Can MLB players be traded at any time?

Definition

The Trade Deadline is the last point during the season at which players can be traded from one club to another.

The 2022 Trade Deadline falls on Aug. 2 at 6 p.m. ET. Prior to the new CBA, the Trade Deadline almost always fell on July 31 at 4 p.m. ET.

2019 rule change

Prior to 2019, July 31 was referred to as the non-waiver Trade Deadline, and players could be traded after that date if they first cleared revocable trade waivers.

The player's original club had three options when a waiver claim was placed: It could either work out a standard trade with the claiming club (the two sides had 48 hours to agree to a deal), allow the player -- and all money remaining on his contract -- to go to the claiming club with no return or pull the player back off waivers. A player who was pulled back off waivers could be placed on trade waivers a second time, but at that point the waiver request became irrevocable. If a player passed through waivers unclaimed, he could then be traded to any club, free of restriction (though all 40-man-roster players in the trade had to clear waivers before being dealt).

Although trades could be completed after Aug. 31 under the old rules, the last day in August was sometimes colloquially referred to as the "waiver Trade Deadline," as players acquired after that date were ineligible to be added to the postseason roster by their new teams.

As of 2019, there's only one Trade Deadline. Players may still be placed and claimed on outright waivers, but trades will no longer be permitted after that date. With regards to newly acquired players, the Aug. 31 postseason roster deadline remains in effect.

Definition

Before 2019, players could be traded following the Trade Deadline (prior to the 2022-2026 collective bargaining agreement, the Trade Deadline almost always fell on July 31 at 4 p.m. ET, but the Commissioner's Office now has the flexibility to set the Trade Deadline on a date between July 28 and Aug. 3) if they first cleared revocable trade waivers.

Although trades could still be completed after Aug. 31 as well, players acquired after that date were ineligible to be added to the postseason roster by their new teams. As a result, the last day in August was sometimes colloquially referred to as the "waiver Trade Deadline."

Under the old system, the player's original club had three options when a trade waiver claim was placed: It could either work out a standard trade with the claiming club (the two sides had 48 hours to agree to a deal), allow the player -- and all money remaining on his contract -- to go to the claiming club with no return or pull the player back off waivers. A player who was pulled back off waivers could be placed on trade waivers a second time, but at that point the waiver request became irrevocable. If a player passed through waivers unclaimed, he could then be traded to any club, free of restriction (though all 40-man-roster players in the trade had to clear waivers before being dealt).

As of 2019, players may still be placed and claimed on outright waivers after the Trade Deadline, but trades aren't permitted after that date. With regards to newly acquired players, the Aug. 31 postseason roster deadline remains in effect.

It’s been several years now, so I figure most of you know by now that there are no more trade waivers in August. Remember that whole thing? How you could trade certain guys in August if they cleared trade waivers, or could be traded to the team that claimed the guy? If you don’t remember, don’t worry about it, because it’s gone now.

But that does raise the question for a lot of us who haven’t yet become TOTALLY habituated to what CAN happen in August and September: who can still be moved and how?

First off, players can still be waived and claimed off of waivers. Not the trade waiver kind, just the standard, “Hey, anyone want to take this guy?” kind. That’s what we were talking about last night with the Brewers DFA’ing pitcher Dinelson Lamet. The next step for them figures to be waiving him, and a team like the Cubs could claim him if they wanted. No trade required.

You will still see some of this over the next month+, as teams try to waive guys to get them claimed and the rest of their salary assumed by the new team. It’s like trading them for cash. The bonus this time of year, as Arizona Phil reminds us, is that you can waive a guy, and if he clears waivers, you do not HAVE to outright him off the roster at that point. You can just see if there’s interest in claiming him. It’s conceivable the Cubs could try this with a veteran or two later this month if they want to (1) save some cash, and (2) open up a spot for a youngster to get innings/ABs.

How else can a player be moved now? Well, players can also be released and signed by a new team. Again, just the normal, standard stuff.

Ah, but you want to know about trades around MLB this month. Yes, there CAN still be trades, but they are exceedingly limited: only players who are not on the 40-man roster, and have not been on the 40-man roster at all this season, can be traded for each other. These trades can last right up to a week before the postseason.

In other words, you COULD trade a prospect for a prospect right now. Or a minor league veteran for a prospect. Or a prospect for a minor league veteran. Or a minor league veteran for a minor league veteran.

In practical reality, though, what would a trade look like this time of year? You’d be looking at a team that has a veteran minor leaguer at Triple-A who is capable of being emergency big league depth for a contender down the stretch, and then circumstances arise where some contender REALLY needs a third catcher or an extra lefty or whatever. The return would be a comparable player, a super-low-level-high-risk prospect, a PTBNL, or cash.

The Dixon Machado trade before the deadline was actually this kind of trade (i.e., it could have happened after the deadline) – the Giants desperately needed a shortstop, so the Cubs sent them Machado for Raynel Espinal, neither of whom had been on the 40-man this year.

You’re wondering: do the Cubs have any PLAUSIBLY useful guys who could be traded this or next month?

Actually, I can think of at least a couple.

For one, veteran catcher John Hicks has ample big league experience and has hit reasonably well at Iowa this year. If a team suffers an injury or two at catcher, it wouldn’t surprise me at all for them to want to pluck him. For his sake, you kinda hope he gets that chance, especially with three catchers still ahead of him on the Cubs’ big league roster.

Lefty Matt Dermody, 32, has been pitching to great success in a swing role at Iowa lately, and with so many pitching options the Cubs are going to want to look at down the stretch, I’m not sure there’s a realistic scenario where the Cubs roster him and then keep him on the 40-man over the offseason. So if a team suffers a bunch of injuries and needs a lefty – or even just wants to get him as depth for now in advance of those injuries – I could see him as another plausible move.

Don’t get excited, of course. Even if the Cubs traded one of these guys, or someone else, the return is not going to be something to knock your socks off. Mostly, as with Machado, it’d be about getting a guy a big league opportunity, because that’s a good and kind thing to do (and helps you with future minor league free agents). And if you get a little more cash for the budget or a 1-in-1,000 lottery ticket, why not?

One last thought: there’s a tiny chance that there’s some minor leaguer out there whom the Cubs really like, who is set to be a minor league free agent, and that they want to TARGET right now in a minor trade so that they can have the first crack at retaining that player before the offseason. It’d have to be a really unique situation, but I’d imagine it’s at least a conversation they’re having. (Or vice versa in the Cubs’ system, I suppose.)

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