Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel dropped an updated version of their ESPN top 100 trade candidates list, and the movement at the top says a lot about where this deadline is heading. Jung Hoo Lee and Casey Mize both jumped into the top 10, which is a notable climb for two guys who weren't even the headline names on their own rosters a few weeks ago.
Update to the top 100 trade candidates, live and free at ESPN. Plenty of movement and new additions to the list, with Jung Hoo Lee and Casey Mize moving into the top 10. @kileymcd and I will update this a few more times before the Aug. 3 deadline: https://t.co/4DX6hlcWkx
Lee's case makes sense the moment you look at the numbers. He's hitting .315 through the first chunk of the season, top 5 in MLB in batting average, with a slugging percentage north of .450 and the ability to cover all three outfield spots. He's also signed for 3 more years after this one on his $113 million deal, which makes him a far more interesting long-term asset than rental bats like Luis Arraez. The Giants sit well under .500 with no realistic path to October, and how they handle Lee is shaping up as the real litmus test for whether San Francisco is retooling or blowing it all the way up.
Mize's rise is the sneakier story. He's not walking into the deadline with the name recognition of teammate Tarik Skubal, but a career-best ERA in the mid-2s and a WHIP under 1.00 have made him one of the most attractive under-the-radar arms on the market. He's controlled only through the rest of this season, which flips the usual logic for a rebuilding club — instead of hoarding years of control, a pending free agent who's pitching like this becomes pure deadline leverage for a Tigers front office that already looks stacked.
Passan and McDaniel say they'll keep updating the board multiple times before Aug. 3, which tells you this list isn't a snapshot — it's a live tracker of who's actually gaining traction in trade conversations. Landing in the top 10 isn't just a ranking exercise; it's insider-speak for 'expect calls on this guy to intensify.'
Reported suitors for Lee include the Phillies, Braves, Guardians, Padres, Diamondbacks, Rangers, Rays and Marlins, while Mize has already drawn links to St. Louis and Atlanta. With both players now sitting in rarefied trade-board territory, the next few weeks of scouting reports and off-record chatter are going to move fast — and however the Giants and Tigers play it, the return package for either guy could end up being the biggest story of the deadline.