This is the second in a three-part series exploring how the personalities of MLB executives impact baseball’s trade deadline. Part one explored the various styles of traders. Part three is coming Wednesday. The Athletic has live coverage of the 2025 MLB trade deadline.

The Major League Baseball trade deadline is 6 p.m. ET this coming Thursday, July 31, and the action is beginning to pick up. This past weekend we saw Josh Naylor go to the Mariners and Ryan McMahon go to the Yankees,

It's MLB trade season! From the early deals to get things started to the last-minute rush of deadline day activity on Thursday, July 31, this is your one-stop shop for grades and analysis breaking down the details for every trade as they go down.

Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase — a rumored MLB trade deadline target — has been placed on paid leave in connection with a sports-gambling investigation, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Monday. Clase is reportedly on leave through Aug. 31, per The Athletic's Zack Meisel.

As soon as the Seattle Mariners acquired first baseman Josh Naylor from the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 24, there was news that immediately followed that the team would be looking to make additional moves.

The 34-year-old leads MLB in RBI with 87 and is arguably the best hitter rumored to be available at the July 31 trade deadline. The Diamondbacks, who fell to 51-56 after Monday’s loss, appear to be sellers and already traded first baseman Josh Naylor to the Seattle Mariners last week.

Nick Fortes, a DeLand native, will swap Sunshine State teams as the Tampa Bay Rays have acquired him from the Miami Marlins.