MLB sets the date for the 2025 trade deadline

The 2025 MLB trade deadline will be on Thursday, July 31 at 6 p.m. ET. Joel Sherman of The New York Post was among those to relay the decision. That’s a slight change from last year’s deadline, which was July 30.

Traditionally, the trade deadline had always been on July 31. Under the current collective bargaining agreement, the commissioner can choose a date between July 28 and Aug. 3 for the deadline. This is mostly so that the league can avoid having the deadline occur when games are going on and players have to be removed in a “hug watch” scenario. 

If the deadline were to fall on a weekend, when there are many games all throughout the day, the chances of a player being dealt during an ongoing game would be higher.

The league has usually opted for a weekday with a lighter schedule. It was on Aug. 1 in 2023 and July 30 last year, both of those dates being Tuesdays. This year, as mentioned, July 31 is a Thursday. There are only three games on the schedule for that date.