What all 30 teams must do before the MLB trade deadline - ESPN

This season's MLB trade deadline — Aug. 3 — is a little later than usual. Still, it's not too early in the season to begin pondering how teams might approach it.

As we do with Stock Watch each June, let's take a look at how all 30 clubs are grouped in terms of postseason outlook, and what needs to happen between now and then to clarify each team's deadline status.

Jump to:

Arming for October
Positioning for a push
Not out of it… yet
Building for better days

Teams with high enough playoff probabilities that they'll start considering possible postseason roster holes.

In the playoffs: 100% (Last Stock Watch: 98.8%)
Champions: 25.3% (Last: 25.5%)
Win average: 104.1 (Last: 101, 1st)

What they need to do before the deadline: There is very little difference between where the Dodgers are now and where they were a season ago. They again have a long and star-studded injured list. They again have a few stalwarts falling short of forecasts. And despite all that, they still are in the mix for MLB's best record and run differential. It's all about getting as close to whole as possible by the time October arrives. That said, the Dodgers can play spoiler in the trade market, as much to hinder other contenders as to help themselves. Sure, Tarik Skubal, to cite one keen example, might not be necessary to the Dodgers' three-peat hopes. But if they have Skubal and no one else does, their probabilities grow only stronger.

In the playoffs: 99.9% (Last: 96.1%)
Champions: 21.5% (Last: 13%)
Win average: 104.7 (Last: 97.2)

This Stock Watch is based on a roster-forecasting model built from the neutral-context version of the Steamer projections from FanGraphs along with over/under lines and World Series/pennant odds in the betting markets. These