MLB moves trade deadline back for 2025 season

Joel Sherman of the New York Post was among those to break the news.

While the deadline has traditionally been on the last day of the month, that hasn't always been the case recently. Under the current collective bargaining agreement, the trade deadline can be anywhere from July 28th to August 3rd.

This was put in place so the league could avoid having the trade deadline fall on a weekend, when more games and played and thus have a higher chance of players being removed mid-game in a hug watch scenario.

By having the trade deadline on a weekday, when fewer games, this lessens that probability, although it can still happen.

Last year, the trade deadline was July 30th, while in 2023 it was August 1st. Both those days were Tuesdays. In keeping with the weekday theme, July 31st is a Thursday. There are only three games scheduled to be played on that day.

Up until the 2019 season, MLB had two separate trade deadlines. The more well-known July one was considered the 'non-waiver' cut-off, while the later August one, players could only be traded after being exposed to waivers.

While the July 31st date has been in place since the 1986 season, the actual history of the trade deadline goes back much further.

The first ever trade deadline was established indirectly as a result of the Red Sox sale of Babe Ruth. It prohibited the trading and selling of ballplayers between August 1 and the conclusion of the World Series.

A uniform rule serving both major leagues, which was adopted prior to the 1923 season, set the deadline at June 15. That date remained in place until the 1985 season.