The calls began in recent days, cursory in nature but loaded with meaning. MLB trade deadline season has arrived, and even if deals will take days, weeks, even months to manifest, plenty of them start with reach-outs by executives in early June.

How exciting the July 31 deadline will be depends on the next six weeks. One unfortunate victim of Major League Baseball’s expanded postseason is the deadline. Because of the additional wild card added in 2022, more teams than ever see themselves as contenders — until they unequivocally aren’t.

Even if more teams jump into fray, more than a dozen executives surveyed over the past week agreed that there are unlikely to be any top-end players available at this year’s deadline. Between a soft free agent class and the best of them playing for contending teams — or at least contending for now — there is no obvious best player available.

As teams fade in the standings, that could change. At this time last year, it looked like the New York Mets would dump players. They wound up taking the Dodgers to six games in the National League Championship Series. So consider this simply a first look at where teams are now and what they’re thinking, with the ultimate tack TBD.

We’ve divided teams into four groups: the Unloaders (certain to move players), the Tweeners (still not sure), the Holders (unlikely to do much either way) and the Acquirers (aggressively pursuing additions).

Jump to team:

American League
ATH | BAL | BOS | CHW | CLE
DET | HOU | KC | LAA | MIN
NYY | SEA | TB | TEX | TOR

National League
ARI | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL
LAD | MIA | MIL | NYM | PHI
PIT | SD | SF | STL | WSH

Unloaders

Objective: Forget this year ever existed.

Best player available: First baseman Ryan O’Hearn

What to know: The Orioles could be the belle of the 2025 deadline. It’s not just O’Hearn, an impending free agent whose wRC+ ranks fifth in MLB behind Aaron Judge, Freddie Freeman, Cal Raleigh and Shohei Ohtani. Cedric Mullins would help almost every outfield. Baltimore could move veteran right-handers Zach Eflin and Tomoyuki Sugano, both free agents-to-be, too. There are relievers aplenty: two free agents-to-be in Seranthony Dominguez and Andrew Kittredge, with Felix Bautista, Yennier Cano and Bryan Baker carrying a heftier price.

Nobody expects general manager Mike Elias to move a core player, though — especially after last year’s deadline, when he dealt Kyle Stowers, who is primed to be Miami’s All-Star this season. After two straight postseasons, this year has been a catastrophe for Baltimore. The deadline could at least salvage it from being a total waste of a season.

Objective: Avoid being the worst team ever.

Best player available: Right-handed reliever Jake Bird

What to know: Almost every Rockies player is in the midst of an objectively bad season. Perhaps there’s another deal like the one Colorado made last year, trading right-handed reliever Nick Mears and his 5.56 ERA to Milwaukee, only to see him break out this year. There aren’t even many buy-low candidates with Colorado, though. Bird is a success story, a league-average reliever his first three seasons who started leaning more on his curveball and slider and now sports a 1.60 ERA with peripherals to suggest it’s real. The Rockies could find a taker for Seth Halvorsen’s triple-digit fastball or Scott Alexander as a veteran left-hander. In all, it’s a gruesome landscape — and befitting of a team with a 10-50 record.

Objective: Just be bad, not historically bad.

Best player available: Center fielder Luis Robert Jr.

What to know: The talent pool in Chicago remains shallow, and the White Sox aren’t particularly motivated to move the young, under-control players (third baseman Miguel Vargas, rookie shortstop Chase Meidroth and rookie right-hander Shane Smith, a brilliant Rule 5 draft pick) upgrading this team from objectionable to simply bad. They should be able to get a lottery ticket for right-hander Adrian Houser. If another team is interested in right-handed reliever Mike Vasil — also a Rule 5 pick — the White Sox should at least entertain the notion.

This really comes down to whether they finally just cut bait with Robert, who over his past full season has been downright bad. Even with his .180/.270/.291 line this year, Robert is attractive for his speed (an AL-best 21 stolen bases) and glove (he’s a legitimate center fielder). While the ceiling isn’t what it once was for Robert, the floor is high enough on account of his legs and defense. Moving him will depend on whether the White Sox soften on their ask, which has remained rooted more in potential than reality.

Objective: Continue the ruse of acting like they want to win when the approach suggests otherwise.

Best player available: Not Paul Skenes

What to know: Easy as it is to construct a valid argument for the Pirates to trade Skenes right now, he won’t go anywhere absent a “Godfather” offer. There are simply no comparable pitchers who have been traded within two years of their major league debut. So interested teams will instead pick at the Pirates’ leftovers.

Super-utility man Isiah Kiner-Falefa has been excellent. Outfielder Tommy Pham always gets traded. Left-hander Andrew Heaney is still carving hitters. The Pirates also won’t be opposed to shipping away the $36 million remaining on Ke’Bryan Hayes’ deal or the $76 million still owed outfielder Bryan Reynolds. Regardless of what they do, the Pirates are keen on keeping Skenes instead of trying to get the sort of return for him that Washington did for Juan Soto.

Objective: Get as much young talent as possible.

Best player available: Right-handed starter Sandy Alcántara

What to know: Alcántara was supposed to be the prize of this deadline, and seeing as even after Tommy John surgery he’s still capable of consistently ripping upper-90s fastballs and complementing them with a changeup, curveball and slider, teams believe they can fix the issues that have led to his ERA ballooning to 8.47. But because Alcántara’s return has gone so far sideways (thanks to a walk rate nearly twice his career mark and a strikeout rate near its lowest), the Marlins could bet on him rebuilding his value and move him next season instead.

Beyond Alcántara, other available Marlins will include the perpetually on-the-block Jesus Sánchez and Edward Cabrera as well as Anthony Bender, whose sinker-slider combination keeps the ball in the park and has led to a 1.52 ERA this season.

Objective: Escape the endless cycle of mediocrity.

Best player available: Left-handed starter Tyler Anderson

What to know: The mirage of an eight-game winning streak quickly gave way to the Angels Angels-ing, and they should be a popular team over the next two months because of their variety of available assets.

Want a starting pitcher? Anderson will be among the best available. A power bat? Outfielder Taylor Ward is slugging well over .500. A utility man? Luis Rengifo has been terrible this year, but he has change-of-scenery candidate written all over him. A third baseman? Yoan Moncada has a 135 OPS+. A reliever? Kenley Jansen can close, and Ryan Zeferjahn has struck out 21 of the 47 right-handed hitters he has faced this year.

Between Zach Neto and Logan O’Hoppe, the Angels have a pair of good, young players to build around, but this is a team that can’t walk and strikes out too much on offense and can’t strike guys out and walks too many on the mound. It’s ripe to be blown up, and there’s no better time than now.

Objective: Start winning.

Best player available: Right-handed reliever Kyle Finnegan

What to know: The Nationals don’t have a whole lot at the upper levels of their minor league system, which makes parlaying their near-.500 record into a postseason run unlikely. They also don’t have much desirable major league talent they’re willing to move. Finnegan will be a good high-leverage option for a contender. Perhaps a team takes on Michael Soroka and sticks him in the bullpen, where he was excellent last year. Amed Rosario is a lefty-crushing utility man, and he’ll find a home. Nathaniel Lowe’s $10 million-plus salary is a hindrance, but he’s on a 110-RBI pace.

There is no Soto return — or even a fraction of it — coming. Sooner than later the Nationals need to bump the payroll and complement James Wood, CJ Abrams and MacKenzie Gore, all of whom have been excellent. For now, though, the Nationals are close enough to contention to see it but far enough that it feels a ways away.

Tweeners

Objective: Figure out if there’s enough pitching internally to warrant trying to win.

Best player potentially available: Right-handed starter Zac Gallen

What to know: One of the most disappointing teams in baseball this season, the Diamondbacks are one of the hinge teams at the upcoming deadline. If they continue scuffling and decide to move talent, the deadline could get an immediate upgrade. But it’s complicated. Gallen has struggled to the point that Arizona might just prefer to keep him, give him a qualifying offer and either retain him on a one-year deal or get draft-pick compensation. First baseman Josh Naylor will generate plenty of interest — but will it exceed the value of the draft pick the Diamondbacks will get if he declines a qualifying offer?

While the Snakes’ core players aren’t going anywhere — Corbin Carroll, Ketel Marte, Geraldo Perdomo — they’ve got plenty more who could move. Merrill Kelly would look good in any rotation. Shelby Miller’s renaissance is real, and the fastball-splitter combination plays. Third baseman Eugenio Suarez can go on heaters that carry a team through a playoff series. Jake McCarthy and Alek Thomas are perfectly capable third or fourth outfielders. The Diamondbacks should be better, but bad years happen. And if this one continues, they’ll find themselves front and center come July.

Objective: Have the whole be as good as the sum of its parts.

Best player potentially available: Right-handed starter Walker Buehler

What to know: The Red Sox shouldn’t be under .500. Regardless of the wounds — both external and self-inflicted — they are replete with enough talent to secure an AL playoff spot. If the ugliness continues, though, turning an eye toward 2026 is on the table.

They’ve got an attractive array of players. Buehler or Lucas Giolito for the rotation. Aroldis Chapman at the back end of the bullpen and Brennan Bernardino or Justin Wilson for teams in need of a left-handed reliever. Outfielder Rob Refsnyder has an OPS 36% above league average over the past two seasons and punishes left-handed pitching.

The question is whether Boston considers going bigger. With the paucity of impact players available, one GM suggested the Red Sox could entertain the idea of moving Jarren Duran or Wilyer Abreu. They have ample outfield depth to do it — especially with Roman Anthony ready for the big leagues — and although dealing at the deadline limits teams compared to the winter, the July market craves high-end talent, and Boston has it.

Objective: Play up to their run differential

Best player potentially available: Right-handed starter Nick Martinez

What to know: The Reds have outscored opponents by 29 runs. That is typically not part of the recipe for a sub-.500 team. And yet that’s where they are, behind Chicago and St. Louis and Milwaukee in the National League Central, facing tough deadline decisions. Even now they’re only 4½ games out of the final wild-card spot.

Among Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo, Brady Singer and Martinez, they’ve got one of the most productive rotations in the big leagues. Even at $7 million for the final two months of the season, Martinez is steady enough to make that investment reasonable for another team. Singer, also a free agent after the season, will put up 150-plus innings of league-average pitching. There are bullpen options aplenty as well, with Emilio Pagán closing and Taylor Rogers and Brent Suter suitable left-handed options. Outfielder Austin Hays has been the best version of himself this season.

Should Cincinnati’s offense ever right itself, this is a dangerous team. The next two months need to be a whole lot better than the first two if the Reds want to see that reality manifest itself in October.

Objective: One eye on the present, one on the future

Best player potentially available: Second baseman Brandon Lowe

What to know: No team knows how to maneuver at the deadline quite like the Rays, whose decisiveness makes them an ideal trading partner. They’re tweeners not because like the Red Sox or Reds they need to figure out their approach, but because Tampa Bay inherently operates between unloading and acquiring. When the Rays are hovering around .500, as they are at the moment, they attempt to do both.

With Lowe down to one more season of club control (an $11.5 million club option for 2026) and Zack Littell about to reach free agency, they’ve got a bat and an arm that will look very attractive in this market. Closer Pete Fairbanks and left-handed reliever Garrett Cleavinger are top-tier solutions capable of pitching meaningful postseason innings.

One GM speculated that Tampa Bay could dip into its controllable starting pitching — perhaps Drew Rasmussen? — for teams seeking a premium arm, and while the Rays have built this team around their pitching, they rightly are willing to bet on their evaluation and development skills to keep the machine churning.

Objective: Be more like 2022 and 2023 than 2024.

Best player potentially available: Shortstop Bo Bichette

What to know: The Blue Jays could simply wind up in the hold category. They didn’t give Vladimir Guerrero Jr. a $500 million contract extension to dump players at the deadline. But if they do pivot toward unloading, they’re teeming with players who could bring back the sort of talent suited to surround Guerrero in the next incarnation of his career.

Bichette is the headliner. While few contenders need a shortstop, he could shift to second and fill the need for a number of teams. Right-hander Chris Bassitt has moxie, playoff experience and an array of stuff — and if he’s going, perhaps Kevin Gausman, under contract for one more season, joins him. Chad Green is a solid bullpen pitcher, as is Yimi Garcia, who’s signed through 2026. And Yariel Rodríguez, with three years of club control after 2025, has been excellent out of the bullpen and could eventually emerge as a starting option on a team with fewer arms than Toronto.

Objective: Hit.

Best player potentially available: Right-handed starter Tyler Mahle

What to know: Rangers GM Chris Young is notoriously competitive, and with the Rangers looking more like last year’s version than the World Series-winning outfit of 2023, they are testing his patience. He wants to add. Young believes that with Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Mahle, Texas has the sort of rotation that can carve through playoff-caliber lineups. But with a near-even record and run differential, the Rangers have yet to warrant dipping into their farm system.

On the other hand, among Mahle and a cadre of other arms — left-handed starter Patrick Corbin, right-handed reliever Chris Martin and left-handed reliever Hoby Milner — they’ve got desirable talent. Perhaps a team tries to make a low-cost trade for outfielder Adolis Garcia, who looks lost. Either way, the Rangers were almost in the acquire category because of how Young operates, but the next two months will determine their course of action — as happened last season, when the Rangers unloaded.

Holders

Athletics

Objective: Embrace the leap forward offensively, (eventually) address pitching and defense.

If they were to unload someone, it could be: Second baseman Luis Urías

What to know: The A’s offense is tremendous fun, with rookie Jacob Wilson eyeing a batting title; power coming from Brent Rooker, Tyler Soderstrom and Shea Langeliers; and Lawrence Butler and Nick Kurtz capable of thumping at any time. It’s a core worth building around. Unfortunately for the A’s, their pitching has been a nightmare and their defense needs immense work. Accordingly, there aren’t many options drawing significant interest from other teams. Combine that with the organizational allergy to punting and it’s a recipe for a hold — or at least a deadline with no big move.

Objective: Play up to their talent level.

If they were to unload someone, it could be: Designated hitter Marcell Ozuna

What to know: The Braves very easily could find themselves in the acquire category. Their on-paper lineup is one of baseball’s best. Their top three starters — Spencer Strider, Chris Sale and Spencer Schwellenbach — would form one whale of a postseason rotation. An 0-7 start hamstrung them, though, and the Braves have been just OK since.

There’s a nonzero chance Alex Anthopoulos, Atlanta’s aggressive president of baseball operations, sees this season not as an anomaly but a continuation of last year and entertains moving one of the Braves’ core players. Absent that, in Ozuna, an impending free agent, the Braves have perhaps the best bat that could be available. And in Raisel Iglesias, they have a closer with a 6-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. (With seven home runs allowed in 22⅓ innings, yes.) Beyond them, everyone of value with Atlanta is under club control next year, leaving the Braves as one of the likelier candidates to stay where they’re at and hope they get hot at an opportune time like they did in 2021.

Objective: Hit enough to stay in the wild-card race.

If they were to unload someone, it could be: Right-handed starter Aaron Civale

What to know: The Brewers are no stranger to navigating a deadline with multiple objectives. They’re willing to take risks that are unpopular with their fans. They’re capable, with one of the deepest farm systems in baseball, of landing a top deadline target. They are perfectly comfortable doing both — or neither.

A week ago, the Brewers were underachievers. Seven consecutive wins later, they’re back in the postseason mix. They are the quintessential middle-of-the-pack team, and there are around a dozen teams within four games of .500, which speaks to how things can — and will — change between now and July 31. If the Brewers stay hot, they’ll be on the hunt for a bat, specifically one on the left side of the infield. They have plenty of pitching depth from which they can trade, with rookies Chad Patrick and Logan Henderson alongside Freddy Peralta, Jose Quintana, Quinn Priester, Tobias Myers and Civale, who is a free agent after this season.

Objective: Stay healthy.

If they were to unload someone, it could be: Right-handed starter Chris Paddack

What to know: The Twins were down bad after April and proceeded to win 13 consecutive games starting May 3. Following a streak-snapping loss, they ripped off three walk-off wins in a week. This is a team that, when healthy, has more than enough pitching and is perhaps a bat or two shy from giving Detroit a run for its money in the AL Central.

But that’s not the Twins’ deadline style. Risk aversion is their modus operandi. Status quo is their state of play. Even if they’re squarely in the playoff mix, they are not the sort of team that historically adds impact-type players at the deadline. So they need Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa to remain on the field and Royce Lewis to find himself and Matt Wallner to evolve into a middle-of-the-lineup force. External help beyond small additions here and there just isn’t the Twins’ way.

Objective: Keep poking the voodoo doll that has allowed this team to win despite being outscored.

If they were to unload someone, it could be: First baseman Carlos Santana

What to know: How the Guardians remain well over .500 is a fact other front offices discuss with amazement. Their starting rotation, still without Shane Bieber, is just OK. Their lineup is Swiss cheese. Their defense is middle of the pack. And yet they persist, pesky as ever, buoyed by a bullpen that’s been fine enough but nothing like last year.

If the Guardians regress as their run differential suggests they should, not only would Santana a trade candidate, he’d be joined by Lane Thomas and Jakob Junis. One year after winning the AL Central, the Guardians are treading water, and if they’re not careful, they’ll be taking it on soon enough.

Objective: Figure out how real this good start is

If they were to unload someone, it could be: DH Wilmer Flores.

What to know: The Giants’ 2.39 bullpen ERA leads MLB. It’s the sort of number that, should it hold, could do for them exactly what it did for Cleveland last year. The Guardians reached the American League Championship Series with a questionable lineup and flimsy rotation, and although San Francisco’s starting pitching with Logan Webb and Robbie Ray is unquestionably formidable, the teams’ lineups both have a few boppers but too many empty slots.

This will be GM Buster Posey’s first trade deadline, and the book on his transactions remains thin. He could move Flores and a handful of others: right-handed reliever Tyler Rogers, outfielder Mike Yastrzemski or first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. Or he can wait and see if this is a team worthy of an aggressive July buy-in.

Objective: Continue playing the best defense in MLB.

If they were to unload someone, it could be: Right-handed reliever Ryan Helsley

What to know: Here’s the reaction from a general manager who was hoping St. Louis would start losing as expected: “It sucks.” He wanted Helsey patrolling the back end of his bullpen, and he wanted the option to grab Steven Matz or Erick Fedde or Miles Mikolas. And because the Cardinals are playing a tremendous brand of baseball, none of those looks like an option at this point.

Considering how little they spent this winter — $2 million to reliever Phil Maton — the Cardinals should have financial leeway to make a deadline splash. But in order to do that in president of baseball operations John Mozeliak’s final season in charge, they’ll need to inch closer to the Cubs at the top of the NL Central and cajole ownership into allowing Mozeliak to make this team even better than it has surprisingly been.

Objective: Get back to the postseason for a ninth consecutive season.

If they were to unload someone, it could be: Left-handed starter Framber Valdez

What to know: The Astros’ roster features two free agents-to-be: Valdez and utility man Brendan Rodgers. Should the Astros dip out of contention, Valdez immediately becomes the best pitcher — and maybe the best player, period — available at this deadline. Valdez, 31, has strikeout, walk and home run rates all almost precisely the same as in years past, which should come as no surprise. He is perhaps the most consistent pitcher in baseball.

Houston’s fate could come down to the health of Yordan Álvarez, who has played in fewer than half of Houston’s games and has left a cavernous hole in the middle of the lineup. Should the Astros continue on this path, they could be the likeliest team to stand pat: good enough not to ship out guys, not good enough to merit their import.

Acquirers

Objective: Land an impact infield bat.

Best fit: Ryan O’Hearn

What to know: The Mariners are going to be aggressive at this deadline, and they have the minor league capital to swing a deal for anyone. They’re plenty willing to get creative, too, but O’Hearn is an excellent fit for a team that has gotten sub-replacement production from Rowdy Tellez and Donovan Solano at first. If O’Hearn isn’t the answer, the Mariners could turn to Naylor, who, like O’Hearn, is a low-strikeout, high-average power hitter.

Seattle already looks the part of a dangerous October team — particularly if Logan Gilbert returns healthy and George Kirby and Bryce Miller shake off post-injury rust — and a lineup that starts J.P. Crawford, Julio Rodriguez, O’Hearn, Cal Raleigh, Randy Arozarena, Jorge Polanco is as good as Seattle has seen since the 2000s.

Objective: Stay in contention.

Best fit: Eugenio Suarez

What to know: The Royals acutely understand the plight of small-market teams and the propensity for their windows to shut in an instant. So they expect to be busy come July in taking what right now is a good team and making it good enough to get deep into the postseason.

With the prospect of Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo and Kris Bubic starting a three-game wild-card series, it’s already tough for any opponent, but adding a power bat like Suarez’s would let Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro toy with different lineup variations. Regardless of where Maikel Garcia and Jonathan India wind up playing, pairing them with Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino, Salvador Perez, Jac Caglianone and Suarez would make for a representative lineup. And considering the way the Royals have hit this season, that would be welcome as Kansas City looks for the same sort of magic it rode to a championship 10 years ago.

Objective: Optimize the machine.

Best fit: Bo Bichette

What to know: The Tigers have the best record in baseball, and it’s not only because Tarik Skubal is the game’s finest pitcher. Detroit is deep, and Detroit plays clean baseball, and Detroit is managed by A.J. Hinch, perhaps the best on-the-bench tactician in the game.

While conventional wisdom suggests the Tigers could use another high-octane bullpen arm to secure outs at the end of the game, renting Bichette’s services before he hits free agency would infuse the lineup with the sort of bat Trey Sweeney simply doesn’t yet wield. Bichette’s gap-to-gap power would play well at Comerica Park and lengthen a lineup that has scored more runs than anticipated. After a homerless April, Bichette whacked seven home runs in May and slugged better than .500. The Tigers don’t need much. With their prospect depth, though, they can afford a luxury item.

Objective: Get some pitching to complement arguably the best offense in baseball.

Best fit: Sandy Alcántara

What to know: Among Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd and Jameson Taillon, the Cubs have a perfectly OK starting rotation to take into a playoff series. Considering the lineups they could face in the NL playoffs — the Dodgers, Phillies, Mets and Diamondbacks, among others — OK might not be enough. And that’s not to say Alcántara would suddenly morph into a world-beater once he put on a Cubs uniform. He’s just the kind of guy on whom teams in need take a risk.

The calculus here could change if Valdez or Gallen becomes available, but in terms of pitchers teams know will be available, Alcántara, even a slightly diminished version, is the best. With two more years of club control beyond this season, he slots nicely into the front of a rotation that lost Justin Steele to Tommy John surgery. And don’t forget: The Cubs had a deal in place for Jesús Luzardo before medicals scuttled it. The teams are very familiar with one another’s systems, and that always helps when trying to facilitate a trade.

Objective: Get Juan Soto really going and run away with the NL East.

Best fit: Cedric Mullins

What to know: The Mets have the best record in the NL, and that’s without Soto having his typical year and with a patchwork rotation that has managed to be the game’s best. As tempting as it was to send Gallen to the Mets — imagine the Philly-area native pitching for New York against the Phillies in the postseason — Mullins offers an even greater upgrade.

Mullins has been one of the Orioles’ lone bright spots this season, and as solid as Tyrone Taylor has been in center, Mullins’ bat is significantly better and his glove, though admittedly lesser than Taylor’s, is perfectly acceptable. Let Mullins bat for the first seven innings, put Taylor in for defensive purposes in the eighth and a Mets team with championship aspirations gets that much better.

Objective: Plug the infield hole that has caused such consternation.

Best fit: Brandon Lowe

What to know: With the injury to Luke Weaver’s hamstring, the temptation here was to send a high-leverage reliever to the Yankees. There are so many bullpen arms available, though, that filling their hole at second base — with few options available — made the most sense. Intradivision trades are never easy to execute, but the possibility of Lowe and a relief arm makes sense. Regardless of what the Yankees do at the deadline, they’ve given themselves a nice cushion in the AL East and were the class of the division through Memorial Day. Lowe’s career numbers at Yankee Stadium are admittedly abysmal, but his left-handed stroke and the short porch in right field feel like a match made in heaven.

Objective: Fix the bullpen.

Best fit: Pete Fairbanks

What to know: Maybe it’s Fairbanks. Maybe it’s Finnegan. Maybe it’s both. Or even more. The Phillies’ bullpen has been one of the worst in baseball. Even if it was much better in May, their only reliever with a sub-3.00 ERA was Orion Kerkering. And with Jose Alvarado down for 80 games and out for the postseason following a PED suspension, the need for help is that much more grave.

Philadelphia’s bullpen torpedoed its playoff run last year. And with Alvarado and Jeff Hoffman missing, the onus is on president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski to find enough arms that can generate swing and miss against the gauntlet that is the NL.

Objective: Get to October with a full rotation.

Best fit: Walker Buehler

What to know: The notion that the Dodgers were going to win 120 games was always fanciful. They don’t build their team for regular-season wins. They want to put together the most devastating 26-man squad for the postseason. And they saw last year what Buehler turns into in October. The four shutout innings against the Mets. Five more against the Yankees. And then the final three outs to lock down the World Series title. Any sort of reunion would necessitate a Red Sox collapse, and as bad as they look right now, that’s premature.

Beyond that, the Dodgers’ farm system is so deep that they’ll have their pick of players at the deadline. But to bring in someone who knows their system, knows their culture and knows how to show up in the biggest moments is a fit that’s almost too good to be true.

Objective: Figure out left field.

Best fit: Luis Robert Jr.

What to know: Left field for the Padres has been a disaster all season. Their .191 batting average is the worst in the big leagues, as is their .245 on-base percentage. They’ve been mediocre in the field and on the basepaths. Turning to Robert — who’s hitting .178/.267/.288 — would essentially be replicating that production. So why trade for him? Because surely somewhere inside his 6-foot-2, 225-pound body lurks the player who two years ago hit 38 home runs. Because take him out of center and his defense is suddenly plus in left. Because he has half as many steals himself (21) as the Padres do as a team.

Robert’s salary isn’t cheap at $15 million. And his options for the next two seasons aren’t, either, at $20 million apiece. But Padres GM A.J. Preller didn’t get to this point by playing it safe. With Michael King and Dylan Cease both set to his free agency, this is the year to send it. And acquiring Robert would personify that.