Over the next three weeks, ahead of Major League Baseball's July 30 trade deadline, a complicated web will fully form. The deadline is about more than contenders landing players who best fit them. It's a juggling act between now and the future that overlaps with payroll considerations while being colored by decisions from executives whose own jobs could be on the line. The deadline grays hair at a rate just behind the presidency.
The executives with the most riding on this deadline aren't necessarily the ones who will be the most active. Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman will amend his roster, but he's on the verge of his 10th playoff appearance in 10 seasons with the Dodgers, so the pressure, even with a $300 million-plus payroll, isn't quite as acute. The Texas Rangers are perhaps baseball's most disappointing team this season, but Chris Young is less than a year removed from winning a World Series, easing the need to make a rash, win-now move.
Some of their peers do not share that luxury. These are the kings of urgency, whether it's rooted in their franchise's long-term doldrums or compelled by rough recent stretches. The latter case certainly applies best to the first entrant in the group of those with the most at stake as July 30 approaches.