RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 4 sourcesWe're down to the final hours ahead of Monday's Major League Baseball trade deadline, with the clock ticking down to 6 p.m.
There will be no bigger deal today than the blockbuster trade sending Tarik Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers over the weekend, but there's plenty of intrigue remaining and difference-makers to be moved.
The San Francisco Giants ' Luis Arraez and Robbie Ray are thought to be the top available players Monday, Arraez a three-time batting champion and Ray a former Cy Young winner. The New York Mets also have pieces to sell off, even after dealing Freddy Peralta to the Tampa Bay Rays .
USA TODAY Sports will have live trade analysis throughout deadline day:
MLB trade deadline 2026 trade grades
Kevin Gausman to Cubs
Cubs receive: RHP Kevin Gausman
Blue Jays receive: OF Brett Bateman, IF Ty Southisene
Cubs trade grade: A
Gausman, 35, is a durable and proven veteran, who helped lead the Jays to within two outs of winning the 2025 World Series. Although he's not had a great regular season statistically (5-10, 4.38 ERA, 1.29 WHIP), he's still struck out a batter per inning and will immediately slot as the Cubs' Game 1 starter in the playoffs. The Cubs get extra credit for not giving up major league talent or top prospects in the deal.
Blue Jays trade grade: C+
Gausman's five-year, $110 million contract expires at the end of this season, so the Jays could have hung onto him and received a compensatory draft pick. However, they picked up a pair of hitters who could end up being solid, if not spectacular players down the road. Bateman, 24, has a .312/.430/.421 slash line at Class AAA and is generally regarded as a strong defensive center fielder. Southisene, 21, is a line-drive hitter currently at High-A who can play shortstop or second base.
Freddy Peralta to Rays
Rays receive: RHP Freddy Peralta
Mets receive : OF Aidan Smith, RHP Gary Hill and 2B Emilien Pitre
Rays trade grade: B
The Rays, despite being known as an analytics-first team, have a strong and deep scouting department. They've used educated eyes and determined Peralta still has the foundation. And the stats back that up. Peralta's BABIP is .361 this season, against a career mark around .264. A hundred points of separation usually means something is going to give.
Mets trade grade: C
It took David Stearns seven months to turn the No. 3 prospect in baseball into three players who don't crack anybody's top 100. In January, the Mets sent Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat to Milwaukee for Peralta and Tobias Myers. Williams was supposed to be part of the next contending Mets team. Instead, he's a Brewer, Peralta is a Ray and New York is last in the National League East.
Stearns opened these talks asking for a top 100 prospect and more. He got none. He gave away any leverage he had by scratching Peralta on Friday, signaling he was about to hold a fire sale.
Luis Garcia to Yankees
Yankees receive : 1B/DH Luis Garcia Jr.
Nationals receive : RHP Jake Bird, RHP Ben Grable, RHP Yovanny Cruz, RHP Jack Cebert
Yankees trade grade: A-
Talk about instant impact: Garcia has been fantastic this season, already establishing a career high with 23 home runs and ranking in the 93rd percentile for expected slugging. He and All-Star Ben Rice can immediately occupy the first base and DH spots, lengthening a Yankee lineup that’s been held to three runs or less in 12 of their last 16 games.
Nationals trade grade: B
Losing Garcia and Curtis Mead will be tough and signals a strong look to the future after the club bubbled over .500 this year and drew within a game of a playoff spot before a five-game losing streak, including a four-game sweep at Atlanta, preceded this deal.
Tarik Skubal trade grade
Dodgers receive : LHP Tarik Skubal
Tigers receive : RHP River Ryan, OF Zyhir Hope, RHP Brady Smith
Dodgers trade grade: A
Skubal will immediately join World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto and 2026 All-Star Justin Wrobleski in the Dodgers rotation, while Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell try to make their way back from injury in the weeks to come. Shohei Ohtani also hasn’t pitched in weeks due to a knee issue , so the blockbuster takes a ton of weight off Yamamoto – and the currently sidelined pitchers – as the calendar flips to August.
Tigers trade grade: B
Not an awful return on a deal that had to come together quickly, landing one of the game’s top prospects in Hope. But the Detroit regime will face questions after settling for Ryan − rather than say, Emmet Sheehan – as the MLB-ready pitcher coming back.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB trade grades: LIVE analysis on all the biggest deadline day deals
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