Ranking the Superstar Trade Candidates Stuck on Losing Teams
How bad is it for each of the last-place teams in their respective MLB division right now?
As we head towards summer and the trade deadline on the horizon, here is the likelihood of each team selling their best player, or one of them, when it’s time to sell.
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Boston Red Sox: Aroldis Chapman (95%)
While there’s 0% chance that the Red Sox trade away one of their future faces in Garret Crotchet or Roman Anthony, Chapman might be their best overall player this season and almost assuredly on his way out unless something changes fast.
We saw the king’s ransom the Athletics got for Mason Miller last year. Although due to his age, Chapman won’t receive nearly the same package, the Red Sox could get some blue-chip prospects for the flamethrower.
Detroit Tigers: Tarik Skubal (99%)
The 1% is based on whether the Tigers can come alive in the first month of the summer and get back into contention before the trade deadline. If they’re as bad as they are now, though, there is no question they’ll move the back-to-back Cy Young winner, as he is up for a gigantic contract this offseason and the Tigers seem to be uninterested in paying that premium price.
Detroit needs to learn from the Los Angeles Angels, who, a few years ago, held on to Shohei Ohtani at the deadline, heading into free agency, to make a late run to the playoffs. The Angels failed, Ohtani went to the crosstown rival, and the red L.A. team is now a terrible team with an almost equally bad farm system.
Los Angeles Angels: Mike Trout (40%)
Speaking of the Angels, they’re terrible again and are going nowhere fast. Although it would be nice for Mike Trout to go to a team where he might win his first playoff game, he has a no-trade clause, which means moving him is difficult.
There’s a world where Trout is moved this deadline, but the man loves Southern California and seems content spending the rest of his days as an Angel.
New York Mets: Freddy Peralta (80%)
No, Juan Soto is not getting traded. But one of the only other well-performing players on the team, Freddy Peralta, most likely will. Like Skubal, he’s up for a big contract this offseason, and unless David Stearns changes his philosophy on pitchers, that won’t be with the Mets.
Pittsburgh Pirates: Paul Skenes (1%)
The AL Central is the only division where the worst team is still in contention for the playoffs and having a good season. Pittsburgh might drop out of the postseason race as the summer rolls on, but there’s almost no chance that Skenes is anything but a Pirate unless they pull a Luka Doncic on him.
Colorado Rockies: Hunter Goodman (20%)
Hunter Goodman is a good catcher in Major League Baseball. While he’ll maybe never be a star, the 26-year-old is one of the few positives on the Rockies roster, and I don’t see Colorado getting a package good enough to give up on one of their few players primed to lead them into the future.
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This story was originally published May 24, 2026 at 7:11 PM.