Browsing: Trading

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  Jorge CastilloNov 11, 2025, 08:13 PM ET

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  ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the Washington Wizards from 2014 to 2016 and the Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2018 for The Washington Post before covering the Los Angeles Dodgers and MLB for the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2024.

LAS VEGAS — The Pittsburgh Pirates will not trade Paul Skenes this offseason, general manager Ben Cherington reiterated Tuesday, quashing any simmering speculation about the ace right-hander possibly being moved and altering Major League Baseball’s landscape.

Cherington said he has regularly received inquiries from clubs regarding Skenes’ availability and said the conversations are always short.

“The question gets asked, and it’s always respectful,” Cherington said at the MLB general managers meetings. “Teams have to ask the question. I suspect that won’t end. But the answer’s been consistent.”

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The question keeps surfacing because Skenes, just two seasons into his major league career, is arguably the best pitcher in the sport at just 23 years old, and the Pirates have failed to build anything close to a winning roster around him.

The Pirates finished last in the National League Central for the second straight season despite Skenes leading the majors with a 1.97 ERA in 187â…” innings across 32 starts. He made the All-Star team again and is the favorite to win the NL Cy Young Award, which will be announced Thursday. And yet the Pirates finished 71-91, five games worse than in 2024.

Trading Skenes would net Pittsburgh a massive return, but the Pirates view Skenes as a building block as they seek to reach the postseason for the first time since 2015.

Cherington said with more payroll “flexibility” to acquire talent this winter, the club will prioritize improving an offense that ranked last in the majors in runs scored and 29th in wRC+ in 2025 to better complement its pitching staff. Headed by Skenes, the Pirates’ promising projected starting rotation also includes veteran Mitch Keller and heralded prospect Bubba Chandler.

“We believe our pitching is a strength,” Cherington said. “Doesn’t mean we wouldn’t want to add more pitching. We will certainly be opportunistic on the pitching side. There are some things that we’d like to do on the pitching side, but run scoring was the thing that got in our way more than anything. And we’ve got to add to that.”

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The Toronto Maple Leafs are about to finish their 2025-26 training camp, and as it happens, the Maple Leafs are very deep at every position — but certainly, the most depth they’ve got is on the wings. And as we’ll exploain, we’re telling you this because the Buffalo Sabres should be looking into acquiring into one of a few veteran Leafs wingers in particular: right winger/center Calle Jarnkrok, and left-wingers David Kampf and Nick Robertson.

Let’s be clear — we’re in no way aruging Robertson, Jarnkrok and Kampf are going to be big-time difference-makers for the Sabres if Buffalo acquires one of them. These are fringe, not foundational players. But there could be something to the Sabres improving their bottom-six group of forwards, and that should get Sabres GM Kevyn Adams reaching out to Leafs counterpart Brad Treliving and inquiring about the asking price for each of the three. Indeed, the price can’t be much at all, other than the cap space Toronto is looking to build up.

Now, the Sabres don’t have any obvious holes, so a player like Jarnkrok or Robertson would have to work their way into being a Sabres regular. But they’d be closer to a bona fide opportunity in Buffalo than any of the trio woulde if they remain in Toronto. And only Kampf is signed beyond this season, so it would be a low-risk, decent-reward acquisition if the Sabres were bold enough to make it.

If the move pans out, voila — you’ve acquired a veteran for next season at a bargain price. Those are the type of moves no GM can afford to turn down. At a time in league history when it’s all but impossible to acquire high-end talent, every team should be aiming to improve its bottom-six group of forwards, and that’s what Buffalo would be doing by picking up Jarnkrok, Kampf or Robertson.

Again, you have to consider the price here if you’re a Sabres fan hearing this idea for the first time. You’re only taking the money off Toronto’s hands. And for giving the Leafs that luxury, you wind up with a player who can contribute positive things for you as you push to end a 14-year Stanley Cup playoff berth. To quote TV’s Breaking Bad: “Everybody wins.”

Sabres’ Second Line Must Lead The Way For Buffalo’s Forwards This Year
The Buffalo Sabres need a lot of things to go right for them to be a Stanley Cup playoff team this coming season. They need their goalies to pan out with strong performances. They need star defenseman Rasmus Dahlin to put on a defensive clinic and carrry Buffalo to a strong defensive game. And one thing could also be the difference between the Sabres missing or making the 2026 playoffs — namely, the play of Buffalo’s second line of forwards: center Ryan McLeod, and wingers Alex Tuch and Jason Zucker.

The Sabres have $5.3-million in salary cap space, so they can absorb the full contract of either Robertson, Jarnkrok or Kampf and still have sufficient cap space to make other acquisitions during the coming season. But they’d be setting a new bar for their forwards by trading for one of Toronto’s surplus wingers

Adams can’t bank on acquiring true needle-movers during the year. But what he can do is recognize a solid gamble when he sees one, and move quickly to improve the Sabres’ overall depth and add the experience that Jarnkrok, Kampf and Robertson would bring to the organization.

Sabres’ Defense Corps Could Be The Difference Between Buffalo Making And Missing Out On Playoffs
Yesterday, we put forth our opinion that the Buffalo Sabres need a big year out of star defenseman Rasmus Dahlin if they were going to contend for a Stanley Cup playoff berth (and end their 14-season playoff drought. And 24 hours later, we’re sticking with that notion. But this column is an addendum to yesterday’s column. Because while the Sabres need Dahlin to spearhead a defensive renaissance for this franchise, Buffalo isn’t going to be a playoff team unless something else happens in addition to Dahlin being very difficult to play against particularly in their own zone.

It might not work, but at least you could say you more or less spent every penny available to you under the cap  by spending these last few millions on a veteran or two to be an improved team. Remember, you don’t accrue cap space year after year. So there’s really no excuse for not emptying the coffers and investing all the salary you can.

It could wind up being the difference between making and missing the post-season. And if you’re a Sabres fan, you should be happy with an improved team to cheer on, regardless of how that improvement takes place. And there are options in Leafs Land that can help Buffalo with its playoff push.

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Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made a gutsy decision to trade Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers in return for some draft capital, and he might be looking to use those draft picks in a future trade.

Jones said Sunday that he’s open to dealing draft picks to improve the team.

“Well, of course, to use that capital, you’ve got to have the opportunity to use it,” Jones said, per The Athletic’s Jon Machota. “And frankly, no matter what I had seen in these first three ball games, if I had the opportunity to really do some good with those picks, I would do it. And we’ve got them, and that’s one of the advantages for, if you will, making the trade.”

The Cowboys are 1-2 after dropping Sunday’s game to the Chicago Bears, and it’s clear they have some gaps to fill in order to be a playoff contender squad.

â–¶ï¸Â Full Cowboys-Bears Recap

Still, Jones said he doesn’t feel a sense of urgency and will instead wait for trade opportunities to come his way.

“Well, not necessarily. That implies that being more urgent, I can create an opportunity to use them,” Jones said. “That usually doesn’t work that way at all. You’ve got to have something that comes your way that’s really special. And if you’ve got the currency to do it, which in this case it would be draft picks, we’ll do it.”

The Cowboys sent Parsons to the Packers in return for two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark. Since the trade, Jones has continued to emphasize the importance of the draft picks.

“There are two kinds of capital or currency in the NFL,” Jones said earlier this month on Good Morning America. “One of them is draft picks, and the other is the financial, because every team is limited to the same amount of resources to spend. Having said that, Micah enabled us to have four, possibly as many as six players for the future. That’s a good trade when you need numbers. I’ll take the numbers every time.”

The decision to trade Parsons is still likely shocking to many Cowboys fans, but it could end up paying off if Jones is able to turn the draft picks into a Super Bowl-contending roster.

For now, it seems he’s playing the waiting game.

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Sep 15, 2025, 04:47 PM ETThe Atlanta Hawks are trading guard Kobe Bufkin to the Brooklyn Nets for cash considerations,…

Kobe Bufkin is getting a fresh start.

The Atlanta Hawks struck a deal to send Bufkin to the Brooklyn Nets on Monday afternoon, according to ESPNâ€s Shams Charania. In exchange, the Hawks will receive cash considerations from the Nets.

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The Hawks selected Bufkin with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft out of Michigan, though heâ€s struggled so far in the league. Bufkin has appeared in just 27 games over the last two seasons, and he underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in December after playing in just 10 games.

Bufkin spent some time with the Hawks†G League affiliate during his rookie campaign. He averaged 23.6 points and 5.9 assists per game with the College Park Skyhawks during the 2023-24 season. Heâ€s averaged 5 points, 2 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 27 NBA games throughout his career. Bufkin has two years left on his initial four-year, $19.8 million rookie deal.

While his NBA career has yet to take off, Bufkin will get a bit of a restart with the Nets. The franchise went just 26-56 last season, and then used all five of its first-round draft picks earlier this summer to help jumpstart a rebuild under second-year head coach Jordi Fernández. Bufkin, now healthy, should play a significant part in that push.

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The Hawks went just 40-42 last season and missed the playoffs for a second straight year. They traded back with the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA draft to acquire former Georgia star Asa Newell. Though the return isn’t great for a former first-round draft pick, the Hawks have now cleared up a roster spot. That’ll give them some added flexibility as they head into the season this fall.

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