It has been slow going on the trade front so far, but the past few years have shown us activity increasingly happens in the final hours before the July 31 deadline hits at 4 p.m. ET. The fact that so many teams in the National League are still in the playoff race has also complicated things.
But there's also this: Front offices are increasingly wary of making a big mistake for what might just be a minor upgrade or a small chance at merely winning a wild card. Basically, they don't want to make a trade that ends up on a list like this one -- the worst deadline trade for all 30 teams.