Beyond Skubal: Greene, Peralta, and Goodman Are the Deadline Names That Will Move Real Lines

Everyone is watching the Skubal sweepstakes, and fair enough. But the trades that quietly reshape pennant races usually happen one tier below the headline act. With the August 3 deadline four days out, three names in that tier are heating up fast, and a fourth story out of Anaheim might be the most surprising of all. Hunter Greene: The 50-50 Wild Card The Reds sit six games back in the NL Wild Card race and appear headed for a sell-off. The expiring contracts are obvious chips, guys like Brady Singer, Tyler Stephenson, and Eugenio Suarez. The name that changes everything is Hunter Greene. Ken Rosenthal reported Thursday that contenders have shown significant interest in the 26-year-old flamethrower, and one evaluator put the odds of a deal at 50-50. Here's why teams are circling despite his injury-marred season (a 7.06 ERA in just four starts after surgery to remove loose bodies from his throwing arm). Greene posted a 2.76 ERA with 301 strikeouts across 258 innings in 2024 and 2025, he's under contract at moderate salaries through 2028 with a club option for 2029, and he turns 27 next week. In a market starving for controllable starting pitching, that profile is gold. Cincinnati says it isn't motivated to move him, which really means the price is enormous. If someone pays it, that team just bought a co-ace for three pennant races, not two months. Freddy Peralta: Buying the Dip Peralta's first season with the Mets has been rough. A 4.99 ERA, his worst as a full-time starter, and a strikeout rate down roughly 7% from his career average. And yet the Rays, White Sox, and Cubs have all checked in, while the Padres and Diamondbacks scouted his most recent start, per The Athletic. This is the classic buy-low rental. Teams still see the ingredients that made Peralta a frontline arm in Milwaukee, and the acquisition cost on a struggling impending free agent is a fraction of what Skubal or Greene commands. For bettors, a Peralta trade is a modest futures nudge rather than a market mover, but the landing spot matters. A move to a team with a strong defense and a good pitching lab could make his rest-of-season props interesting. Hunter Goodman: The Catching Market's Only Real Prize The catching market has heavy demand and almost no supply, which is why Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman and his 31 home runs have become one of the buzziest names of deadline week. Rosenthal reports three AL East teams (the Rays, Red Sox, and Yankees) are among those interested. Colorado's asking price starts at top overall prospects, names like Boston's Franklin Arias and Tampa Bay's Theo Gillen. The Yankees angle is the one to watch. New York needs catching help, a bullpen arm, and another bat while Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Giancarlo Stanton nurse injuries. A Goodman trade to the Bronx would be a direct upgrade to a lineup that has looked thin for weeks, and it would show up quickly in team totals and run lines. The Angels Are Actually Selling Stop the presses. The Angels traded catcher Logan O'Hoppe and reliever Chase Silseth to the Rangers on Wednesday for Single-A shortstop Angel Arredondo, and rival executives say dealing with Anaheim feels completely different this year. Interim GM John Mozeliak said it plainly: "Clearly, where the Angels are at right now, we need to do some things differently." Controllable talents like Reid Detmers, Jose Soriano, and Zach Neto are drawing real conversations. Neto in particular could solve Boston's shortstop hole or Philadelphia's lineup needs, and either move would matter for the AL East and NL East races. SBA Takeaway The Skubal trade will grab the headlines, but Greene, Goodman, and Neto are the names with multi-year impact, and multi-year impact is what actually moves win totals and futures prices. Watch the Yankees on the catching front and the Red Sox on shortstop, because both teams were flagged as likeliest to make a decisive move. As always, deadline rumors are volatile, so treat any futures position as a calculated risk rather than a sure thing. The edge comes from moving before the press release, not after. Related Reading - Skubal Pitches Today, and It Might Be His Last Start as a Tiger - Skubal, Mason Miller, and the Trade Deadline Moves That Will Move Lines - Bellinger Is Out 4-6 Weeks, and the Yankees' Deadline Just Got Harder