MLB trade deadline 2026: Early intel from Olney, Passan - ESPN

The MLB trade deadline is a little later than usual this summer (6 p.m. ET on Aug. 3) and there is a logjam of teams at the edge of contention in both leagues, leaving the forecast for this trade season a bit hazy.

With less than two weeks for teams to make up their minds on their deadline direction, ESPN MLB insiders Buster Olney and Jeff Passan offer up the latest they are hearing and examine how this trade season could play out — from the positions with the most impact players available to the names and teams that could rock the deadline.

Olney: How much talent will actually be available, with so many teams on the fence about adding, dealing veterans or holding — and when those final decisions are made before Aug. 3, how frenzied will the rush for deals get in the last 72 hours? The list of actual declared unloaders is pretty short right now: Giants, Mets and Rockies, with a few other teams more subtly angling toward swapping players. But for so many teams, mostly in the American League, performance over the next seven to 10 days will be pivotal.

Passan: How the run-up to the trade deadline feels almost like a pennant race. Teams are treating the games between now and the end of the month with much more of a must-win tack than is typical for this time of year because they understand just how enticing it is for their front offices to pivot to joining the Giants, Mets and Rockies. With so few teams committing to unloading, there is a rare opportunity to build a strong market. It's why the prospect of Mason Miller moving is so tantalizing for a Padres team that still harbors postseason hope: They could leverage the lack of availability for other elite closers into a bonanza of a return.

Olney: The starting pitchers,