Hopes for an exciting MLB trade deadline are fading fast. With just over 24 hours to go before the final bell rings on 2019 deals, not even the rumors are all that interesting. Oh, things will happen. Tepid as this year's free-agent class might be, there are some players who will be moved because their continued existence on non-contenders just doesn't make sense. At some point, the asking prices on some of these guys will drop and come in line with what the numerous contenders across baseball are willing to give. Mostly likely, that will involve a lot of very young players mainstream fans have never heard of.
In the meantime, we're left to debate and to dream. We see possible deals to be made, trades that make sense on paper. If the decision-makers who actually get to pull off these swaps were listening, we'd have plenty to tell them. But they don't listen and the current mechanisms that trigger interesting baseball transactions feel more mysterious than ever.
As we wait, here are two ideas for deals that might spice up this increasingly underwhelming benchmark on the MLB calendar.