Update your calendar reminders, because this year’s MLB Trade Deadline will not be on the historically typical July 31. Instead, it’ll be July 30. One fewer day for the Chicago Cubs to make their decisions!
From Ken Rosenthal’s latest notes:
This year’s trade deadline will be Friday, July 30, instead of Saturday, July 31, because the league preferred to avoid the deadline falling on a weekend, when a greater number of afternoon games are played.
The change is intended to be player-friendly; the league wanted to avoid players taking the field while rumors swirled, or being pulled off the field if they get traded in the middle of the game. However, the move might make more sense in 2022, when July 31 falls on a Sunday.
This year, only one game on July 31 is scheduled to take place before the deadline would have struck at 4 p.m. ET. Two others begin at 4:05, and all others start at 6:10 or later.
So we might see a moved date next year, too, though the new CBA could have something to say about that in any case. There have been calls to bump back the Trade Deadline for a while now, and without an August waiver trade period anymore, it seems all the more understandable that teams might prefer a deadline closer to mid-August or so.
In any case, for this year, the deadline is a day earlier than usual. So I guess I’ll be starting the Blogathon on the 29th …