What I'm hearing ahead of the MLB trade deadline  —  Sign up for The Windup newsletter |  Levi Weaver and Ken Rosenthal deliver expert analysis on the biggest MLB stories every weekday.  Get it sent to your inbox.  —  The MLB trade deadline is at 6 p.m. ET, and so much is unresolved.

Yankees Notebook: Domingo Germán scratched with armpit discomfort, then pitches in relief  —  The Yankees' Domingo Germán was scratched from his scheduled start Monday after experiencing armpit discomfort a day earlier, but in a surprise move, he ended up pitching in the game anyway.

REPORT: Phillies send Falter to Pittsburgh, get Rodolfo Castro in return  —  Some defensive flexibility  —  Looks like Dave Dombrowski has bolstered his bench a bit.  —  From the Phillies end, Bailey Falter had basically run his course with the team once they acquired Michael Lorenzen.

Chicago Cubs get a ‘positive reinforcement’ roster boost with addition of third baseman Jeimer Candelario before trade deadline  —  The Chicago Cubs front office believes in this team's potential.  —  That's the message they sent to the players and staff with their first move ahead …

What we're hearing about Justin Verlander, Pete Alonso and the Mets' plans for 2024  —  KANSAS CITY — While Billy Eppler preempted any conversation of a “rebuild” with his comments Sunday at Citi Field, that's not exactly how the Mets clubhouse is viewing the situation right now.

Brewers, Diamondbacks Swap Andrew Chafin For Peter Strzelecki  —  The Brewers have picked up left-hander Andrew Chafin in a trade with the Diamondbacks, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link).  John Gambadoro of 98.7 FM Phoenix reports that right-hander Peter Strzelecki is headed back to the D'Backs in return.

Mets' future still unclear following Max Scherzer, David Robertson deals  —  If it's not a fire sale and it's not a liquidation, then what, exactly is it?  —  Billy Eppler has a habit of using corporate jargon when he speaks to the media.  He's not the first professional sports executive to do so and he's not the last.

Where Yankees stand on possible deals with MLB trade deadline closing in  —  As the trade deadline nears, the Yankees appeared to still be following the two-tiered strategy of seeing if they both could sell some players while buying for now and the future.  —  The buy continued to be built around …

Cubs acquire Josh Roberson from Rays for Adrian Sampson and Manuel Rodriguez  —  This is a minor deal.  —  The Cubs have made a minor trade this morning:  —  Josh Roberson is a 27-year-old righthander who was the Marlins' 12th round pick out of UNC-Wilmington in 2017.

Braves Acquire Brad Hand  —  The Braves have acquired reliever Brad Hand from the Rockies, the clubs announced.  Minor league reliever Alec Barger goes to Colorado in a one-for-one swap.  Atlanta already had an opening on their 40-man roster.  —  Hand was one of the more obvious trade candidates this summer.