The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 MLB Trade Deadline.

In an effort to bolster their pitching staff, the Boston Red Sox are trading former No. 4 pick Marcelo Mayer to the San Francisco Giants for left-hander Erik Miller. Boston also receives minor-league outfielder Carlos Gutierrez in the deal.

Mayer, who is currently on the IL with a bone stress reaction, has not played since June 25. His timeline for a return has not materialized.

In Miller, 28, Boston is receiving a controllable southpaw with above-average velocity and elite suppression of hard contact. He pairs a fastball that touches 99 mph with a wipeout slider that misses bats at an elite level. He was one of the game’s top lefties two years ago after the Giants got him for practically nothing from the Philadelphia Phillies.

There was a reason he was available, though, as he battled an assortment of injuries and command issues. Miller dealt with more elbow soreness last season, and although he’s stayed healthier this year, a high walk rate (6.1 per nine innings) has prevented him from repeating every aspect of his success in 2024. Miller will be eligible for arbitration next year and won’t be a free agent until 2030.

The other piece Boston receives in the deal, Gutierrez, is a 21-year-old who is hitting .271 with an .826 OPS in 83 games at High A this season.

From the Giants’ perspective, Mayer is an exciting acquisition and a bigger return than one might expect for a reliever. He was one of the game’s top prospects a year ago and, assuming his rehab from a stress reaction in his forearm goes well, he becomes an immediate solution for the Giants, who dealt second baseman Luis Arraez to Philadelphia on Monday.

Mayer also plays shortstop, and if the Giants determine that he can handle the position better than Willy Adames, the competition could lead to some difficult conversations.

Mayer, the Red Sox’s first-round pick in 2021, debuted last season but struggled to find his footing in the majors. Defensively gifted, Mayer strengthened the team at third base last year and played well at second and short this season, but he couldn’t find his rhythm at the plate.

Last season, after debuting in May when Alex Bregman was on the IL, Mayer took over as the starting third baseman. His year was cut short with a wrist injury in August.

This season, Mayer was the starting second baseman, but he landed on the IL in June and has just started swinging a bat.

Mayer seemed to be getting squeezed out of the picture in Boston recently. Last week, the Red Sox acquired infielder Curtis Mead to play second base in the long term. Mead broke his wrist in his first game with Boston, but his acquisition signaled reduced playing time for Mayer. Meanwhile, the rise of top prospect Franklin Arias, a shortstop who debuted at Triple-A last week, furthered that notion. Evaluators see Arias as an even better defensive infielder than Mayer.

The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 MLB Trade Deadline.

The trade

Astros get: OF Daulton Varsho
Blue Jays get: RHP Spencer Arrighetti

Astros knock out two needs with one player

Astros: A-
Blue Jays: C-

My initial reaction was to flip these grades and give the Blue Jays the higher score, but I’ve come around to the Astros’ side. Varsho is undoubtedly better than the rotating cast of characters the Astros have been using in center field this season, and their recent surge meant they owed it to themselves to address their outfield weakness. Varsho was probably the best center fielder on the market, and the Astros went out and got him. The Astros also needed a left-handed hitter, and Varsho does that, too. It’s a good fit.

As for the Blue Jays, the return is fine but not exciting. Arrighetti is a solid back-end starter who will reach arbitration eligibility this offseason. That’s better than holding onto Varsho, who’s about to be a free agent, but it doesn’t move the needle.

— Chad Jennings

Saying goodbye to a tantalizing enigma

Astros: B
Blue Jays: B-

Well, the Astros addressed one need that has been glaring since before spring training: the outfield. Sort of. While Varsho — a Gold Glove winner in 2024 — is a defensive upgrade, his offensive output this year hasn’t been up to his career standard. His .375 slugging percentage is a career low, if you don’t count his 37-game debut season in 2020 (though I guess you should; that was still more than half the truncated season).

In landing Varsho, the Astros subtracted from another area of need: starting pitching. On Sunday, Chandler Rome reported that Astros owner Jim Crane had “instructed Houston’s front office not to trade from its major-league roster.”

That apparently didn’t extend to the injured list, where Arrighetti has been since July 25 with right foot irritation.

Arrighetti has been a tantalizing pitching enigma in Houston over the last three years. The same guy who racked up double-digit strikeouts four times in his rookie season (2024) has only done it once since (in April of this year, against the Rockies).

He’s under team control through 2029, so it’s a perfectly acceptable return for an expiring contract, and it tracks with the rest of the moves Toronto has made this year: not a rebuild, just a reload. As for Houston, I’d be surprised if the Astros don’t add a pitcher to take Arrighetti’s place before the next hour is up.

— Levi Weaver

CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has taken plenty of heat for his perceived lack of aggressiveness in the past. As someone who tethers himself to playoff odds, repeatedly speaks of intelligent spending and has a general manager in Carter Hawkins who once referenced 2032 to explain the lack of big moves last summer, Hoyer has had his critics. But after a flurry of moves that saw him part with multiple talented young players, it’s probably time to look at Hoyer in a new light.

“Ideally, you don’t trade prospects,” Hoyer said Monday, after MLB’s trade deadline had passed. “But at the same time, we’re here to win. We’re here to make this roster better. We’ve invested a lot in this roster. Not just financially, but in terms of how we put the roster together. It’s a really good team. So that’s part of being in contention and being in a good position. You have to make those decisions.”

To get starters Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes and Braxton Garrett, along with reliever Ryan Zeferjahn and outfielder Tyrone Taylor, the Cubs gave up a total of seven players. Among those traded were Moisés Ballesteros, who started the season as the team’s designated hitter, and Jefferson Rojas, who some see as the organization’s top prospect.

It was odd to see the Cubs give up so much talent and not come away with a starting pitcher who would be both a significant addition in 2026 and under control beyond this season. Chicago’s front office likes Garrett, but right now, he is a depth piece who was pitching for Miami’s Triple-A affiliate this season. Giving up Ballesteros, along with pitching prospect Mason McGwire, for Zeferjahn — who is under control through 2030 and extremely talented, but still a reliever — is a departure for this front office.

But on Monday, Hoyer said prices on controllable starters at the deadline remained quite high.

“Similar to last year, the controllable starting pitching market was really tough,” Hoyer said. “Obviously, we talked to a lot of teams about controllable starters. Candidly, we never got very close on that and we were committed to adding starting pitching.”

Rojas had generated a lot of buzz, but according a person with knowledge of the matter, speaking anonymously so as to freely discuss the situation, the Cubs didn’t find he had the same value on the market. At least not with teams Chicago was engaging with. Versatile infielder Pedro Ramírez, along with prospects Josiah Hartshorn, Owen Ayers and Kane Kepley, were all getting more interest. It would have likely taken multiple of those names, along with others, to pry away an under-control starter.

“We were on everybody,” Hoyer said. “That trade deadline is such a match-making game. Who likes your prospects, how do you line up? There’s teams that you just don’t line up with and it’s very obvious right away that this person that you’re getting connected with over and over again is not gonna happen.”

The Cubs engaged the Los Angeles Angels on José Soriano, who was ultimately moved to Toronto, and Reid Detmers. They also talked to Seattle about George Kirby and Emerson Hancock. The cost on Detmers was always higher than Soriano and Chicago never felt it was close. By Monday, the Cubs had moved on to focusing on the rental market.

There was a feeling within Chicago’s front office that the team had to add as much pitching as it possibly could. Even with starter Edward Cabrera and relievers Daniel Palencia and Hoby Milner nearing returns from injuries and others, such as Ben Brown, Justin Steele and Hunter Harvey, possibly part of the equation in the future, Hoyer felt like relying on those returning arms would be taking too much of a risk.

“There’s two months, 50 games, and you can’t really make (anymore) outside additions,” Hoyer said. “You spend the entire season making outside additions, small (ones), just trying to get through the season. This was sort of the last exit ramp to add guys to be able to get through the season. I think that’s critically important. There’s no more waiver trades anymore. Given how the season’s gone, given how we’ve had to make those moves over and over, I think really reinforcing our pitching staff for this last 50 games made a lot of sense.”

By the time Gausman, Holmes and Zeferjahn enter a game for the Cubs, they will be the team’s 36th, 37th and 38th pitchers used this season, not including position players. According to Marquee Sports Network’s Chris Kamka, no other team has used more than 30. So Hoyer’s instincts here aren’t off base.

This wasn’t quite Theo Epstein’s “If not now, when?” moment. Hoyer hates the phrase “going all in,” so he’d likely shudder at the suggestion that this was what Chicago did. This team may not be leading their division and the World Series odds may not be in their favor, but Hoyer clearly believes in this group.

The reason why he upgraded the pitching is obvious. By fWAR, this is the best offense in baseball; they’re third by wRC+ and fourth in runs. Defensively, they are far and away the best team in baseball by nearly every advanced metric.

There was just one weakness. Hoyer and his front office watched as their pitching crumbled down the stretch last season. Their 2025 trade deadline addition, Michael Soroka, left his first outing as a Cub with shoulder discomfort and landed on the injured list. Cade Horton looked primed to be Chicago’s postseason ace, but broke a rib shortly before October arrived. Shota Imanaga never looked right after suffering an early-season injury and ran out of gas come the playoffs.

This is Chicago’s reaction to seeing all that. To seeing a first half full of injuries. And to seeing a roster that has a shot to win the World Series but clearly needed more healthy arms. It’s not time to put Hoyer in the same conversation as gunslingers like Dave Dombrowski or A.J. Preller. But so many have been begging him to capitalize on the moment. Hoyer saw it, and did exactly that.