MLB trade deadline 2026: Teams desperate to make a move - ESPN

The 2025 Toronto Blue Jays are on the minds of some MLB executives as they consider their team's prospect of contending deep into October this year. The Jays were unremarkable for half of last season, and then, after a second-half surge, they came within one run and two outs of taking down the game's great superpower — the Los Angeles Dodgers — in the World Series.

National League teams, and even the clubs mired in the mud bog of the American League, will reasonably dream of propelling themselves for a deep postseason run, possibilities that will inspire the moves they make ahead of the 6 p.m. ET trade deadline Monday.

Here are the contenders most in need of a move, what position they should be targeting and which potential trade candidates could fit.

Cade Horton was supposed to be the team's big swing-and-miss guy, and he threw 7⅓ innings before going down with an elbow injury that required season-ending surgery. The Cubs hoped that Justin Steele could come back from his own injury and be a mainstay in their rotation, but that hasn't happened, as he suffered a setback early in the season. A pricey trade was made for Edward Cabrera this past offseason, and he suffered a major leg injury in June, from which he is slowly working his way back. Jameson Taillon, who earns the highest salary of all the pitchers on Chicago's roster, was just designated for assignment.

So, of course, the Cubs' primary need is for pitching — any and all pitching. They're fortunate in that this seems to be a position with plenty of options, from Freddy Peralta to Clay Holmes to Robbie Ray to Kevin Gausman to Reid Detmers (if the Los Angeles Angels are willing to trade him) to perhaps Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize.

Chicago's position player group is