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We got some answers yesterday: The Reds, Red Sox and *sigh* I guess the Angels are buyers. The Cardinals and Giants are sellers. Eugenio Suárez is a Mariner. Jhoan Duran? Phillies.

The deadline isn’t until 6 p.m. ET today, but it was a wild Deadline Eve, with more than a dozen trades involving big-league players. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal — welcome to The Windup!

Deadline Eve: Suárez to Seattle, Duran to Philly, and more

By the time you read this, check your texts: It’s possible you’ve been traded. Here’s a list of all the deals that went down Wednesday:

• The biggest move: The Mariners won the Eugenio Suárez lottery. The best bat on the market returns to Seattle, where he played in 2022-2023. Suárez has hit 36 home runs this year and leads the sport with 87 RBIs. He’ll join a Mariners team that currently sits five games back in the AL West, tied with the Rangers for the third AL wild-card spot. The Mariners also picked up a left-handed reliever, acquiring Caleb Ferguson from the Pirates.
• The next-biggest move: Twins closer Jhoan Duran is going to the Phillies. He was the best relief arm available, and now he represents the latest Dave Dombrowski big swing. He’ll join Orion Kerkering, Matt Strahm and (soon) David Robertson to form a pretty nasty back end of the bullpen. And Philly did it while holding on to Andrew Painter (though they did give up RHP Mick Abel and C Eduardo Tait).
• The Mets also beefed up their bullpen with two moves yesterday, acquiring closer Ryan Helsley from the Cardinals and Tyler Rogers from the Giants, shipping out a total of six players — including RHP José Buttó, who has a career 3.45 ERA in 74 games with the Mets.
• That Giants trade came minutes after Tyler’s twin brother Taylor was also traded — in the rare inter-divisional swap, the Reds acquired Gold Glove third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes from the Pirates. The Reds weren’t done there. They later acquired RHP Zack Littell in what became a three-way deal with the Rays and Dodgers.
• If you break eye contact with the 53-56 Angels for like three seconds, they will bolt right out of the sellers line and shove their way into the Buyers Club, grabbing whatever they can. Yesterday was Angels Go Rogue Day 2025; they picked up relievers Luis García and Andrew Chafin from the Nats.
• The Cubs traded for RHP Michael Soroka from the Nationals. He’s not going to replace Justin Steele, exactly, but the Cubs needed innings, and Soroka should give the Cubs a bit of depth for now. They also snagged reliever Andrew Kittredge from the Orioles.
• The Astros obtained Ramon Urías from the Orioles, likely in response to Isaac Paredes’ “significant” hamstring injury. They should get shortstop Jeremy Peña back soon — more on that later — but for now, Urías helps to patch a hole that injuries have poked in their lineup.
• Almost lost in the late-night Suárez blockbuster: the Cardinals sent swingman left-hander Steven Matz to the Red Sox, getting 1B prospect Blaze Jordan in return.

Other trades: The Yankees picked up Austin Slater from the White Sox, the Tigers are the latest destination for Rafael Montero and Tyler Kinley is going from the Rockies to the Braves.

Get the latest: Our live blog is being updated constantly, and if you need a one-stop repository for trade reports, grades and analysis, here ya go!

Ken’s Notebook: Pittsburgh likely keeping Keller

Barring a dramatic shift today, the 47-62 Pirates are likely to keep right-hander Mitch Keller, according to major-league sources briefed on their discussions.

A trade of Keller represents perhaps the Pirates’ best chance to acquire impact offensive talent. But The Athletic reported last Friday that the Pirates were torn on moving Keller, who is in the second year of a five-year, $77 million contract.

An executive from a team interested in Keller, granted anonymity for his candor, said his team has not “even bothered” continuing its pursuit of the pitcher, citing the Pirates’ reluctance to seriously engage.

There are multiple reasons the Pirates might balk at trading Keller, 29. The difficulty of replacing his performance could be one. The lack of quality offers from teams that perceive him as nothing more than a mid-rotation starter might be another.

Moving Keller would clear his salaries of $16.5 million, $18 million and $20 million the next three seasons. But the Pirates also could seek to fill their offensive void by moving right-hander Bailey Falter, 28, or Braxton Ashcraft, 25, and others.

None of the Pirates on expiring contracts — outfielder Tommy Pham, infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa and left-hander Andrew Heaney — are likely to bring back hitters who would bolster the 2026 roster. Closer David Bednar and setup man Dennis Santana, both of whom are under club control for an additional season, carry greater value, but perhaps not enough to land a difference-maker.

More Rosenthal: A.J. Preller hasn’t struck yet, but the Padres are still pursuing a fascinating trio of names: Steven Kwan, Jarren Duran and Mason Miller. Miller, for what it’s worth, was “unavailable” for a save situation last night.

Deadline Day: Who’s cooking?

One interesting rumor that has surfaced in recent days: the 62-47 Astros have interest in bringing back SS Carlos Correa from the Twins. Sentimental? Sure. But big-picture, it doesn’t seem like a logical move for the Astros.

First of all, Correa is signed to superstar money, but between injuries and just-plain struggling, he has thus far failed to produce at a superstar level in Minnesota, alternating good and bad years.

• 2022: 5.3 bWAR
• 2023: 1.3 bWAR
• 2024: 3.7 bWAR, All-Star
• 2025 (so far): 0.1 bWAR (career-low .704 OPS)

Correa is signed through 2028 (at least; there are team options) with just under $100 million owed over the next three-plus seasons.

There’s space on the active roster for him, thanks to injuries to SS Jeremy Peña (who is expected to start a rehab assignment on Friday) and 3B Isaac Paredes. But unless the Twins were willing to eat a lot of Correa’s contract (spoiler: they’re not), Correa would put the Astros over the luxury tax threshold for a second season.

If they’re up for that, why wouldn’t they bring in a player whose immediate impact and contract situations more closely align with their situation?

Other rumors and implications:

• Kinley to the Braves was a minor deal, but the bigger implication is that the 28-80 Rockies appear to be actually selling for once. Relievers Jake Bird, Seth Halvorsen and (maybe even) Victor Vodnik could move.
• The 54-54 Guardians are at least considering trading SP Shane Bieber and OF Steven Kwan.
• The 64-46 Tigers are still looking for bullpen help, even after the Montero trade.

Uh-oh: Ohtani leaves mound with trainer

The last time Shohei Ohtani left the mound with a trainer, it was August 23, 2023. Facing the Reds as a member of the Angels, Ohtani walked Spencer Steer in the second inning, then got Joey Votto to pop out before leaving the game. He didn’t pitch again until June 16 of this year.

Last night, again facing the Reds, Ohtani threw six consecutive balls in the fourth inning, including two wild pitches. In the middle of yet another Steer at-bat, manager Dave Roberts came to the mound, accompanied by a trainer.

Ohtani left the mound with a 2-0 count, and the baseball world held its collective breath. There was a bit of an exhale when he came out to take his next at-bat, remaining in the game as the designated hitter. During the sixth inning, the team announced that Ohtani had left the game with “cramps.”

That was a welcome diagnosis, since the Dodgers have already suffered a slew of pitching injuries, with 11 pitchers on the IL — including starters Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, Tony Gonsolin, River Ryan and Gavin Stone — along with swing guys like Michael Grove and the aptly-named Kyle Hurt.

We’ll see if they add more pitching before the deadline, and we’ll keep you posted on if this will impact Ohtani’s ability to continue to pitch.

More catastrophe averted: It’s not “good news” that Ronald Acuña Jr. is injured, but given what was feared — an injury to his Achilles tendon — it is at least “much less bad” news that it’s “only” a Grade 1 strain in his lower calf.

Handshakes and High Fives

It was curious that the Cubs called up Moisés Ballesteros, rather than Owen Caissie. But Ballesteros had a big hit in the Cubs’ 10-3 win over the Brewers. Now they can turn their attention to the deadline.

In light of Bryce Harper’s recent verbal altercation with Rob Manfred, Max Scherzer says he’s looking forward to the commissioner’s visit to the Blue Jays clubhouse. He just wants to ask some questions!

Conor O’Neill spoke to Billy Beane about Moneyball, sports’ data revolution, and his role as a Trojan horse.

On the pods: On Rates and Barrels, the crew discusses deadline trends and the heating-up Cincinnati Reds.

Most-clicked in our last newsletter: The awesome interactive graphic showing how often each team has traded with every other team.

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(Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)