The turn of the month means that the most exciting month for baseball fans has arrived. Although the MLB draft brings hope and the All-Star week is the most exciting and meaningful midseason break among any North American sports league, the intensity and excitement the trade deadline brings can’t be beat.

Which American League teams will be buyers and sellers, and who will be inactive at this year’s trade deadline?

Buy: Toronto Blue Jays
The stakes are high for Toronto (47-38) this year, as the team stares down the barrel of having many players hitting the free agent market in the next two years. The contracts of Bo Bichette, Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt end this year. By 2027 George Springer, Daulton Varsho and Kevin Gausman will be gone, unless they’re extended. Although Scherzer, Bassitt, and Gausman are past their prime, they’re still established pitchers who have starred in the league within the last five years.

Although their slug has been just average, Toronto’s .257/.328/.398 slash line and ability to hold opposing hitters to a .238 batting average shows that this team has enough raw talent to power their way through September; they just need a little boost. Toronto needs an ace to take charge, and they could use a power-hitting right fielder (perhaps Mike Tauchman?) to add some more oomph to right field, which has been severely lacking with Anthony Santander’s season-long slump. Jays fans watched the team plummet from 99-64 in 2023 to 74-88 last year, so the least Toronto can do after extending Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for 14 years is to show a bit of effort at the deadline.

Sell: Los Angeles Angels
Three months ago, predicting the Angels (41-42) would be neck-and-neck with the Mariners and Rangers in July might’ve been the wildest take. But here we are. Taylor Ward’s home runs and Yusei Kikuchi’s dominance on the mound continue to make MLB highlight reels, but those are just snippets. L.A.’s pitching ERA and WHIP still rank in the bottom third among all 30 teams, and the offense’s .229 batting average and .296 on-base percentage are far below the median.

The Angels are 8 ½ games behind the Astros in the division race and have multiple areas that need fine-tuning before they can be considered a playoff-caliber team. They need a third baseman, as Luis Rengifo and Yoán Moncada aren’t playing up to par. Their shallow rotation demands adding another starter, and, like every team, Los Angeles needs better relievers than Kenley Jansen and Ryan Zeferjahn. With too many needs and a low-ranking farm system, the Angels should try to at least pawn off Kikuchi’s contract on a contending team.

Sit: Kansas City Royals
The Royals (39-46) have underwhelmed many despite having had a busy offseason. The starters rank seventh-best in MLB ERA and relievers sixth-best in the same category, but the hitting has been unreliable. A -37 run differential and dramatic turn from a 15-13 May to a 8-18 June reveal Kansas City’s hitters aren’t the most consistent across all nine spots.

Going cold before the trade deadline is problematic, but the Royals aren’t forced to be sellers. Their core pitchers Kris Bubic, Seth Lugo, and Michael Lorenzen are locked in through 2026, and their combined salary likely won’t exceed $30 million, depending on Bubic’s contract. Salvador Pérez will make $13.5 million next year before he becomes a free agent, which is a steal for a veteran catcher with as many accolades as he has. The rest of the Royals’ biggest players — Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino, Jac Cagalione, Maikel Garcia, and Kyle Isbel — all are under contract until at least 2028.

At most, they’ll make a minor trade like moving Mark Canha, but don’t expect the Royals to play a pivotal role in the trade deadline.