Trade Market Slow To Develop & Likely An Extreme Seller's Market

Most years, not a lot happens in June trade-wise but this June has been particularly slow, with almost no note-worthy trades happening between teams.

That's primarily due to two reasons:

1. The new postseason format, as many predicted, is keeping more teams in the postseason race than ever before.
2. The ridiculous amount of parity in the leagues, particularly the National League.

As of this writing, only three American League teams and just two National League teams are clear sellers: Oakland, the White Sox, and the Angels in the AL, while Colorado and Miami are the only clear sellers in the NL.

In the American League, 12 of the 15 teams are in a postseason position or within 7.5 games of the third Wild Card spot. In the National League, 13 of the 15 teams are in a postseason position or within just 3.0 games of the third Wild Card spot.

As we head into July, it's likely we will see more stratification amongst the contenders and some teams will drop out of the race and eventually trade expiring contracts but it's hard to imagine many high-profile names moving in the first half of July. We could also see savvy teams like the Rays, currently 4.0 games out of the third Wild Card, take advantage of the seller's market and intentionally bow out of the race. On the other hand, some GMs/PoBOs should be concerned about their jobs, such as Jed Hoyer and the Cubs, and they may try to avoid making the obvious long-term decision of selling assets to improve in later seasons.

Time will tell how this all plays out but don't expect much to happen in the coming days or even weeks.