Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Thanks for being here.

Cliff Lee to Cleveland in 2002. Dylan Cease to the White Sox in 2017. James Wood to the Nationals in 2022. Those three players represent what every seller is looking for at this year’s Trade Deadline.

They were all prospects when they were dealt at the Deadline, but they transformed into bona fide stars for their new clubs. So which top prospects could follow in their footsteps and change teams before this year’s Deadline arrives tomorrow at 6 p.m. ET?

MLB Pipeline has put together a list of the Top 100 Prospects who are most likely to be included in a 2025 Deadline deal. They are all on contending teams, so let’s take a quick glance at a few of the prized Minor Leaguers and consider what they could bring back to their current club.

Owen Caissie, OF, Cubs (CHC No. 1/MLB No. 36)

One of the best power bats in the Minors, Caissie has 20 homers in 82 games at Triple-A and owns a .278/.375/.508 slash line through his two seasons at that level. He has nothing left to prove down on the farm. But he also may have nowhere to play in Chicago, especially if the Cubs re-sign Kyle Tucker this offseason.

A possible return: The Cubs have been linked to myriad starting pitchersin the trade market, so Caissie could find himself involved in a swap involving the D-backs’ Merrill Kelly, the Guardians’ Shane Bieber or the Nationals’ MacKenzie Gore, to name a few hurlers.

Harry Ford, C, Mariners (SEA No. 3/MLB No. 49)

The Mariners are pretty well set at catcher. Ford did see some time in the outfield last year, but he’s been behind the plate almost exclusively this year. His bat is ready to play right now, as he’s posted a .299 average and an .876 OPS with an improving strikeout rate at Triple-A. He also racked up 35 stolen bases last year, so many teams could covet such an athletic backstop.

A possible return: Seattle is reportedly interested in a reunion with Eugenio Suárez, who is the best power bat on the trade block. They are also going to be aggressive in their search for a high-leverage reliever such as the Cardinals’ Ryan Helsley, the Pirates’ David Bednar or the Twins’ Jhoan Duran.

Alex Freeland, SS, Dodgers (LAD No. 3/MLB No. 35)

Freeland is expected to make his MLB debut tonight against the Reds, but he might not be wearing Dodger blue for long given the team’s crowded infield (when healthy). The 23-year-old switch-hitter has batted .253 with a .798 OPS across 94 games at Triple-A this season. He’s primarily played shortstop (67 games) and third base (26 games).

A possible return: The Dodgers are also looking for bullpen upgrades, but they have emerged as a suitor for Guardians All-Star outfielder Steven Kwan.

— Brian Murphy

• Mets @ Padres (4:10 p.m. ET, FREE on MLB.TV): Yu Darvish hasn’t looked like himself in any of his four starts this year, but his most recent outing was the most alarming: two homers and eight runs allowed in 3 1/3 innings. If the Padres keep hitting as they have recently, it may not matter much; San Diego has averaged 6.5 runs a game during its current four-game win streak.

• Dodgers @ Reds (7:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FREE on MLB.TV): Shohei Ohtani is expected to increase his workload to four innings for this start, his seventh as a Dodger, as L.A. goes for a sweep. Ohtani, who both gave up and hit a homer the night of his most recent start, has yet to give up more than one run in an outing this year.

• Mariners @ Athletics (10:05 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FREE on MLB.TV): The Mariners handed Nick Kurtz (more on him below) his first hitless game since July 9 last night, but don’t be surprised if he bounces back immediately, even against the Mariners’ most consistent starter. Despite Bryan Woo’s staff-best 2.91 ERA, Seattle has struggled to convert his starts to wins recently, losing each of the last three games he started and eight of the last 11.

It would be hard to have a better first 12 months or so of pro ball than rookie Nick Kurtz has experienced. Since being selected fourth overall by the A’s in the 2024 MLB Draft out of Wake Forest, all Kurtz has done is breeze through the Minors in 33 games before hitting .305/.378/.671 with 23 homers and 59 RBIs in his first 69 big league games.

Of course, four of those homers came Friday, when The Big Amish had the greatest single-game performance in the 125-year history of the franchise, and one of the best games any hitter has ever had in MLB history, with his 19 total bases tying Shawn Green for the most in a single game since at least 1900.

The American League’s Rookie of the Month for June looks like a safe bet to win that award again in July, with a strong shot at Player of the Month honors for the league, as he’s got a shot at becoming the first player since Barry Bonds in August 2004 to have a slugging percentage of at least 1.000 in any calendar month.

However, these numbers just scratch the surface. For a deep dive into Kurtz’s ridiculous performance, be sure to check out Jared Greenspan’s excellent research here.

— Ed Eagle

If there’s a gardening exhibit in the Hall of Fame, Pedro Martínez should be the curator.

Pitchers are creatures of habit on gamedays, and on the latest 6-1-1 Podcast with Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard, Martínez said that he would focus all his pregame energy on clipping “my flowers and then not talk.”

“I will clip my roses,” he said. “I will get into that zone where I’ll just be by myself. My little scissors — clip the flowers, clean my roses, clean the leaves.”

That routine worked out pretty well for the Hall of Famer, who won three Cy Young Awards and was the AL MVP runner-up in 1999.

Be sure to catch The 6-1-1 Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

By now you’re probably keeping a browser tab open to the running list of trades and mashing the refresh button. But which of the many deals made between now and 6 p.m. ET tomorrow will be the trade that defines the 2025 Deadline? The swap that we look back on years from now and say, “That trade swung the season”?

Baseball history says that those deals come in all shapes and sizes. There’s the headline grabbers (here’s looking at you, Eugenio Suárez) like Randy Johnson in 1998 — who delivered bigtime for the Astros (10-1, 1.28 ERA). Then there’s the total diamonds in the rough like Steve Pearce (Red Sox, 2018) and Donn Clendenon (Mets, 1969), two of only three players to win World Series MVP after they swapped teams midseason (also Jorge Soler with Atlanta in 2021). Soler’s acquisition by the Braves in ’21 was part of a hockey-style line change to their entire outfield — adding Soler, Joc Pederson, Eddie Rosario and Adam Duvall — who all chipped in big in the playoffs.

MLB Vault is looking back at those deals and a ton more over on its YouTube channel. The biggest takeaway? You truly never know which deal made this week will pay off the most three months from now.

– Matt Kelly

Still haven’t gotten your Trade Deadline fix? Check out these quizzes about notable trades, swaps, deals and Deadlines throughout the years:

• Complete the trade: Hall of Famers

• Complete the trade: MVPs

• Star players dealt at the Trade Deadline (Pre-2000)

• Star players dealt at the Trade Deadline (Post-2000)

• 2024 Trade Deadline in review: Who got moved?

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