Pitching Wild MLB Trade Ideas for 2025-26 Offseason

Last week, we gave you a list of the most likely trade every MLB team could pursue this offseason. But now, it's time to get a bit spicier.

"Wild" doesn't mean we're wasting your time with garbage that makes no sense. There will be no Juan Soto to the Rockies or Mookie Betts to the White Sox here. And we will at least attempt to make the trade proposals balanced, which typically results in fans of each team interpreting these hypotheticals as fighting words.

Rather, what makes these trades wild is that they're all either swaps between division rivals or three-team extravaganzas.

Trades between division rivals are rare, but they do happen. Of the roughly 130 trades that have gone down since the beginning of last November, only 10 were moves made within the same division. However, that small list included Jesús Luzardo to the Phillies, Ke'Bryan Hayes to the Reds and Carlos Narváez going from the Yankees to the Red Sox, so they're sometimes pretty big.

(Three-team trades are considerably rarer than that, as we'll get to a bit later.)

For each of the same-division proposals, the main attraction in the trade is a 2025 All-Star—in three of the six cases, one who has already spent a fair amount of time in trade rumors/theories over the past calendar year.

We'll start in the AL East and weave our way to the NL West before saving the three-teamers for last.

The Trade: Tampa Bay Rays send 3B Junior Caminero to Boston Red Sox for SS Franklin Arias, LHP Payton Tolle, OF Jhostynxon Garcia and RHP Kyson Witherspoon

The Boston Red Sox have four players ranked in the top 100 of MLB.com's pipeline, and yes, this is all four of them. Both Tolle and Garcia made their MLB debuts this season, Witherspoon was their first-round pick this past summer, and Arias is the highest-rated prospect of the bunch at No. 24 overall.

And yet, if either side would have no interest in this "four quarters for a dollar" trade proposal, it would probably be Tampa Bay, after Caminero exploded for 45 home runs in 2025 in advance of what will be five more years of team control.

That is, of course, why Boston would want Caminero, especially with Alex Bregman now a free agent while Rafael Devers is a San Francisco Giant.

They could re-sign Bregman. They could also let it ride with some combination of Marcelo Mayer, Nate Eaton and Nick Sogard at the hot corner. But Caminero darn near hit as many home runs as Boston's top two sluggers combined—Trevor Story and Wilyer Abreu had a total of 47—and he would cost them a combined sum of, roughly, $1.7 million over his next two years of pre-arbitration.

It would be an expensive trade as far as prospects go, but it's at least financially a preposterously cheap solution to arguably their biggest 2026 need. That would enable them to spend big elsewhere on a first baseman or a co-ace to pair with Garrett Crochet.

As ridiculous as it may seem for Tampa Bay to consider this deal, let's not forget: Trading a 22-year-old top prospect after his first full season—like the Delmon Young deal in November 2007—was a pivotal moment for the franchise. And for as good as Caminero was this past season, it might be worth turning him into two promising arms, a potential 30 HR outfielder and a middle infielder who could replace Brandon Lowe after next season.

The Trade: Detroit Tigers send LHP Tarik Skubal to Minnesota Twins for OF Walker Jenkins, LHP Kendry Rojas and LHP Connor Prielipp

Only once in MLB history has a twice-reigning Cy Young winner been traded, when Roger Clemens went from the Blue Jays to the Yankees the winter after winning both the 1997 and 1998 AL Cy Youngs in Toronto.

And the overwhelming response to the Blue Jays getting David Wells, Homer Bush and Graeme Lloyd for "The Rocket" was: Really? That's it?

It was a similar sentiment in recent years when Milwaukee shipped Corbin Burnes' final year of arbitration eligibility to Baltimore for Joey Ortiz, DL Hall and a compensatory draft pick, and when the A's gave up their final year of Chris Bassitt for little more than J.T. Ginn and Adam Oller.

Ultimately, this is why Tarik Skubal probably isn't going anywhere this offseason, even though the trade speculation will continue to swirl. The Tigers are going to want the world for him, but teams simply aren't likely to part with a platter of top prospects for one year of an ace with an estimated price tag of around $20 million.

Wouldn't it be something, though, if the Twins gave up the Nos. 1, 5 and 9 prospects in their MLB.com pipeline in pursuit of what would be their first ALCS appearance in 24 years?

The prevailing sentiment in the aftermath of its approach to the trade deadline this past summer is that Minnesota will continue selling off key pieces this winter. Joe Ryan and Pablo López are already regarded as two of the biggest names likely to be traded in the next few months.

Even if it's just for one season, though, imagine instead a rotation of Skubal, Ryan, López, Bailey Ober and Taj Bradley, with Simeon Woods Richardson, Mick Abel, Zebby Matthews and David Festa waiting in the wings as inevitable injury replacements.

That would be right up there with the Dodgers for the best rotation in baseball. And in the Pohlad family's presumably ongoing attempt to sell this franchise, wouldn't a pennant push do more for the sale price than a 100-loss dumpster fire with a loaded farm system?

The Trade: Texas Rangers send RHP Jacob deGrom to Los Angeles Angels for RHP Ryan Johnson

If the Rangers are serious about trying to trim payroll this offseason, why not go straight to the top of the list?

Notably, Jacob deGrom has a full no-trade clause and has made no indications that he wants to leave Texas. As such, this hypothetical may well be dead on arrival.

However, deGrom is owed $38 million in 2026, $37 million in 2027 and has a conditional option for 2028 that could become a $37 million player option if he finishes top five in the 2027 AL Cy Young vote. And after enjoying quite the renaissance year with 30 starts and a sub-3.00 ERA, there are probably some deep-pocketed owners who would be happy to take those $75 million-$112 million off the Rangers' hands.

[One would hope the Rangers would at least reinvest some of those savings into the 2026 roster, though, as they are still trying to contend. This is much more of a 2023-24 San Diego Padres payroll-trimming approach than a 2023-24 Chicago White Sox payroll-slashing one.]

One of those owners is almost certainly the Angels' Arte Moreno, saddled with 10 consecutive losing seasons while the Dodgers have been a runaway freight train just down the road, winning titles with his former unicorn.

Mike Trout is undeniably well into the back nine of his career. 2026 is also the Angels' last year with Taylor Ward under contract—as well as, mercifully, the final year of Anthony Rendon's $245 million deal.

And though they flirted with contending deep into the summer, even doing a bit of buying at the trade deadline while just two games below .500, it was the pitching staff that really let them down, allowing the most runs of any team in the American League en route to becoming a 90-loss mess.

Giving up a fringe top-100 prospect for deGrom could be just what the doctor ordered.

In the past 1,000 days, there have been just three three-team trades. And you have to go back to January 2021 to find the last time there was a three-teamer involving one team from each of the three divisions in one league. But let's put another one together, shall we?

Baltimore Orioles Receive: RHP Bryan Abreu (from HOU)

Houston Astros Receive: LF Steven Kwan (from CLE)

Cleveland Guardians Receive: OF Dylan Beavers (from BAL), OF Jacob Melton (from HOU) and RHP Spencer Arrighetti (from HOU)

With Félix Bautista likely to miss most, if not all of the 2026 campaign following a shoulder surgery in August, the Orioles' closer situation is looking rather dire once again.

And though Bryan Abreu only has 16 career saves, he has been one of the most reliable relievers in all of baseball over the past four seasons with a 2.30 ERA. His final year of arbitration eligibility is probably worth parting with one of Colton Cowser, Heston Kjerstad or Dylan Beavers.

Houston would want more of a sure thing than that, though, if it's giving up its star setup man. Steven Kwan would qualify as that sure thing, both as an elite glove in left field and a .281 career hitter. He has two years of arbitration eligibility remaining, estimated at around $9 million in 2026 and probably more like $15 million in 2027.

They would need to part with much more than Abreu to make that happen, though.

Jacob Melton is one of their highest rated prospects who made his MLB debut this past summer. In 99 games played in the minors in 2023, he had 23 home runs and 46 stolen bases. Could be special if he ever manages to stay healthy.

Same goes for Spencer Arrighetti, who missed all but seven starts in 2025. In August 2024, though, he racked up 47 strikeouts with a 1.95 ERA, quickly blossoming into what they hoped would be a key piece of the rotation this year.

Combine Melton, Arrighetti and Beavers, and you've got a return for which Cleveland would perhaps at least consider moving its two-time All-Star.

The Trade: Washington Nationals send LHP MacKenzie Gore to New York Mets for RHP Jonah Tong and 1B/OF Ryan Clifford

A top-of-the-rotation southpaw with two years of arbitration eligibility remaining gets dealt from one NL East team to another for a pair of intriguing prospects...

Anyone else feeling a bit of déjà vu from last winter's Jesús Luzardo deal?

New York's motivation is this hypothetical swap couldn't be clearer: Gore had a better season than any pitcher on the Mets' staff—even with that horrific four-game stretch during the doldrums of the summer in which he allowed 23 earned runs in 15.2 innings pitched.

Extract that rough patch, and Gore otherwise had a 3.19 ERA. He also struck out at least 180 batters for a second consecutive year, which is something only eight other pitchers can boast. He would immediately elevate the overall competency of this pitching staff, and at a fraction of the dollar cost it would take to sign a comparable free agent like Dylan Cease or Framber Valdez.

On the Nationals side of things, can they legitimately envision Gore pitching in a postseason game for them in either 2026 or 2027 before he hits free agency?

Maybe they can, but most of us can't. And a similar state of the franchise three years ago is what led to that colossal Juan Soto trade.

One key difference in those scenarios is Soto had already turned down a $440 million contract offer and Washington admitted defeat on being able to re-sign him. If it's more optimistic about being able to lock in Gore on a long-term deal, he's probably not actually on the trade block this winter.

But if the Nationals do trade him, heck, it might as well be within the division. They're already facing Soto, Bryce Harper and Trea Turner on a regular basis. What's one more former star in the heap of memories gone by? Can we get Max Scherzer and Anthony Rendon to Atlanta and Miami while we're at it?

The Trade: Pittsburgh Pirates send RHP Paul Skenes to St. Louis Cardinals for IF JJ Wetherholt, LHP Matthew Liberatore, RHP Michael McGreevy, LHP Liam Doyle and C Leonardo Bernal

As much as we all loved cooking up possible Paul Skenes trade packages throughout the course of this past season, everyone knows it's extremely unlikely he'll get traded, because the sheer cost is almost prohibitive.

Last offseason, Boston gave up a haul of four prospects—including two who were very comfortably regarded as top-100 prospects—for two years of Garrett Crochet (before almost immediately signing him to a long-term extension). But we're talking four years of team control on what has been a more dominant force on the mound.

What the Padres gave up for 2.5 years of Juan Soto (and a Josh Bell rental) in 2022 is at least closer to what it would take to get Skenes, and that package was their preseason No. 1 prospect (CJ Abrams), their at-the-time Nos. 1, 3 and 4 prospects (Robert Hassell III, James Wood and MacKenzie Gore) a middling prospect (Jarlin Susana) and Luke Voit, for some reason.

So, we've got the Cardinals giving up first-round picks from each of the 2025 (Doyle), 2024 (Wetherholt), 2021 (McGreevy) and 2018 (Liberatore) drafts, as well as a 21-year-old switch-hitting catcher (Bernal) who could at least do something for a moribund Pirates offense. And even that probably isn't actually enough to get the Pirates to budge on Skenes.

It would, however, be one heck of a "How do you do?" for St. Louis' new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, after more than an entire calendar year of the Cardinals just kind of existing in mediocrity instead of rebuilding or reloading.

Surely they would be reluctant to give up this many arms, as they would need someone to pitch in 2026 aside from Skenes and Sonny Gray. To get four years (with the first one costing less than $1 million in pre-arbitration, no less) of arguably the best pitcher in baseball, though, it might be worth it.

The Trade: Colorado Rockies send C Hunter Goodman to San Diego Padres for C Ethan Salas

Beyond the "within the same division" factor, this one would be wild simply because it's a swap of two prominent catchers—one of whom hit 10 more home runs than the second-best NL catcher in 2025, the other a 19-year-old who was regarded as one of the top prospects in all of baseball heading into the 2024 campaign.

The big difference, of course, is the timing of their production.

Hunter Goodman is very good right now and could provide a big boost to the Padres in 2026. His 31 home runs and .843 OPS from this past season would have made him the top slugger in San Diego. Moreover, it would have come predominantly at a position where the Padres struggled mightily in 2025, ultimately giving up two starting pitchers (Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert) at the trade deadline to bring in Freddy Fermin, who isn't even much of a hitter in his own right.

And before you ask, yes, Goodman can hit outside of Coors Field. In fact, 18 of his 31 dingers came on the road. There certainly could be some drop in production by changing his home field to Petco Park, but his power plays everywhere.

For Colorado, the hope would be that Ethan Salas will eventually come to be as valuable as Goodman is today, and that the team would actually be in a position to do some damage by the time he does begin to shine.

Goodman already has just four years of team control remaining, and if you can look at Colorado's roster, farm system and division rivals and see this team contending by 2029, your glasses are more rose-colored than ours.

And considering he's still just a teenager who missed almost all of 2025 due to a stress reaction in his back, Salas might just be breaking into the big leagues by the time Goodman is hitting free agency.

In the past 1,000 days, there have been just three three-team trades. And you have to go back to January 2021 to find the last time there was a three-teamer involving one team from each of the three divisions in one league. But let's put another one together, shall we?

San Francisco Giants Receive: RHP Brady Singer (from CIN) and RHP Janson Junk (from MIA)

Cincinnati Reds Receive: OF Heliot Ramos (from SFG)

Miami Marlins Receive: SS Edwin Arroyo (from CIN)

Starting up top, the Giants need starting pitching beyond Logan Webb and Robbie Ray, and trading for that solution is probably the path of least resistance for a team that already has six players with a luxury-tax payroll hit of at least $18 million apiece.

Giving up a 2024 All Star in Heliot Ramos is a big ask, but they do still have Jung Hoo Lee, Luis Matos and high hopes for Drew Gilbert in their outfield, so it might be worth it.

For Cincinnati, Edwin Arroyo was a key piece of the July 2022 trade that took Luis Castillo to Seattle, but he simply has not lived up to the hype in the Reds' farm system since then.

Meanwhile, Brady Singer had a solid 2025 campaign with the Reds, but he's probably going to cost around $12 million or $13 million in his final year of arbitration eligibility, which is a lot for Cincinnati to pay what is probably its fourth-best starter. If they can turn that package into an outfielder with pop, they might do it.

Lastly, the Marlins have arms to spare and might be willing/looking to sell high on Janson Junk's breakthrough year, in which he thrice completed seven innings and logged a quality start in six of his 16 starts. He would be an inexpensive potential No. 5 starter for the Giants with five years of team control remaining.