The MLB trade deadline is at 4:00 p.m. ET on July 31. However, the addition of a second wild-card team back in 2012 drastically changed the playoff picture and now teams are a bit hesitant to declare themselves sellers before the deadline since the odds of making the postseason have increased.
Commissioner Rob Manfred is open to the idea of pushing back the trade deadline after this season to give potential contending wild-card teams more time to decide their status as buyers or sellers.
"I think that the July 31st deadline is something that we may want to revisit in the context of the revised playoff format," Manfred said Wednesday, via The Associated Press, at the Beyond Sport United program. "Obviously when you have two additional opportunities to be in the playoffs, you have more teams in the hunt and they may want to wait a little longer before they make decisions."
"On the other hand, you've got to remember, we want teams that the core of which have been together for the year playing in the postseason. So you have to just balance those two issues, I think."
As we've seen so far this season, there are a number of teams who appear to be out of the playoff picture right now, but a win streak in early August could really change their position in the standings.
Take, for example, the Detroit Tigers. They're currently 47-47 and sit 10.5 games behind the AL Central-leading Kansas City Royals and three games behind the Minnesota Twins for the second wild-card spot. However, they have a couple of high-profile impending free agents (David Price and Yoenis Cespedes) who they may not be able to retain after the season.
As a result, the recent trade rumors suggested Detroit could sell at the deadline if they don't win a majority of their games before July 31. It's obvious they'd like to get some value in return for Price and Cespedes if the club isn't contending rather than receiving, at most, one compensatory draft pick if the two walk in free agency.
However, the Tigers could very well rebound in early August (with or without Price and Cespedes) and propel themselves back into the playoff discussion, which is the essence of this trade deadline conundrum.
Manfred is open to changing the date of the deadline so teams such as the Tigers won't be tasked with such franchise-altering decisions with 60 games (give or take a few) left in the season.
The new commissioner is seen as a perceptive leader, having been tasked with so many paramount baseball-related issues in his first year on the job. The MLB will likely witness a lot of changes under Manfred as the game continues to undergo a transformation.
