Like always, MLB’s fast-approaching trade deadline is set for July 31. Unlike always, it will be MLB’s only trade deadline. It’s been four months since the league’s announcement that it would do away with the waiver trade deadline of August 31, and as trade seasons kicks up, baseball will now begin to see the ramifications. But what might those ramifications be? And how much will they actually be felt? Here’s a handy primer to help.
It was originally proposed this spring by the Players’ Association, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal at The Athletic, and the league agreed to it, which is all that had to happen for the new practice to go into effect as part of a larger set of rule changes this year.