’s odd that the same level of divisional animosity doesn’t exist with Philadelphia as it does with Atlanta.

Phillies receive 2B Luis Arraez and RP Caleb Killian; Giants receive prospect pitchers Ramon Marquez and Marty Gair. This’ll make Philly’s defense significantly weaker, as they’re moving Bryce Harper to the outfield, Alec Bohm to first, and Bryson Stott to third, all to accommodate Arraez at second base. Giants president Buster Posey said that Marquez slots in as their second-best pitching prospect behind newly drafted Jackson Flora, so not a bad get for an expiring deal in Arraez.

Blue Jays receive Jose Soriano; Angels receive top Toronto prospect SS Arjun Nimmala and two unrated pitching prospects. This one hurts, as you could have seen Atlanta parting with Tate Southisene if they were convinced that Soriano was the missing piece for October.

White Sox receive RP Huascar Broazobán, Mets receive prospect pitchers Gabe Davis and Zach Franklin. Minimal impact to Atlanta - a Mets pitcher wasn’t going to be available to them, per previous reporting.

Sun, 8/2 - Cubs find a starter

Chicago receives: SP Kevin Gausman
Toronto receives: prospect OF Brett Bateman, INF Ty Southisene

My take: The Cubs have been almost as snakebit on starting pitching this year as the Braves were last year, so we knew they were going to add someone - the question was who. Gausman’s a veteran who can navigate his way through a start and still get plenty of whiffs, thanks to his splitter. He’s not having the best season at age 35, with a 4.38 ERA and 3.96 xERA, but the fundamentals are strong.

Southisene is the name that will immediately draw Braves fans’ attention; he’s the older brother of Atlanta prospect Tate. Similar to our Tate, Ty has had a big season, showing excellent in-zone contact ability and excellent swing decisions. Despite a lack of overall impact, he’s risen into the back half of Chicago’s top 30. Bateman’s not currently a ranked prospect, being considered a “speed-and-D” centerfielder with literal bottom-scale power - a 20 grade on the 20-80 scouting scale after he’s hit just six home runs in 1,370 minor league plate appearances.

What this means for Atlanta: Good things. The Blue Jays were reportedly, per Ken Rosenthal, refusing to deal with Alex Anthopoulos due to hard feelings over his departure from Toronto over a decade ago. Similar to the Peralta deal, this was a competitor for starting pitching grabbing a guy that was unavailable to Atlanta, meaning that there’s now less demand for the same supply of starters available to the Braves as before the deal.

Braves impact: High

Sun, 8/2 - Yankees add offense

New York receives: 2B/1B Luis Garcia Jr
Washington receives: RHPs Yovanny Cruz, Jack Cebert, Ben Grable, Jake Bird

My take: New York continues the theme of adding controllable infielders via trade, having brought in both Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ryan McMahon in previous seasons. Garcia’s the most accomplished of the three, though, hitting .283/.313/.560 with 23 homers this year, and isn’t a free agent until after 2027.

The fit’s a bit awkward, though. Garcia’s only played first base this year, and New York’s getting good production out of the platoon of Ben Rice and Paul Goldschmidt at the cold corner. Garcia played a lot of second base last season for the Nats, although he graded out as one of the league’s worst defenders there. With DH clogged by Rice (when Goldschmidt’s at first) and the pending return of Giancarlo Stanton, the Yanks will need to accept worse defense at both second and third (where Jazz Chisholm graded out negatively last year) to fit the bat into the lineup.

On the prospects, it’s a collection of spare parts. 2025 15th-rounder Cebert is the most ‘accomplished’, just missing the top ten as a college starter with multiple fastballs and a decent sweeper, but also plenty of reliever risk. Cruz is on the back of some top 30s and having tools (a >100 mph heater, a low-90s slider) but also merely okay control. Grable’s a 2025 11th-rounder that’s shot through the minors as a fastball-only reliever, while Bird is a 30-year-old reliever with ERA estimators around 5.00 despite pretty good Stuff+ scores.

What this means for Atlanta: If they want more offensive upgrades, it’s likely not going to be as expensive as expected, but with both Sean Murphy and Ha-Seong Kim soon to join Lane Thomas in Atlanta, the roster spots are becoming hard to come by.

Braves Impact: Low

Sun, 8/2 - Rays add a starter

Tampa Bay receives: SP Freddy Peralta
New York (Mets) receives: prospects OF Aidan Smith, 2B Émilien Pitre, SP Gary Gill Hill

My read: Definitely a “quantity over quality” return for New York here. Smith’s hit a wall in High-A, as he’s struggled with strikeouts and an overall lack of impact. His defense has improved markedly now that he’s focused on centerfield, though, and it’s a strong arm. Pirte’s a high-contact, low-impact second baseman if he hits his 90th percentile outcome, while Hill’s most likely outcome is as a back-of-the-rotation sinkerballer that eats innings for you.

Peralta, meanwhile, is able to drop back from the top of the Mets rotation to the middle/back of Tampa’s, allowing him to rebuild some value before heading to free agency this winter.

What this means for Atlanta: Despite Peralta not really being a candidate to get traded to Atlanta, a lot! Tampa Bay’s likely done with adding starters, taking one more buyer off the market at a time where the Braves still need to close a deal for one (or two) of the three best remaining names in Casey Mize, Jose Soriano, and Reid Detmers.

Braves Impact: High

Sat, 8/1 - Dodgers get Tarik Skubal

Los Angeles receives: SP Tarik Skubal
Detroit receives: prospects RHP River Ryan, OF Zyhir Hope, RHP Brady Smith

My read: This is my shocked face.

The return, depending on how you look at it, is either impressive for a rental or underwhelming. Detroit gets baseball’s #55 prospect in Hope, a majors-ready arm with ceiling in Ryan, and a toolsy lottery ticket in Smith. The counterpoint is that the Dodgers made out like bandits here by virtue of the fact that this was their fourth-best outfield prospect, as well as the starter that moved wasn’t Emmet Sheehan or Justin Wrobleski. It feels like a package that 28 teams could have beat if so inclined, including the Braves, so I’m trying to figure out if this means there’s some shared concern with the medicals or if it’s just hard for everyone else to stomach the idea of two high-ceiling prospects for a rental.

Eric Hartman, Cam Caminiti and an one of Ethan Bagwell/Luke Sinnard/Lucas Braun for Tarik Skubal, and it would've been the equivalent value of the what Dodgers parted.

What this means for Atlanta: A lot, if for no other reason than Skubal was holding up the rest of the market for starting pitching. Luis Castillo got moved just a few minutes later, going to the White Sox (more on that below), and now the clock’s ticking on both Casey Mize in Detroit and the duo of Jose Soriano/Reid Detmers in Los Angeles (little brother edition).

Braves impact: High

Sat, 8/1 - Seattle sheds Castillo’s salary

Chicago (White Sox) receives: SP Luis Castillo
Seattle receives: prospects RF Seranthony Doimínguez, outfielder Nolan Jones, and prospect catcher Boston Smith.

My read: Chicago taking on the salary here - Seattle is retaining nothing, so Chicago’s on the hook for his $7.4M remaining in 2026 plus both next year and the vesting option - means that the return for Seattle isn’t that great. Domínguez has been…fine? as a leverage arm but definitely isn’t worth the $10M this year or next year. Jones is one of those toolsy ‘flash in the pan’ guys that went 20/20 in the juiced ball 2023 season and hasn’t come anywhere close to replicating that since. Smith was an extra asset, having been acquired via trade and being a power-over-hit athletic backstop that’s a fringy defender. I’d imagine that they also give him some looks as a corner outfielder, as he’s done that in both college and the minors.

In return, Chicago gets a “we can fix him” arm in Castillo, whose peripherals have slumped as he’s lost some velo and Stuff+. He’s still throwing around 95, though, and Chicago’s quietly been pretty decent at getting the best out of reclamation arms, whether it’s been Michael Soroka working out of the pen, Erick Fedde when he first returned from Korea or 2018 14th-rounder Davis Martin.

Braves impact: Moderate

Sat, 8/1 - Two contenders swapping spare parts

Milwaukee receives:
C Bo Naylor, RP Codi Heuer
Cleveland receives: RP Craig Yoho, CF Blake Perkins

My read: These are players that weren’t expected to play major roles for either team.

On the Milwaukee side, Naylor’s a former first-round pick and Top 100 prospect who struggled in over 1100 MLB appearances and was sent to Triple-A back in May. Heuer’s a journeyman reliever who has bounced around the last few seasons, unable to recapture his pre-Tommy John form; his Stuff+ has dropped from a 107 in his debut season to a 95 and 97 since the surgery. Both were sent to Triple-A Nashville.

For Cleveland, Perkins is a former Gold Glove finalist who is offensively challenged, with a career .223 BA/.636 OPS but marginally better performance against LHP. Yoho’s thrown just 28.2 innings in his career since debuting last April, capping out as a low-leverage arm for a Brewers bullpen that didn’t have a lot of runway for marginal relievers.

What this means for Atlanta: Not much. Milwaukee is giving up some role players, including a low-stuff reliever and a 4th/5th outfielder, for additional catching insurance they can work their Brewers catching devil magic on in Triple-A.

Braves impact: Low

Fri, 7/31 - Twins add a starter

Minnesota receives: SP Dean Kremer
Baltimore receives: prospect OF Jhomnardo Reyes

My read: Kremer is reliable back-of-the-rotation depth, and nothing more, having put up ERAs in the 4.10 range in each of the last three years (and being at 4.15 this year before two bad outings ballooned his current mark to over six). He’s also controllable, being owed about $9M for the rest of this year and all of next season.

The return’s actually really intriguing here, as Reyes was a complex breakout that became a top fifteen prospect in a bad Twins system that’s overindexed on outfielders; all indications are that he’ll slot somewhere in the high teens for Baltimore as a high-ceiling lottery ticket.

What this means for Atlanta: A lot, actually. This is roughly equivalent to the Braves trading Conor Essenburg for a controllable #5 starter a step behind Michael Wacha, something which would undoubtedly frustrate Taylor to no end.

Braves impact: High

Thu, 7/30 - Twins are buyers, not sellers

Minnesota receives: RP A.J. Minter
New York (Mets) receives: Prospects SS Bruin Agbayani, 3B Billy Amick

My read: Another reliever off the board, this time an old friend that was expected to be one of the top lefty options in a market devoid of quality lefty arms. A lot of that is reputation, though, as he’s had some shaky peripherals this year after returning from a torn hip labrum and lat surgery. Minnesota’s taking on most of the remaining $3.3M on Minter’s deal, per reports.

Amick was a 2024 2nd-round pick out of Tennessee and was a power-over-hit selection that’s struggling with a 28.5% strikeout rate in Double-A Wichita. Agbayani was a 2025 6th-rounder out of Hawaii that’s been out with a shoulder injury but shows a jack-of-all-trades profile with good enough defense to stick in the middle infield.

Fun fact: Agbayani is the son of former Mets big leaguer Benny, who was part of the 2000 team that lost the World Series in the infamous “Subway Series” to the crosstown New York Yankees.

Neither prospect that New York is reportedly receiving in the deal appears on most common Top 30 lists, although Amick reportedly just missed the Twins preseason list over at Baseball America.

What this means for Atlanta: A much clearer read on what a reliever might actually cost at the deadline. Both of the deals we’ve seen haven’t required a rated prospect, although with this deal, Minnesota’s also taking on the money. Just going off of the read of these two deals, it’s hard to imagine that the Braves don’t come away with someone this deadline for the pen, even if they do move multiple top prospects in a Skubal-type blockbuster.

Braves impact: Low

Wed, 7/29 - Angels continue to confuse

Texas receives: C Logan O’Hoppe (optioned to AAA), RP Chase Silseth
Los Angeles receives: SS prospect Angel Arredondo

My read: I don’t get it. Silseth was a power reliever with multiple years of control. O’Hoppe was not good this season and was immediately optioned to Triple-A Round Rock, but Los Angeles did not need to attach a talented arm simply to move him. The Angels could have non-tendered O’Hoppe this winter. The return does not appear to justify including Silseth.

What this means for Atlanta: The Angels defended the deal by saying Arredondo, a 19-year-old with middling Single-A production who did not appear on major organizational Top 30 lists, grades as a top-ten prospect in their internal evaluation.

For Atlanta, that creates two possible lessons. Either controllable relievers are going to be surprisingly inexpensive, or negotiations with the Angels may be unusually difficult to price because their internal evaluations differ so sharply from the public consensus.

That makes Los Angeles worth calling, but difficult to forecast. Does this encourage Atlanta to pursue Reid Detmers, José Soriano, Jo Adell or Zach Neto? Or does it suggest that the Angels will value a completely different group of Braves prospects than outsiders expect?

Braves impact: Moderate

Sat, 7/25 - Boston moves a #5

Washington receives: LHP Connelly Early
Boston receives: 3B/1B Curtis Mead

My read: It’s the rare big-leaguer-for-big-leaguer trade, with each team dealing from its strength to reinforce its weakness. I love the process here for Boston, and actually wrote about it early this week.

What this means for Atlanta: This deal shows the value Atlanta may be able to extract from one of its surplus back-end starters: a controllable major-league position player who was producing at the time of the trade.

As I wrote earlier this week, “A No. 5 starter has more value to a team that needs a No. 5 starter than he does to a team with six or seven of them.” This is essentially the roster-building version of Alex Anthopoulos’s “impact starter” comments from the offseason. Atlanta already has enough back-end rotation options that adding another one would not meaningfully improve the club. But to another team, one of those pitchers could solve a legitimate need and potentially return a player who fills one of Atlanta’s own.

The takeaway is not that Atlanta should trade a starter simply to make a deal. It is that the Braves’ rotation depth may carry more value on the trade market than it does on their own roster.

Braves impact: Moderate