Major League Baseball has set the 2026 trade deadline for Monday, August 3, at 6 p.m. ET, slightly later than the previous year's date. This adjustment aligns with the league's collective bargaining agreement and aims to prevent trades during ongoing games.
MLB informed teams that the 2026 trade deadline will occur on Monday, August 3, at 6 p.m. ET. This date marks a shift from last year's deadline on Thursday, July 31, providing teams with a marginally extended window for transactions.
Under the 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement, the commissioner's office has flexibility to schedule the deadline between July 28 and August 3. Historically, it has nearly always fallen on July 31. By choosing August 3, MLB avoids the risk of players being traded mid-game, as schedules include day games from July 29 to August 2, while all eight contests on August 3 begin at 6:40 p.m. ET or later. The league also favors weekdays for the deadline over weekends.
The trade deadline serves as the final opportunity during the season to exchange players on major league contracts between clubs. After this point, players can still be placed on and claimed from outright waivers. The former revocable trade waivers system, which allowed post-deadline deals, ended before the 2019 season.
Postseason eligibility requires players to be on a team's 40-man roster or 60-day injured list by noon ET on September 1. Exceptions exist: players in the organization on August 31 can join postseason rosters via petition to the commissioner's office if replacing an injured list member who has met activation minimums. Those on the restricted list qualify if not suspended for performance-enhancing drugs that season.
