The 2026-27 Hot Stove is officially open — and it’s starting at shortstop. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand kicked things off by flagging five players who circulated in trade rumors before the August 3 deadline and are now back in play: C.J. Abrams, Steven Kwan, Joe Ryan, Zach Neto and Jeremy Peña. None of them moved in the summer, but the landscape has shifted. The collective bargaining agreement expires December 1, the Winter Meetings are in serious jeopardy, and the GM Meetings in Las Vegas (November 10-12) are shaping up as the first real forum where deals can get done.
Why They Didn’t Move in August — and Why That Matters Now
Each of the five had a reason to stay put. Abrams was the most talked-about name — and the most untouchable. A .931 OPS and 27 home runs through late July made his asking price too steep for any buyer. The Nationals, a team that outperformed expectations, had no urgency to sell. ESPN pegged his trade odds at just 20% heading into the deadline; reports at the time called him «extremely expensive.»
Neto came closest to being dealt — ESPN gave him a 40% trade probability, the highest of the group — but the Angels opted to move pitching instead (Soriano, Detmers) and held on to him. The Venezuelan shortstop finished the season hitting .239/.330/.436 with 24 home runs and posted his third straight year above 4.0 WAR. That kind of production doesn’t come cheap.
The most complicated situation heading into winter belongs to Jeremy Peña. He hired Scott Boras and cut off extension talks with Houston, putting him on a near-certain path to free agency after 2027. In 2026 he hit .277/.325/.477 with 22 home runs and a 124 OPS+ — meaning he was 24% better than the average MLB hitter. The Astros kept him because they were still competing; now a new front office has to decide whether to pay him or cash him in.
The Thread Connecting All Five: CBA, GM Meetings and a Shrinking Window
What makes this group interesting isn’t just that there are five names — it’s that they all face the same clock. The CBA expires December 1, 2026. If there’s a work stoppage, rosters freeze and sellers lose leverage. That means any team looking to move a controllable asset needs to act before CBA noise shuts down the conversation.
With the Winter Meetings at real risk of cancellation, the GM Meetings in Las Vegas (November 10-12) become more important than usual. That’s where general managers will lay the groundwork for deals that normally don’t close until December.
Steven Kwan complicates Cleveland’s math. Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said at the team’s end-of-season press conference: «As we sit here today, we’re expecting Steven Kwan to be a big part of a contending team next year.» That doesn’t slam the door on a trade, but it does narrow it — any offer has to clear what Cleveland thinks he’s worth. And after Kwan hit .352/.445/.441 over the final three months of the season, that price went up.
Joe Ryan is probably the most expendable of the five for his own team. With Pablo López returning from Tommy John surgery, the Twins have rotation depth. Ryan has been in trade rumors since the 2025 deadline and would command the biggest prospect return of any Minnesota starter on the market. His projected arbitration salary of $9.6 million makes him an attractive target for contenders.
What to Watch in the Coming Days
This offseason’s qualifying offer landed at $23.15 million — the highest in MLB history — and the non-tender deadline falls on November 20. Those two dates, combined with the GM Meetings, will set the tone for the market before CBA uncertainty takes over.
The Red Sox, Braves, Yankees, Mets and Dodgers have all been linked to at least one of the five names. For Abrams in particular, the price remains the obstacle: a shortstop with a .931 OPS and arbitration control through 2028 doesn’t show up on the market every day, and Washington knows it. If someone breaks the bank for him, that trade resets the value chart for the rest of the offseason.
