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  • Dave Wilson, ESPN Staff WriterAug 27, 2023, 08:00 AM ET

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      Dave Wilson is an editor for ESPN.com since 2010. He previously worked at The Dallas Morning News, San Diego Union-Tribune and Las Vegas Sun.

The college football offseason is the best of times: Coaches love to tell you they’re all undefeated, the new recruits arrive to add some juice, and the strength coaches have everyone in the best shape of their lives. Meanwhile, the defenses are multiple and the offenses all have new wrinkles.

The offseason also is the worst of times: There aren’t any dang games, for starters, and nobody knows that if the offense lighting it up in the spring game means it’ll be great when it counts — or if your own defense is just bad.

In the 230 days since last season ended, an entire conference on the West Coast evaporated, the entire Colorado Buffaloes team was encouraged by Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders to “jump in that portal” — and, boy, did it — and Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin called the entire sport of college football a “disaster.”

So there is some history to recall. Let’s relive it in the words of the people in the middle of it all.

The Pac-12 soap opera

“It’s not a concern. Our schools are committed to each other and to the Pac-12. We’ll get our media rights deal done, we’ll announce the deal. I think the realignment that’s going on in college athletics will come to an end for this cycle. The truth is we’ve got bigger fish to fry.” — Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff, at the conference’s media day on July 21, on any worries about the Big 12 potentially poaching teams

“What we’ve seen is that the longer we wait for a deal, the better our options get. … There’s an underlying shift in the media market that’s happening and we’re long-term taking advantage of that, but short term may have provided some hiccups.” — Kliavkoff, at media day, on a potential new television contract

“They’re back.” — Michael Jordan-style statement issued by Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark, announcing Colorado’s Big 12 return on July 27

“I’m trying to remember what they won to affect this conference and I don’t remember. Do you remember them winning anything? I don’t remember them winning anything.” — Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning on Colorado

On Aug. 1, Kliavkoff ended up presenting his league schools with a primarily subscription-based Apple streaming deal that expired after this school year. Shortly after, Oregon and the Washington Huskies joined the Big Ten, while the Arizona Wildcats, Arizona State Sun Devils and Utah Utes joined Colorado in the Big 12. The Pac-12 was left with just four teams: the Cal Bears, Stanford Cardinal, Oregon State Beavers and Washington State Cougars.

“I think it’s been well documented that the last couple of weeks was a culmination of years of failed leadership, vision, failed implementation. It isn’t one singular thing that led to the destruction of the Pac-12 as we know it. It was a bunch of decisions and failed strategies that put us in this place.” — Washington State athletic director Pat Chun, whose school was left out of the realignment derby and remains as one of the four Pac-12 schools in limbo

“It just wasn’t one of those great feelings to work in college sports, in my experience. I take responsibility where we’ve made moves. But there was something different last week about the questions around the existence of the Pac-12 Conference, given its long and storied history.” — SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, on the Paul Finebaum show

The ACC’s soap opera in development

“My current assessment of the situation after very deep analysis is I believe FSU will have to at some point consider very seriously leaving the ACC unless there were a radical change to the revenue distribution.”
— Florida State president Robert McCullough, in a board of trustees meeting on Aug. 2

“What they want to do and how they want to go about doing their business, that is their business but it does have an impact on us. And quite frankly, I don’t think it’s good for our league for them to be out there barking like that. … Pay for the exit fee, wait for your grant of rights that you’ve given and then in 2036 when those rights return to you, do whatever you want.”
— North Carolina Bubba Cunningham, of FSU, on the Adam Gold Show.

“The timing for us to do something radical is not known, but it’s not 2036.”
— FSU AD director Michael Alford, to ESPN, about the Seminoles’ desire to leave before the school’s ACC grant of rights are up, because they say they’re falling financially behind SEC and Big Ten teams

“We are where we are, and we have to try and make it work. I mean, we’ve been pretty vocal in the past month about, we need to find a home for Stanford and Cal. You can’t have two of the great academic institutions in the world not have a place to play.”
— Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, on the Dan Patrick show, about the possibility of the two institutions joining the ACC, which Notre Dame belongs to in all sports except for football and ice hockey

“People used to have to come across the country in a covered wagon — it would take them months and they’d be completely different people by the time they got there. We get on a plane for five hours, six hours, that’s not the end of the world. You get drinks served to you and some snacks, and it’s not that bad.”
— Stanford coach Troy Taylor, about potentially having to travel to the East Coast for ACC games.

Thinking three-peat?

“Starting to think about the next one, I do think it’s going to be much tougher. And I do think we’re going to have to reinvent ourselves next year because you can’t just stay the same.” — Georgia Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart, the morning after Georgia’s 65-7 victory over the TCU Horned Frogs in the College Football Playoff National Championship game

“No offense to the Minnesota 1935 team, but I don’t know if it’s going to resonate with my audience.” –– Smart, at SEC media day, on examples of three-peats in history he uses to talk to his team

New faces in new places

“He’ll call a lot of — hopefully he’ll call the game. We’ll have suggestions on things we do, whether it’s offense or defense. Every coach is always involved. It’s a more collective thing than people want to give it room for.” –– Texas A&M Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher, at SEC media days on July 17, on new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino and if he’ll take over playcalling from Fisher

“I’ve read or heard, or I’ve had people send me things about [Petrino] and Coach Fisher getting along. That’s not really how it works, OK? Coach is the boss, all right, and my job is to try to keep him happy and make sure that everything works the way he wants it to work.” — Petrino, at his Texas A&M media day news conference on Aug. 6

“Here’s what I really believe: I love our team — they’re my team, they’re Auburn’s team. We’re going to coach the heck out of them. Does our roster from top to bottom look like Alabama’s, Georgia’s, LSU’s, Florida, A&M, Ole Miss? I don’t know yet. I know a couple they don’t because I’ve watched the tape. Do I think we’ve improved Auburn with the additions that we’ve had since I’ve been there? Yes. Does that mean we close the gap at all? I have no clue.” — New Auburn Tigers coach Hugh Freeze, at SEC media days

“I never could have imagined, nor did I desire, to become a head coach under these types of circumstances. That said, I’m honored to lead this group moving forward.” –– David Braun, who was elevated to interim head coach at Northwestern after Pat Fitzgerald was fired amid allegations of widespread hazing in the football program

Braun was hired as defensive coordinator in January from North Dakota State.

“Being an independent, I wasn’t able to experience this as a head coach, so this is my first time. I was actually getting some pointers and some tips from Kedon Slovis. He’s been through more media days than I have.” — BYU Cougars coach Kalani Sitake, at his first Big 12 media day appearance since BYU joined, on his quarterback, who previously played at USC and Pitt

“There was a time when Nebraska football was feared, and we certainly want to get back to that. We want to be a team that you say, ‘You know what? That team’s feared.’ But we’re not at that point yet. We’re at a point where I believe we have to take back the respect of what it means to play Nebraska and to be at Nebraska.” –– Matt Rhule, on rebuilding the Nebraska Cornhuskers program

Jim Harbaugh returned — again

Then he got back to work:

“Like our good friend Ric Flair said, ‘If you want to be the man, you’ve got to beat the man.'” — Harbaugh, on why he created a “Beat Georgia” drill in practice

Missing Mike Leach

“You know Texas Tech is going to put [Leach] in the Hall of Fame there [with former Tech QB] Kliff Kingsbury and they picked the Houston game to do it. I’m going to be on the other sideline when they do it, and I think that is probably going to put me in a dark spot briefly when they do it. I’ll have to hurry up and get out of it.” — Houston Cougars coach Dana Holgorsen, who played for Leach — who died in December — at Iowa Wesleyan and coached under him at Texas Tech

DTR MIA at UCLA

“The quarterback spot, I think we have to replace a quarterback for the first time since George Bush was president. I mean, George Herbert Walker Bush, not the other one. We had Dorian for 48 games. I started my career (at UCLA) with Dorian. I anticipate going to fall camp and him still being there because he was around so much.” — UCLA Bruins coach Chip Kelly, on finding a new starter after the graduation of Dorian Thompson-Robinson

Biff checks out

New Charlotte 49ers coach Biff Poggi didn’t appreciate being asked only three questions at AAC media day.

It’s Prime Time at Colorado

“We got a few positions already taken care of because I’m bringing my own luggage with me and it’s Louis [Vuitton], OK? … Ain’t gonna be no more of the mess that these wonderful fans, the student body and some of your parents have put up with for probably two decades now. I’m coming. And when I get there, it’s gonna be changed, so I want y’all to get ready to go ahead and jump in that portal and do whatever you’re gonna get because the more of you jump into [the portal], the more room you make because we bring kids that are smart, tough.” — Deion Sanders, in his first meeting with his Colorado team after being hired

“Quarterbacks are different. We want mother/father. Dual parent. We want that kid to be 3.5 [GPA] and up. Because he has to be smart. Not bad decisions off the field, at all. Because he has to be a leader of men. … Defensive linemen is totally opposite. Single mama, trying to get it, he’s on free lunch. I’m talking about just trying to make it. He’s trying to rescue mama. Like mama barely made the flight. And I want him to just go get it.” — Sanders, on what attributes he looks for in recruits, from “The Rich Eisen Show”

“If one fights, we all fight. You understand that? I don’t want to see you all walking off when somebody’s fighting. Never again!” –– Sanders, on players sitting out a shoving match between teammates in practice

The always-introspective Dave Aranda

“I think I probably was too lenient with guys, and I think I probably tried to help too many guys that I think probably needed a tougher version of me. I probably gave too many guys chances that were probably taking advantage of me, or those chances.” — Baylor Bears coach Dave Aranda, on why the Bears struggled last season after winning the Big 12 in 2021

Sooner or later?

“A year ago, I challenged the guys. I wasn’t like Deion that gave guys a bunch of pink slips.” — Oklahoma Sooners coach Brent Venables, to OUNightlySports, on working to reshape Oklahoma’s roster, which had 21 players leave this year after Venables’ 6-7 season in Year 1

“I had a rocky start to my college career. I chose the wrong school.” –– Kyler Murray, who transferred to Oklahoma from Texas A&M, at OU’s spring game where his statue was unveiled at Heisman Park

A new frontier in recruiting

“I think AI has an opportunity, maybe to create that kind of model for us relative to who is that kind of player out there all over the country, without making a mistake. I think that there’s going to be room for it, and I think it’s exciting and something that we’re about to venture into.” — LSU Tigers coach Brian Kelly, on using artificial intelligence in recruiting

And a new voice in recruiting

“I think my accent is pretty good and has gotten better throughout the recruiting process. It depends on if I’m in northern Louisiana or southern Louisiana. Sometimes I get over to Lake Charles, it’s got to change a little bit.” — Kelly, on his newly acquired Southern drawl

Money is the problem, you say?

“You have to be careful what you create as the monster that is college athletics. … Unfortunately, we’re in a time now, everybody’s fighting over the dollar.” — Fisher, whose contract would pay him $95 million through 2031, on realignment and schools being spread apart in different conferences

Divine design intervention

“If God wanted a [multicolored] sunset, He’d have made it purple, green, yellow, black, red. He made it orange. When the sun rises, it’s burnt orange. It’s perfect.” –– Texas Longhorns athletic director Chris Del Conte, on if Texas will have alternate uniforms

One last year of Big 12 hate

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0:23

Big 12 commish doesn’t hide rooting interests in Texas Tech vs. Texas

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark tells Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire to “take care of business” against Texas before the Longhorns go to the SEC.

“I think that they’ve kind of assumed this mentality of, ‘Embrace the hate.’ We get it. We’re the University of Texas, we get it. This is our last year in the Big 12. We can sit there and be a punching bag, or we can go attack the people that we’re going to play.” — Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian

“Are you basing that — it depends on what we’re basing that on. Are we basing that on history? Are we basing that on the last five years? Are we basing that on the last 50 years? I’m not sure how anybody really comes up with who’s a favorite right now. … I think one of the fun things about the Big 12 is we don’t really know who’s going to win based on what’s happening in the last few years.” — Oklahoma State Cowboys coach Mike Gundy, on if Texas deserves to be the Big 12 favorite this season

“The Bedlam game is over because Oklahoma chose to leave the Big 12, period. It’s got nothing to do with Oklahoma State.” — Gundy, on the end of the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State rivalry

“Coach [McGuire], I’m not going to put any pressure on you, but I’m gonna be in Austin for Thanksgiving, OK? And you’d better take care of business like you did right here in Lubbock last year.” — Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark, speaking at Texas Tech’s Red Raider Club in Lubbock, encouraging Tech to beat Texas for a second straight year in the Longhorns’ last Big 12 game before they depart for the SEC

“These so-called blue bloods — and I really question that. One of them’s really good in Olympic sports. … There is an opportunity to put the Red Raiders at the forefront of this conference, and I don’t want to wait ’til 2024 when it’s a new conference. It’s more important to do it in 2023 when those old two are still here so they can understand exactly who runs the Big 12.” — Texas Tech Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire, at the same event, on Texas and Oklahoma

M-V-P!

“Bo’s not just our quarterback, he’s also my babysitter. I walked in the house the other day, and my wife was out with some of the other coaches’ wives, I believe, and Bo’s in the living room. And I’m like, ‘What are you up to, man?’ He goes, ‘Oh, the boys just finished basketball practice. They’re getting ready for bed.'” — Lanning, on his relationship with Bo Nix

Don’t make them angry

“It’s why we have Finebaum, so he can motivate him every other year and say, ‘Oh, his dynasty is over and this is the end of Saban.’ Then we’re like, ‘Hey, thanks a lot for pissing him off.’ Paul’s always wrong on this subject, and he just did it again the other day: ‘If he doesn’t make the playoffs, he’s not any good as a coach.’ So, thanks Paul.” — Kiffin, on the yearly speculation that Nick Saban might not challenge for a title

“The expectation is Joyless Murderball.” — Alabama Crimson Tide defensive lineman Dallas Turner, on what he expects from the Crimson Tide defense this year

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2:38

Bama’s success depends on coaching changes, QB talent

On “SEC Now,” Chris Doering says the Tide will be taking a backseat to LSU but feels that recent coaching changes puts them on the path for success down the road.

It just means more

“They stayed healthy, they had a lot of experience and they got to where they had to get to. And then when they got to the SEC, it changed, didn’t it?” –– Fisher, speaking to the Fort Worth Texas A&M Club about TCU’s season

“I know Jimbo well enough to know he’s a pro and he wouldn’t disparage anyone else’s success or a bunch of 18- and 22-year-old kids’ success, so I’m sure that was a small part of the comment that he made.” — TCU coach Sonny Dykes, to the Dallas Morning News

Oh, and by the way

“Missouri was playing in a lot of Big 12 championships. Haven’t seen that much in the SEC. A&M was a competitive program, not as often now. I don’t know about you, but UCLA and Rutgers feels like a natural rivalry to me.” — Dykes, at Big 12 media day on how realignment has changed college football

They know what they like

“I think the thing I love the most after my wife and my kids are slot receivers. They are typically one of the most productive positions in the offense.” –– New Wisconsin Badgers offensive coordinator Phil Longo, who will be running an Air Raid offense at the traditionally ground-based program, at the team’s local media day

“A lawnsman! That’s what I do. Mowing the lawn is one of the great feelings I have in life. It accomplishes three things: I’m clearing my mind or thinking of new plays; I feel good about what I accomplish; and I either make money or I save money.” — Michigan Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh, to Sports Illustrated, on what he would be if he wasn’t a football coach

Biff hates sleeves

Poggi made it clear what you see is what you get when it comes to his game-day attire.

Topics to avoid

“For a while there I thought it was interesting, but I’m almost considering the NIL and the portal like religion and politics where it’s not even worth discussing because we don’t necessarily have a rhyme or reason for what’s happening.” — Gundy, whose Oklahoma State team lost 17 scholarship players to the transfer portal this year

Hacking the transfer portal

“I have DMs, I have WhatsApp, I have text messages, I have IP addresses, and I am doing everything in my power to make sure they know — don’t screw with my roster.” — New UAB Blazers coach Trent Dilfer, on how he’s trying to protect his players from tampering

Words for all of us to live by this season

“I will continue to do what I always tell our players and my kids at home, ‘Don’t get bitter, get better.'” — Harbaugh, on Michigan’s self-imposed three-game suspension for him to begin the season after alleged NCAA violations during the COVID-19 dead period

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The anticipated archvillains for every top 25 college football team

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July 10, 2025

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The anticipated archvillains for every top 25 college football team

You know it as soon as the college football schedule drops. The game that’s circled, the player you love to hate, the rival coach who seems to especially delight in destroying your team’s season.

We’re getting into the dog days of summer, with the only relief being the crisp autumn days of the college football season are rapidly approaching. But that means the enemies are lining up at the gates.

Today, we’re doing recon on where each post-spring top 25 team stands and who stands in their way. These are each teams’ potential future villains, the coaches, players and teams that have the chance to make the whole season go south. — Dave Wilson

1. Penn State: Ryan Day

Penn State coach James Franklin and the Nittany Lions have been unable to get over the hump against Ohio State, especially since Day took over in Columbus. The Nittany Lions have dropped six straight to Day, culminating with last year’s defeat, as fourth-ranked Ohio State rallied to topple the third-ranked Nittany Lions in State College 20-13. This season, Day will have a new starting quarterback and inexperience on both sides of the ball coming off last year’s national championship. Penn State will counter with one of the most experienced teams in the country, headlined by veteran quarterback Drew Allar and running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen. Franklin even hired away Day’s defensive coordinator, Jim Knowles. The Nittany Lions travel to Columbus on Nov. 1 in a showdown that figures to carry major playoff implications. — Jake Trotter

Clemson’s arch enemy for this season is obvious: Sellers. The Tigers watched the South Carolina quarterback dodge defenders, break tackles and keep one play after another alive last season in a stunning Gamecocks win that nearly derailed Clemson’s season. Clemson will be looking for revenge, of course, but new defensive coordinator Tom Allen will be more focused on finding answers for the elusive Sellers. There are lofty expectations at Clemson this season, and the Tigers don’t necessarily need a win over South Carolina to achieve them, but nobody will sleep soundly in the state if the 2025 defense coughs up another win to its biggest rival. — David Hale

3. Texas: Oklahoma

In Week 1, the Longhorns get a rubber match against an Ohio State team that eliminated Texas from the playoff last season, but the results of this game leave a lot of runway for either team to get back into this year’s postseason. Yet, there is no bigger test every year for Texas than Oklahoma in Dallas. This one’s a bit of a mystery, with the Sooners bringing in new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and quarterback John Mateer, who played high school football in the Dallas area, from Washington State. The new-look Sooners could either be a launching point or a big speed bump in the SEC schedule for a Longhorns team with national championship aspirations. — Dave Wilson

4. Georgia: Alabama

The last coach Georgia fans ever wanted to see on the other sideline is doing television. Nick Saban was 5-1 against Kirby Smart, but even with Saban in his first year of retirement last season, Alabama still beat Georgia in a wild 41-34 game in Tuscaloosa the final weekend of September. Georgia has lost nine of the past 10 games in the series and hasn’t beaten Alabama in the regular season since 2007, Saban’s first season in Tuscaloosa, when the Mark Richt-coached Bulldogs won 26-23 in overtime. Georgia has vaulted to elite status under Smart, but a second straight loss to DeBoer — especially with this year’s game being played in Athens — wouldn’t sit well with anybody in Athens. — Chris Low

5. Ohio State: Sherrone Moore

Michigan coach Sherrone Moore has become a problem for the Buckeyes. He might not wear the villain outfit quite as well as predecessor Jim Harbaugh did, but Moore’s rise in coaching — as Wolverines offensive line coach, offensive coordinator and now head coach — has coincided with Ohio State’s longest losing streak (four games) to its archrival since 1991. Moore served as acting head coach during Harbaugh’s Big Ten-imposed suspension in 2023, as Michigan punched its ticket to the Big Ten championship game. He then earned the permanent role and pulled off one of the more stunning upsets in the history of The Game in November in Columbus. The story of Moore’s coaching career at Michigan is really just beginning, but he has already demonstrated his ability to win the biggest games. — Adam Rittenberg

6. LSU: Daytime home games

LSU fans have been known to curse day games, especially in the sweltering September heat. It’s at night when Tiger Stadium (and typically LSU’s football team) shines. In 2025, the only SEC home game that LSU will definitely play at night is the league opener against Florida on Sept. 13. Home games against South Carolina and Texas A&M fall into the “flex” window, meaning they could start as early as 3:30 p.m. ET or as late as 8 p.m. ET. Since 2000, LSU is 112-15 in Saturday night home games at Tiger Stadium. Brian Kelly has faced just two nationally ranked SEC opponents in day games at Tiger Stadium and is 1-1. — Low

7. Notre Dame: Miami

No Notre Dame players were alive for the 1988 clash with Miami, and Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman was only 2 years old. But longtime Domers will always view the U as a true villain, and new Miami quarterback Carson Beck, the transfer from Georgia, sparks a range of reactions. Notre Dame scored a signature win in the CFP semifinal at the Sugar Bowl against a Georgia squad that had lost Beck to injury. When healthy, Beck is talented enough to villainize a Notre Dame defense replacing standouts Xavier Watts, Jack Kiser, Rylie Mills and others and appearing in its first game under new coordinator Chris Ash. Early season games are one of the only knocks against Freeman, who has dropped at least one September game in each of his three seasons as Irish coach. Notre Dame needs a strong start with its two most talented opponents — Miami and Texas A&M — leading off the schedule. — Rittenberg

8. Oregon: Ohio State

Is it too simple to say Ohio State? Maybe just Jeremiah Smith after he caught seven passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns in the Rose Bowl drubbing that the Buckeyes put on the Ducks to end their undefeated season? The good news for Dan Lanning & Co. (or bad depending on how you look at it) is that Oregon will not face Ohio State in the regular season this season and a rematch could only occur in the Big Ten title game or in the College Football Playoff. Penn State enters the fray this season as a much-hyped conference contender that the Ducks will have to face and yet it feels like Oregon and Ohio State are still the cream of the crop for the conference and are likely to continue seeing each other on the sport’s biggest stages. — Paolo Uggetti

9. Alabama: Vanderbilt

Remember when Saban won 100 straight games against unranked opponents, the longest such streak in the AP poll era? Now, all of a sudden, the Crimson Tide are 2-3 against their past five unranked foes, a stretch that started with a stunning 40-35 loss at Vanderbilt last season, which came only a week after DeBoer beat No. 2-ranked Georgia in his SEC opener as Alabama’s head coach. It was the first time Alabama had lost to Vanderbilt since 1984. Alabama will get its shot at payback this season on Oct. 4 when Vanderbilt visits Bryant-Denny Stadium. The loss to Vanderbilt a year ago ignited what was the first three-loss regular season for Alabama since 2010. Judging by some of the comments from Alabama players this offseason, nobody will need to remind the Tide when the Commodores are coming to town. — Low

10. BYU: Utah

It’s always Utah. The “Holy War” frequently manages to surprise us. A year ago, BYU was coming off a 5-7 season and Utah was considered the Big 12 favorite. This time, we have a full reversal: The Utes are the ones coming off a disappointing 5-7 campaign and the Cougars are ranked the highest of any Big 12 team on this list. (Granted, this ranking doesn’t account for the sudden uncertainty BYU is dealing with at the QB position.) We’ll already have a decent idea of BYU’s capabilities by the time Utah visits Provo in Week 8, but the Holy War could serve as a Big 12 title elimination game, and it will definitely impact the tenor of the season for both teams. It always does. — Connelly

Purdue didn’t generate many highlights in 2024, but it gave Illinois a major scare at Memorial Stadium, erasing a 24-3 deficit to force overtime before falling 50-49. Among the Boilermakers’ stars that day was tight end Max Klare, who recorded his first 100-yard receiving performance, finishing with 133 yards on six catches. Klare, like most of Purdue’s best players, transferred following the team’s coaching change. He landed at Ohio State, which will visit Memorial Stadium on Oct. 11. Illinois certainly will be aware of Klare but also must contain Heisman Trophy contender Jeremiah Smith and several other standout wide receivers, if it wants any chance at knocking off the defending national champions. — Rittenberg

12. Arizona State: Regression

Arizona State had one of the hottest teams in the country at the end of 2024 and returns far more of last year’s production than most. The Sun Devils appear primed for a run at a repeat Big 12 title. The problem: No one repeats in the Big 12. ASU’s biggest archrival could simply be regression to the mean. Among current members, the past six teams to reach the Big 12 championship before 2024 — 2020 Iowa State, 2021 Baylor, 2021 Oklahoma State, 2022 Kansas State, 2022 TCU and 2023 Oklahoma State — went a combined 28-9 in one-score finishes during their title runs. The following seasons, they went a combined 9-22 in such games. ASU went 6-2 in one-score finishes last season. It’s really hard to do that twice in a row, and in the Big 12 it appears impossible. — Connelly

13. South Carolina: LSU

South Carolina has its share of hated rivals — Georgia, Clemson, anyone else who plays “Sandstorm” during timeouts — but as the Gamecocks look to make a playoff run in 2025, enemy No. 1 might well be LSU. The Bayou Bengals have dominated South Carolina over the years, holding an 18-2 all-time record and winning eight straight matchups dating to 1995. More recently, LSU escaped Columbia with a 36-33 win last season in which the Gamecocks blew a four-point lead with less than 2 minutes to play. That loss ultimately cost South Carolina a playoff bid, but the Gamecocks feel certain they’re a far better team than they were then. If they can exact some revenge this time, it’ll be a big step toward reaching those lofty goals. — Hale

14. Iowa State: Kansas State

There’s no such thing as a Week 0 elimination game, but we get the closest thing to it in Dublin to start the 2025 season. The annual (for now) Farmageddon battle between ISU and Kansas State will take place in particularly green pastures this time, and it will pit two preseason top 20 teams with major Big 12 title hopes. Last year, the Cyclones’ defense played a perfect fourth quarter against the Wildcats, allowing just one yard in 12 snaps to win 29-21 and advance to the conference title game. This time, someone will be 0-1 in conference play before Week 1 even arrives. This is about as big a season opener as you could hope for. — Connelly

15. SMU: TCU

SMU was 3-17 against TCU coaches in the Dennis Franchione/Gary Patterson era, then Sonny Dykes won two straight against the Frogs in Dallas. Once he defected for the purple pastures of Fort Worth, he then won his first two against the Mustangs. Last year, however, SMU got its revenge in a 66-42 pummeling of TCU in a game in which Dykes was ejected. This year, the two teams, which have met 103 times, are scheduled for their last Iron Skillet game for the foreseeable future. This one will have some heat. — Wilson

16. Texas Tech: Baylor

Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire got his start in college coaching at Baylor under Matt Rhule and was promoted under Dave Aranda. He left in midseason in 2021 when he got the Tech job. While trying to right the ship in Lubbock, he’s gone 1-2 against Aranda, including a 59-35 home loss last season. Since Mike Leach was fired, the Red Raiders are 5-10 against the Bears, a team they’ll need to eclipse with their big ambitions to sit atop the Big 12. — Wilson

17. Indiana: UCLA

Coach Curt Cignetti and the Hoosiers did a great job of retaining players and coaches from a 2024 team that won a school-record 11 games and reached the CFP. But two who got away — a coach and a player — landed with UCLA, which visits Indiana on Oct. 25. New Bruins offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri coached Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke last year and had spent the previous three seasons on Cignetti’s staff at James Madison. He might know the secrets to attacking Indiana’s defense. Defensive back Jamier Johnson transferred from Indiana to UCLA after recording 35 tackles and an interception last fall for the Hoosiers. Johnson, who began his college career at Texas, will be part of a reshaped UCLA secondary. — Rittenberg

18. Kansas State: Iowa State

As mentioned above, it’s all about the season opener against Iowa State. It will be the first opportunity for quarterback Avery Johnson and K-State to prove that last year’s all-or-nothing offense has matured a bit. The Wildcats averaged 37.6 points in wins and only 15.8 in losses. They scored TDs on 75% of red zone drives in wins and 42% in losses. They committed more turnovers in the four losses (nine) than in the nine wins (seven). You could almost say that this means K-State’s biggest archrival is K-State. Regardless, Week 0 is enormous. Turnovers and later-down failures cost it dearly against Iowa State last season, and it gets an immediate opportunity to right one of 2024’s wrongs. — Connelly

19. Florida: Georgia

Florida has plenty of teams it considers rivals, but only one on the schedule this season has beaten the Gators four years in a row. That would be Georgia, which has absolutely dominated them since Kirby Smart took over the program in 2016. Smart is 7-2 against Florida, and just like that record, has finished ahead of Florida in the SEC standings seven times. We all know the Gators closed last season strong with big wins over LSU and Ole Miss, but the true litmus test for where this program is — and whether it can return to elite status under coach Billy Napier — is the Georgia game. — Adelson

20. Michigan: Ohio State

Even though the Wolverines have won four straight in the series, Ohio State remains Michigan’s archvillain for obvious reasons. The Buckeyes rattled off eight straight wins before Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh turned the tide in 2021 with the first of the four straight victories. Coach Sherrone Moore salvaged an up-and-down, first full season with a stunning 13-10 victory over Ohio State in Columbus last year. Much of that Ohio State national championship team has moved on to the NFL. But the postgame flag-plant fracas at the Horseshoe last year reinforced why this bitter rivalry has never carried more vitriol for either side. The last thing the Wolverines want this season is to watch Ohio State return the favor by planting its flag on the Block M at the Big House. — Trotter

21. Miami: Syracuse

Georgia Tech is not on the schedule this year or that would be the slam dunk choice. We could go with the obvious “traditional arch nemesis” Notre Dame, which is visiting South Florida for the first time since 2017. But there is another team that gets to wear the villain hat, if only for this season: Syracuse. That’s right, the team that beat Miami 42-38 in the 2024 regular-season finale to keep the Hurricanes out of the ACC championship game visits Hard Rock Stadium on Nov. 8. While both rosters have turned over since that game, the head coaches remain the same and there might be some added fuel to the fire. — Adelson

22. Louisville: Kentucky

In 2022, Louisville was 10-1 and favored against rival Kentucky. The Cardinals lost. In 2021, they were 7-4 and lost. It was an all-too-familiar story. Since 2016, Louisville has lost as a favorite against its rival three times — often sullying otherwise impressive seasons. Last year, the Cardinals had no such worries as they beat up on the Wildcats, who were slogging through a down season, but Jeff Brohm & Co. know the history too well to assume that will be the start of a trend. There are tougher and bigger games on Louisville’s schedule this season, but none that will mean more than beating those hated Cats. — Hale

23. Texas A&M: Steve Sarkisian

Sarkisian has done a masterful job reloading Texas to meet its potential. Last year, he took the Longhorns into Kyle Field and spoiled the Aggies’ chances of getting into the SEC championship game, and this year, A&M visits Austin for the first time since 2010 where Arch Manning hysteria dominates the headlines and the Longhorns will be seeking a coronation for a playoff run. Sarkisian, an avowed fan of college rivalries and traditions, will look to push all the right buttons to ignite his team. — Wilson

24. Ole Miss: Mississippi State

Don’t get anybody in Oxford started on those “dreaded” cowbells clanging away from fans of the “school down south.” That school being bitter rival Mississippi State, whose former coach, Dan Mullen, used to refer to Ole Miss as the “school up north.” Either way, nobody in the SEC is particularly fond of the Mississippi State cowbells, in no way a banned artificial noisemaker. Yes, that’s a joke. But to Ole Miss fans, they would rather hear nails scratching on a chalkboard. The good news for the Rebels is that they’ve lost only once in the past five games between the schools but will get a heavy dose of the cowbells this Nov. 28 in Starkville. — Low

25. Oklahoma: Texas

In the Wishbone era, and then once again after Bob Stoops took over then ceded way to Lincoln Riley, the Oklahoma quarterback position made college football kings. In recent years, Landry Jones, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts, Caleb Williams and Dillon Gabriel all put up huge numbers. But the Sooners have fallen back a little and Texas is rolling into the Cotton Bowl with its own football royalty in Arch Manning. Oklahoma needs to right the ship, and all eyes will be on Dallas and where the program stands in the SEC era. — Wilson

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Passan finds the perfect trade deadline addition for every MLB contender

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27 mins ago

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July 10, 2025

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Passan finds the perfect trade deadline addition for every MLB contender

It’s posturing season. Major League Baseball’s trade deadline goes through the same mechanics every year. Following June calls to indicate interest in players, early-to-mid-July brings out the first offers, which are inevitably imbalanced toward the teams willing to move players and, accordingly, holding all the leverage.

It’s the reason trades before the All-Star break are rare — and also a reminder that just because a match isn’t there now, it doesn’t preclude one going forward. So many elements play into a deadline (the keenness of teams to send away quality players, the willingness of contenders to make a move over the objection of their analytical model, the standings, recent performance and dozens of others) that to link team and player in a potential deal is a fool’s errand.

Well, consider this slightly foolish. Needs are needs, and even the best teams in baseball have them. Who would be the best players to fill them? This exercise endeavors to answer that.

Below are the 16 teams in MLB with winning records. Certainly a cadre of under-.500 teams — the Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks chief among them — could work their way into the conversation despite their slow starts. For now, though, these are the best teams baseball has to offer, and for each we found a fit among available players that makes too much sense not to pursue.

Teams are listed in order of record by league.

American League

59-35, first place, AL Central

Weakness: Swing-and-miss relievers

Best match: David Bednar, Pittsburgh Pirates

Cade Smith (Cleveland Guardians) and Griffin Jax (Minnesota Twins) are the right answers, but the likelihood of Detroit pulling off an in-division deal to get a swing-and-miss reliever is minimal. Which leaves Bednar, who has rebounded from an atrocious 2024 to recapture his form of 2021-23, when he was among the five best relievers in baseball. With a high-90s fastball, a hard-breaking curveball and a mean splitter, Bednar’s arsenal would give the Tigers a ninth-inning option beyond Will Vest or Tommy Kahnle.

Beyond the bullpen, the Tigers don’t need much. They can really hit, with eight of their nine regulars sporting slugging percentages of .415 or better. Manager AJ Hinch’s constant tinkering — the most Detroit has used one lineup this year is four times — doesn’t just work, it is an identity the team embraces.

And as much as the Tigers could use capital from their tremendous farm system to add to this team, they don’t necessarily need it. This is the second year of a window that’s bound to last. Securing Bednar’s services for two playoff runs is the sort of incremental step needed to capitalize in a down American League.

55-38, first place, AL West

Weakness: Starting pitching and left-handed hitting

Best match: Seth Lugo, Kansas City Royals

The Astros lost Alex Bregman to free agency, traded Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs, have spent most of the season without Yordan Alvarez, their best hitter, and currently sport a rotation that includes 26- and 28-year-old rookies. There is no reason they should be this good. And yet they are.

So even if the cost is heavy and eats into a farm system that’s among the worst in MLB, targeting a pitcher of Lugo’s ilk would give them among the nastiest postseason rotations in the game and further entrench the Astros as a force. Lugo’s peripherals suggest he’s in line for regression but even if his ERA does jump from its current 2.67 mark, Lugo’s nine-pitch mix gives him the flexibility to adjust in-game — a luxury shared by only a handful of starters in the game.

54-39, first place, American League East

Weakness: Starting pitching

Best match: Mitch Keller, Pittsburgh Pirates

Adding Keller solves multiple problems at once. The 29-year-old is producing the best season of his seven-year career with the Pirates, averaging nearly six innings a start and giving up only seven home runs in 106⅓ innings. The Blue Jays need rotation help — and, in a deal for Keller, could try to get David Bednar, Dennis Santana or Caleb Ferguson from the Pirates to complement an already-good bullpen riding breakouts from Braydon Fisher and Brendon Little.

Further, Keller remains under contract for three years at a reasonable $54.5 million, and with starters Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer free agents after this year and Kevin Gausman following the 2026 season, Toronto covets controllable starting pitching in a market that, at the moment at least, doesn’t offer much.

Pittsburgh could hold onto Keller and march into 2026 with a staff of Keller, Paul Skenes, Mike Burrows, Bubba Chandler and Bailey Falter — easily a top-10 rotation, maybe better — with Hunter Barco not far behind. But the Pirates desperately need bats and while Toronto’s farm system is not teeming with them, the Blue Jays can cobble together enough to make a deal worth Pittsburgh’s while.

51-41, second place, AL East (first wild card)

Weakness: Third baseman and pitching

Best match: Eugenio Suárez, Arizona Diamondbacks

This could be Seth Lugo. Or Emmanuel Clase of the Guardians. Or any number of players. The Yankees are not going to stop at one player this deadline. For all their strengths — and there are plenty — they have too many weaknesses to take half-measures.

Suárez is an excellent first step. His power is undeniable, a perfect fit in the middle of any lineup. He plays third base, a black hole for New York this season. The Yankees could two-birds-one-stone a deal and get Zac Gallen or Merrill Kelly from Arizona, too. But Suárez is the main target, because even if other third-base options exist — Nolan Arenado in St. Louis, Ryan McMahon in Colorado, Ke’Bryan Hayes in Pittsburgh — they’re owed significant money and are under contract for multiple years. Suárez’s expiring contract would allow the Yankees a trial run, and if he thrives in the Bronx, all they would need to bring him back is cash.

50-43, third place, AL East (second wild card)

Weakness: Relief pitching

Best match: Griffin Jax, Minnesota Twins

Remember, now, this is the best match, not necessarily the likeliest. Minnesota is notoriously value-conscious in its dealings, and the Twins will put an exceptionally high price on Jax, whom they regard as one of the best relievers in baseball — an opinion shared by most teams. With a fastball that sits at 97 mph and a dastardly slider, he is a setup man in name and a closer in stuff — precisely what the Rays, who are missing Manuel Rodriguez and Hunter Bigge, could use.

The Rays aren’t typically the sort of team to overpay for relievers, even ones with two additional years of club control. If not Jax, they could opt for Brock Stewart (Twins), who likewise has a vast array of swing-and-miss stuff — and two more years of team control as well.

48-44, second place, AL West (tied for third wild card)

Weakness: Corner infielder

Best match: Josh Naylor, Arizona Diamondbacks

Though the Mariners are managing with Donovan Solano and Luke Raley at first base, upgrading to Naylor would transform Seattle’s lineup for the better. Whether it’s slotting him behind J.P. Crawford to ensure Cal Raleigh comes to the plate with more baserunners, or sticking him in between Raleigh and Randy Arozarena to do the cleaning up himself, Naylor is a high-average, low-strikeout slugger whose quality at-bats would help transform a solid Seattle lineup into something more.

Pairing him with Eugenio Suárez would plug both of Seattle’s holes, and certainly the Mariners have the prospect capital to pull off the double. Considering the state of their pitching — a tremendous rotation and a Gabe Speier–Matt Brash–Andrés Muñoz endgame — the Mariners need only a depth reliever to feel comfortable. Upgrading the lineup is the distinct priority over the next three weeks, and executives expect Seattle to act aggressively.

49-45, fourth place, AL East (tied for third wild card)

Weakness: Relief pitching

Best match: Ryan Helsley, St. Louis Cardinals

Red Sox relievers walk too many hitters and don’t strike out enough. Take away Aroldis Chapman — the best reliever in the AL this season — and the Red Sox have a middle-of-the-pack bullpen. Getting Helsley from St. Louis would give Boston arguably the top setup-closer combination in baseball and go a long way toward supporting a rotation that has been among the game’s best over the past month.

Boston has the makings of a very good team in the second half. Alex Bregman will return soon. Roman Anthony has an OPS of nearly 1.000 over his past 10 games. Ceddanne Rafaela is one of the best center fielders in baseball. Carlos Narváez is a gem. Wilyer Abreu, Trevor Story, even Abraham Toro — everyone is contributing. A reliever or two and another starter would make the Red Sox the sort of contender they envisioned being at the beginning of the season.

National League

56-38, first place, NL West

Weakness: Pitching depth

Best match: Jhoan Durán, Minnesota Twins

The Dodgers enter every deadline season seeking a major move, and the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Durán qualifies. With a fastball that averages over 100 mph, a splinker that sits at 98 and a curveball to keep hitters off balance, Durán is pitching as well as ever. He hasn’t given up a home run this season, and his 1.52 ERA is third in MLB for pitchers with at least 40 innings.

The asking price will be hefty. Durán comes with two more years of team control beyond this season. The Dodgers don’t have time to waste on taking advantage of Shohei Ohtani‘s prime, though, and assembling a team with standouts in all facets is a reasonable goal. For a group threatening to approach a major league record for pitchers used in a season — the Dodgers are at 35, the record is 42 from Seattle in 2019 — adding another wouldn’t in and of itself be a needle-mover. If that one happens to be Durán, the Dodgers could theoretically trot out him, Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates and Alex Vesia to make their bullpen every bit as scary as the rest of their team.

Chicago Cubs

54-38, first place, NL Central

Weakness: Starting pitching

Best match: Sandy Alcántara, Miami Marlins

The market for Alcántara might not reflect his résumé. A former Cy Young Award winner, the 29-year-old has been arguably the worst pitcher in baseball this season, with an ERA just above 7.22. Some teams — even ones that could desperately use starting pitching — see the remaining two years and $38.3 million on Alcántara’s deal as an impediment to any trade, particularly with Marlins GM Peter Bendix asking for a haul in return.

Whether it’s Alcántara or another starter, the Cubs are a good starter away from having one of the top teams in baseball. Their offense is undeniable. Their defense is magnificent. Their bullpen has been a pleasant surprise. Adding a playoff-caliber starter, even if it pushes Chicago past the $241 million luxury-tax threshold, would reward a team that has brought excitement back to the North Side of Chicago.

54-39, first place, National League East

Weakness: Bullpen and outfield

Best match: Emmanuel Clase, Cleveland Guardians

As long as the Phillies are aiming high — and nobody aims high quite like Dave Dombrowski — perhaps they could take a run at landing both Clase and Steven Kwan from Cleveland. Maybe it would take Andrew Painter. Maybe Aidan Miller. Maybe Justin Crawford. Regardless, the Phillies’ window is closing, and getting both club control (Clase is under contract through 2028 and Kwan through 2027) and cost certainty (Clase is due $26 million for the next three years and Kwan less than $20 million for two) would make dealing high-end prospects significantly more palatable.

If Cleveland ultimately balks at moving Clase, it doesn’t change the imperative: Philadelphia needs to address its weaknesses. This bullpen is not suited to win a playoff series, much less the World Series. The consequence of bad relief pitching manifested itself in the postseason last year, when the New York Mets filleted Phillies relievers for 17 runs in 12⅔ innings. No other bullpen gave up more than nine runs in the division series. Clase (or Jhoan Durán or any shutdown reliever, really) is just a start. An on-the-fly overhaul is what this team needs — and deserves.

53-39, second place, NL East (first wild card)

Weakness: Pitching depth

Best match: Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks

The Mets started 45-24 on the strength of their starting pitching. With a 2.79 ERA that was nearly a quarter-run better than the second-best rotation, they cut the figure of a juggernaut. Since June 13, their starters’ 5.61 ERA is worse than every team in baseball aside from Washington. And if your starters are getting compared to those of the Nationals, something went haywire.

Gallen has looked more like his old self in recent starts, and if his home run rate stabilizes — typically one per nine, it has jumped to 1.6 — alongside a perilously low strand rate normalizing, he can shake off the 5.15 ERA and be a real difference-maker for the Mets before hitting free agency after the season. Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns doesn’t, as a general rule, spend big on pitching. In this case, though, an investment in Gallen makes too much sense for the Mets not to consider.

53-40, second place, NL Central (second wild card)

Weakness: Power

Best match: Ryan O’Hearn, Baltimore Orioles

With 88 home runs, the Brewers rank just 21st in MLB. And while that hasn’t impeded their production — they’re eighth in runs scored — another big bat could do their offense wonders. Nobody will mistake the soon-to-be-32-year-old O’Hearn for Aaron Judge, but he punishes right-handed pitching, and in a lineup without any boppers, O’Hearn also could serve as the strong side of a first-base platoon and pick up outfield and DH at-bats.

Milwaukee’s options are fascinating. Jacob Misiorowski‘s arrival has been an unmitigated success and only added to the Brewers’ starting pitching depth. They could easily move a starting pitcher and tap into their deep prospect well for O’Hearn. The add-and-subtract maneuver is risky, sure, but the Brewers have steeled themselves to weather it. The Brewers, as currently constituted, are solid. Better second halves from Jackson Chourio and Joey Ortiz, continued solid pitching and the proper sort of deadline aggressiveness could make them even more.

51-43, second place, NL West (third wild card)

Weakness: Starting pitching

Best match: Merrill Kelly, Arizona Diamondbacks

The Giants made their big move already, getting the best player who will move this season — designated hitter Rafael Devers — to shore up their offense. Intradivision trades can be trying, but if Buster Posey has shown anything in his first season as president of baseball operations, it’s a willingness to stomach the sorts of deals that would scare off his peers.

Kelly represents a significant upgrade over the Giants’ backend rotation options, as Justin Verlander and Hayden Birdsong are sporting ERAs of 6.27 and 5.73, respectively, since June 1. Whether the Giants are real or simply a function of a bullpen whose core of Camilo Doval, Randy Rodriguez, Tyler Rogers, Erik Miller, Spencer Bivens and Ryan Walker has given up only 11 home runs in 232⅔ innings remains to be seen. For an organization seeking its first postseason series win in nearly a decade, though, there is never a time as urgent as now.

49-43, third place, NL West (one game behind third wild card)

Weakness: Left field

Best match: Jarren Duran, Boston Red Sox

No player and team have been linked as strongly as Duran and the Padres — and that’s without any knowledge of how the Red Sox intend to handle the deadline. Roman Anthony’s emergence has put Boston in a position to float Duran and Wilyer Abreu in trade discussions, and whether it’s now or over the winter, Boston wants to use its surplus of bats to fill voids elsewhere.

Left field in San Diego is among the biggest voids in the game. The Padres have tried eight players in left this season, and collectively they’re barely have an OPS of over .600. A Duran-Jackson Merrill–Fernando Tatis Jr. outfield would be a factory of dynamism that would be under team control through the end of the 2028 season. The Padres might need to get creative — beyond shortstop Leo De Vries (who’s believed to be off-limits) and catcher Ethan Salas, their farm system is middling — but nobody does creativity like GM A.J. Preller. And whether that means facilitating a deal through a third team or including one of their high-leverage relievers like closer Robert Suárez, San Diego is willing to go places most other organizations would never consider.

49-44, third place, NL Central (1½ games behind third wild card)

Weakness: Starting pitching

Best match: Taj Bradley, Tampa Bay Rays

Certainly there’s a world in which John Mozeliak’s final deadline as St. Louis’ president of baseball operations is uneventful. The NL is stacked, and for all of the Cardinals’ improvement this season, they remain a flawed team. And yet there’s also a world in which Mozeliak can make this year’s team better and simultaneously set up his successor, Chaim Bloom, with a rotation option for the future.

The Rays don’t have a strong desire to move the 24-year-old Bradley, but with Drew Rasmussen, Ryan Pepiot, Shane Baz and Joe Boyle all pitching well, and ace Shane McClanahan out on a rehabilitation assignment, Tampa Bay is at least entertaining the idea. Bradley’s stuff has exceeded his performance over his three major league seasons, but the controllable-starting-pitching market is practically empty, and St. Louis’ farm system is replete with high-end catchers, which would fill a vacuum for the Rays

47-46, fourth place, NL Central (3½ games behind third wild card)

Weakness: Bullpen and big bat

Best match: Steven Kwan, Cleveland Guardians

With a sneaky-deep farm system, the Reds could put together the sort of package to convince Cleveland to move Kwan, a two-time All-Star who in his four seasons ranks fifth in wins above replacement among all outfielders, behind only Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Kyle Tucker and Julio Rodríguez. Kwan’s bat-to-ball and defensive skills in left field are elite, and with free agency not beckoning until after the 2027 season, sandwiching him between TJ Friedl and Elly De La Cruz strengthens a Reds lineup that could use an offensive infusion.

If the cost to acquire Kwan is too high, other good options exist, chief among them Marcell Ozuna, the Atlanta slugger whose swing was built for Great American Ball Park. With a rotation that includes All-Star Andrew Abbott, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Chase Burns, the Reds are a terrifying postseason opponent. Another bat would buttress the rotation and give Cincinnati an opportunity to turn potential into its first postseason series win in three decades.

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Godfather offers for Skenes, Acuña and Buxton: Trade proposals their teams might not reject

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July 10, 2025

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Godfather offers for Skenes, Acuña and Buxton: Trade proposals their teams might not reject

  • David SchoenfieldJul 8, 2025, 07:00 AM ET

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    • Covers MLB for ESPN.com
    • Former deputy editor of Page 2
    • Been with ESPN.com since 1995

Comparing MLB to the NBA is kind of like comparing apples to pomegranates, but the NBA, with its rapid-fire spate of blockbuster trades and signings, certainly has us wishing major league front office executives operated as daringly as their basketball counterparts.

The conservative nature in baseball is understandable. Nobody wants to end up as the general manager who trades Pete Crow-Armstrong for two months of Javier Baez and a failed playoff bid.

But every now and then we get a shocking deal. At the MLB trade deadline in 2022, the San Diego Padres gave up five highly rated young players to acquire Juan Soto, who still had two-plus seasons left of team control. Three of those young players — James Wood, MacKenzie Gore and CJ Abrams — now form the core of the Washington Nationals. And just a few weeks ago came the surprise mid-June trade of Rafael Devers, in only the second year of a 10-year contract, from the Boston Red Sox to the San Francisco Giants.

Might another similarly entertaining megadeal occur this month ahead of the deadline on July 31? Probably not, but we can dream.

Let’s consider three players who almost certainly won’t be made available for trade this year, but whose names have been kicked around in (quite unlikely) fan trade scenarios. If the right offer did arrive, the player’s organization would have to at least consider making the deal … right?

Call them Godfather offers. Let’s see what it would take to land three star players in 2025.

(All prospect rankings are from Kiley McDaniel’s top 50 update from late May.)

Why they’ll probably keep him: He’s arguably the best starter in baseball, perhaps on his way to a Cy Young Award in his first full season. He’s one of the biggest names in the sport — despite playing for the lowly Pirates — and a player you can build not only a pitching staff around but a championship contender. He’s under team control through 2029 and doesn’t even become arbitration-eligible until 2027, so the Pirates are still years away from paying him a fair salary.

But Skenes is a pitcher — and pitchers get hurt. So, if the Pirates are open to listening …

Offer No. 1: New York Mets offer SS/CF Jett Williams (No. 20), RHP Jonah Tong (No. 50), RHP Nolan McLean, IF Ronny Mauricio, OF Carson Benge

Offer No. 2: Los Angeles Dodgers offer C/OF Dalton Rushing (No. 14), OF Josue De Paula (No. 17), IF Alex Freeland, RHP Emmet Sheehan, LHP Jackson Ferris

Offer No. 3: Detroit Tigers offer OF Max Clark (No. 8), SS Kevin McGonigle (No. 11), RHP Jackson Jobe, IF Colt Keith, RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long

The one that could get it done: Tigers

A playoff rotation with Skenes and Tarik Skubal? Thank you very much. Reminder: The Tigers haven’t won the World Series since 1984.

It will take one of the best farm systems in the sport to acquire Skenes, and Detroit is incredibly well positioned to make this kind of deal, with depth at both the major league and minor league levels, not to mention a payroll with only one expensive long-term commitment in Javier Baez. Two of the top prospects in the sport in Clark and McGonigle headline this trade, with both currently excelling in High-A ball. Clark, a speedy center fielder, has a .429 OBP with more walks than strikeouts, and McGonigle is hitting .373 with a high contact rate and OPS over 1.100. Former top pitching prospect Jobe underwent Tommy John surgery in June and would be a nice inclusion for the Pirates to gamble on.

For the Tigers, the deal wouldn’t even decimate their farm system. They would still have shortstop Bryce Rainer (No. 22), first baseman/catcher Josue Briceno and a slew of solid pitching prospects. For the Pirates, Clark and McGonigle project as solutions at two problem areas in center field (where Oneil Cruz has struggled defensively) and shortstop (stopgap Isiah Kiner-Falefa is the current starter) plus they get a solid major leaguer in Keith and a back-end rotation-type in Gipson-Long.

As much as the Mets could use a staff ace, their system is deeper in pitching prospects, which doesn’t best align with the Pirates’ needs. As the Dodgers’ pitching injuries have piled up again, Skenes could be a match. Rushing is blocked at catcher by Will Smith, and he and De Paula probably have more power upside (De Paula has drawn Yordan Alvarez comparisons) than Clark and McGonigle. The Pirates might, understandably, ask for Roki Sasaki, and that could be the deal-breaker for the Dodgers.

Why they’ll probably keep him: Acuña has been one of the best hitters in the majors since returning in late May from his second ACL surgery and has been the best hitter on a Braves team that is near the bottom of the National League in runs scored. He is signed through 2028 on an incredibly team-friendly deal that pays him just $17 million per season — making it one of the best contracts in the sport for a team. At just 27 years old, he remains in the middle of his prime and is one of the sport’s most dynamic talents.

But Acuña’s knees are a long-term concern, Atlanta lacks depth in both the lineup and pitching staff, and this looks like a lost season.

So, if the Braves are open to listening …

Offer No. 1: Milwaukee Brewers offer SS Jesus Made (No. 5), SS Luis Pena, OF Sal Frelick, RHP Logan Henderson, RHP Abner Uribe

Offer No. 2: Seattle Mariners offer SS Colt Emerson (No. 10), RHP Bryce Miller, C Harry Ford, OF Lazaro Montes, LHP Brandyn Garcia

Offer No. 3: Tampa Bay Rays offer SS Carson Willliams (No. 27), RHP Shane Baz, OF Theo Gillen, RHP Yoniel Curet, RHP Brody Hopkins

The one that could get it done: Mariners

The Mariners have never played in a World Series. Their right-field production is among the worst in the majors. Oh, and they have a loaded farm system with nine prospects on MLB.com’s recently updated top 100, more than any other team. On that list, Emerson came in at No. 18, Montes at No. 29 and Ford at No. 56. Miller’s value is temporarily down since he’s out because of right elbow inflammation, but he had a 2.94 ERA for the Mariners in 2024 and could give the Braves a front-line starter if healthy.

Ford might not be a perfect fit for Atlanta with Drake Baldwin (plus Sean Murphy) at catcher, but Cal Raleigh blocks Ford in Seattle. The Braves could trade Murphy in the offseason, and Ford does have the athleticism to play some outfield — although he has played exclusively behind the plate at Triple-A, where he’s hitting over .300 with an OBP over .400. Emerson is a favorite of scouts with his hard contact and ability to play shortstop, although he’s still learning to lift the ball more, while Montes recently earned a promotion to Double-A after slugging .572 in High-A at age 20.

For the Mariners, Acuña would fit nicely at the top of the order or hitting second in front of Raleigh, allowing them to slide Julio Rodriguez lower in the lineup — and maybe Acuña’s presence would also help take some pressure off Rodriguez. Most importantly: Acuña’s salary is a realistic fit even for the Mariners, who don’t like to spend. And despite giving up three excellent prospects and a young starting pitcher, their farm system would remain strong. Plus, they have the No. 3 pick in this year’s draft.

Milwaukee’s offer is enticing with two premium hitting prospects in Made and Pena, but it’s a riskier package as the 18-year-olds are a long way from the majors and neither is a lock to stick at shortstop, a big offensive hole in the Braves’ lineup. Williams would be the key to the Tampa Bay trade, but his sky-high strikeout rate at Triple-A has caused him to drop in the rankings and limits his offensive upside.

Why they’ll probably keep him: The Twins are under .500, but that doesn’t mean they’re out of the playoff race. Buxton has been their best player and best hitter as he’s on pace for a career high in WAR. Though he hasn’t reached the heights of Acuña at Acuña’s best, Buxton’s contract is also team friendly, as he’s signed through 2028 and making $15.1 million per season. He’s 31 years old but is still one of the better defensive center fielders in the game.

But Buxton, while healthy in 2025, is frequently sidelined by injuries. So, if the Twins are open to listening …

Offer No. 1: Philadelphia Phillies offer RHP Andrew Painter (No. 23) and OF Justin Crawford

Offer No. 2: Cincinnati Reds offer RHP Rhett Lowder (No. 48), RHP Chase Petty (No. 49) and 3B Sal Stewart

Offer No. 3: Kansas City Royals offer LHP Cole Ragans and LHP David Shields

The one that could get it done: Phillies

The Phillies, Reds and Royals all could use an outfielder to add some punch to their lineups, although in Cincinnati’s case, its biggest hole is at third base. Philadelphia has a lot riding on 2025 given the age of its lineup, and executive Dave Dombrowski knows how to go all-in. In this case, that would mean parting with one of the top pitching prospects in the game in Painter, plus a promising young outfielder hitting well at Triple-A.

Trading Painter would be painful, but the Phillies remain deep in the rotation with Zack Wheeler (signed through 2027), Cristopher Sanchez (signed through 2030), Aaron Nola (signed through 2030) and Jesus Luzardo (under team control through 2026). Ranger Suarez, who’s having an excellent season, is heading into free agency, so he’s the one arm they might lose. But center field has been a soft spot in recent seasons, with the Phillies in the bottom third in the majors in OPS this year, and the team’s overall power output has been below average, even with Kyle Schwarber. Adding Buxton adds more pop to the middle of the order.

Painter gives the Twins a potential ace, and they have top prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez ready to take over in center field anyway. The 21-year-old Crawford is a divisive prospect (he’s No. 49 in the MLB.com rankings) because while he’s hitting for a high average at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, he hits the ball on the ground too much and has only two home runs. Still, there’s a chance he produces a good OBP and plus defense with his speed.

The Royals’ challenge trade with Ragans is intriguing but risky for Minnesota, given he’s on the injured list right now because of a rotator cuff strain. Plus, intradivision trades are hard to pull off. The Twins would want Chase Burns from the Reds, but that’s probably a nonstarter for Cincinnati.

Will we get some surprise spicy deals this trade deadline? Will it just be the usual list of free-agents-to-be and relief pitchers? In a season that remains so wide open, the time might be right for some outside-the-box movement.

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