MLB trade deadline 2026: Players most likely to be dealt Monday - ESPN

It's MLB trade deadline day, version 2026.

Tarik Skubal, the most coveted player on the market, has already been traded, landing — to the sorrow of many baseball fans — with the Los Angeles Dodgers as they aim for a three-peat. Don't blame the Dodgers for wanting to win more than the owner of your favorite team.

As always, things could get interesting and fun Monday if big names in the rumor pipeline, such as Mason Miller, CJ Abrams, Zach Neto, George Kirby or Otto Lopez, get traded, but this is a list of 10 good players most likely to be moved. Nine of the 10 players here will likely be free agents, so none of them should require a return of an overall top-50 prospect, as was the case with Skubal.

This has largely been the situation in recent trade deadlines, as teams are reluctant to trade top prospects, even for players with additional years of team control. Those players listed above are all team controllable for at least two more seasons beyond 2026, making them difficult to acquire.

Editor's note: Luis Arraez was No. 1 on this list before being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday morning.

Best fits: Braves, Phillies, Brewers, Astros, Twins, White Sox, Diamondbacks, Padres

The Mets already unloaded one starter in Freddy Peralta; expect Holmes to go next. He isn't a guaranteed free agent because he has a $12 million player option for 2027, which he's likely to turn down (although the labor situation makes that decision a little more complicated).

Holmes missed two months because of a broken right leg but is currently rehabbing in the minors. His conversion from reliever with the Yankees to starter with the Mets has been successful, as he has compiled a 3.26 ERA across 40 starts in two seasons in Queens.