That is especially the case this time of year, when talks heat up in advance of the July 31 trade deadline. Friedman was rushed to the hospital, where the Rays' staff spent the trade deadline trying to work out deals while their front office leader was undergoing treatment for an appendicitis. "She had a baby on the trade deadline." Passan's early MLB trade deadline preview As trade season starts up, here are the biggest names who could move -- and the teams that could deal for them. Hazen remembers such a trade during his second trade deadline as Diamondbacks GM.