With the end of June approaching, there¡¯s a long list of teams on the postseason bubble, creating a lot of uncertainty about which clubs will be buyers and which will be sellers at the Trade Deadline on July 30 at 6 p.m. ET.

Entering Saturday, all but five of the 30 big league teams were within 5 1/2 games of a playoff spot. The National League Wild Card race is especially jumbled, with nine teams -- all within four games of each other -- vying for two spots behind the Braves, who hold a sizable lead in the competition for the first NL Wild Card berth.

As we await some clarity with the playoff picture, here are nine intriguing players to keep an eye on as potential trade candidates if things go south for their teams in the coming weeks. (All stats below are through Friday.)

Pete Alonso, 1B, Mets
After dropping to a season-worst 11 games under .500 on June 2, the Mets have surged back into contention in the crowded NL Wild Card race, quieting trade speculation for now. However, if New York stumbles again over the next few weeks, the rumblings around Alonso will likely pick back up.

The slugging first baseman, who has a .244/.325/.477 slash with 16 homers and 42 RBIs over 74 games this season, can test free agency this offseason and would be one of the top bats on the market if New York makes him available. The Mets also have J.D. Martinez, Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, José Quintana and Harrison Bader on expiring contracts, making them one of the most important bubble teams to watch leading up to the Trade Deadline.

Alex Bregman, 3B, Astros
No one should be counting the Astros out just yet, but at some point their starting pitching injuries may prove too difficult to overcome. If Houston continues to tread water over the next month, the club is going to have a tough decision to make with Bregman, who got off to a slow start this season but has fared much better of late, slashing .353/.402/.612 with 10 extra-base hits (five homers) in his past 21 games through Friday. The third baseman has been an integral member of the Astros¡¯ core during their run of seven straight American League Championship Series appearances, but he is eligible for free agency at the end of the season.

Zach Eflin, SP, Rays
Given how far ahead the Yankees and Orioles are, the Rays have a narrow path to a postseason berth, competing with seven other teams to nab one of the final two Wild Card spots in the AL. Tampa Bay was only four games out in the race for the third AL Wild Card spot entering Saturday, but the club owns the fourth-worst run differential in the AL and hasn¡¯t been above .500 since May 20, so a playoff push might not be in the cards this year.

With injured starters Shane McClanahan, Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen due back for the entirety of 2025, the Rays could decide to trade Eflin, who is set to earn $18 million next season in the final year of a three-year, $40 million deal. The 30-year-old right-hander has taken a step back this year after finishing sixth in the AL Cy Young Award race in 2023, but his 3.78 FIP, 1.17 WHIP and 11.4 K/BB ratio give him plenty of trade value nonetheless.

Jack Flaherty, SP, Tigers
The Tigers¡¯ postseason hopes are fading fast, putting the club on a path toward a Trade Deadline sale centered around Flaherty, who is having a renaissance season after signing a one-year, $14 million deal with Detroit in December. The 28-year-old has made a remarkable turnaround, producing the largest increase in strikeout rate, the fourth-largest increase in whiff rate and the third-largest drop in walk rate among qualifying pitchers from 2023 to 2024. With a 2.92 ERA, a 0.97 WHIP and an 8.31 K/BB ratio (108 strikeouts, 13 walks) over 83 1/3 innings, Flaherty could be one of the most coveted players on the trade market this summer.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B, Blue Jays
After early postseason exits in 2022 and 2023, the Blue Jays have struggled to get on track this season, leading to questions about their immediate future that are only going to get louder if the team continues to flounder. A complete teardown is unlikely at the Trade Deadline, but if Toronto brass wants to shake things up, it could opt to trade either Guerrero or Bo Bichette, both of whom can become free agents after 2025.

Although Guerrero hasn¡¯t come close to replicating his incredible 2021 season, he is still just 25 years old and remains eminently tantalizing due to his upper-echelon marks in average exit velocity (99th percentile), hard-hit rate (99th percentile) and bat speed (94th percentile). Guerrero is also having a much better season than Bichette, who is currently sidelined by a right calf strain. Accordingly, it might make more sense for the Blue Jays to shop Guerrero this summer and hold off on making a decision about Bichette until the offseason.

Ryan Helsley, RP, Cardinals
After finishing 2023 in last place and opening this season by going 15-24 through 39 games, the Cardinals have clawed their way back into the NL Wild Card race. That said, this team still has a myriad of question marks, chief among them being the production of veteran corner infielders Paul Goldschmidt (.658 OPS) and Nolan Arenado (.691 OPS). If those two aren¡¯t able to turn things around, the Cards could have trouble keeping pace with the other NL Wild Card contenders, potentially leading to another Deadline sale.

Goldschmidt¡¯s track record aside, there¡¯s not likely to be a long list of suitors for the 36-year-old pending free agent. Helsley, though, could draw quite a bit of interest if St. Louis puts him on the block. The flamethrowing righty, who is controllable through 2025, has converted 25 of his 26 save chances with a 2.45 ERA and 38 K¡¯s in 33 innings this season.

Nick Pivetta, SP, Red Sox
Despite dealing with a ton of injuries, the Red Sox have exceeded expectations this season, entering Saturday at 40-36. However, like Tampa Bay and Toronto, Boston is well behind the Yankees and O¡¯s in the AL East, putting the club among the many teams competing for the last two AL Wild Card berths. If Boston drops in the standings, we could see the club take a pragmatic approach and trade away pending free agents such as Pivetta, Tyler O'Neill and Kenley Jansen. The 31-year-old Pivetta is particularly intriguing -- he has posted a 3.88 ERA with a 1.13 WHIP and a 4.21 K/BB ratio (59 strikeouts, 14 walks) over 10 starts in 2024.

Max Scherzer, SP, Rangers
The defending World Series champions have a number of starting pitchers on expiring contracts who could be moved should they decide to sell this year and retool for 2025. That includes Scherzer, who is set to make his season debut Sunday after missing time while recovering from offseason back surgery and a separate nerve issue in his throwing arm. If Scherzer looks like his old self over the next five weeks and the Rangers are unable to make a meaningful jump in the standings -- they were 7 1/2 games out in the AL West and 5 1/2 games out in the AL Wild Card race entering Saturday -- the three-time Cy Young Award winner could be a popular trade candidate.

Paul Sewald, RP, D-backs
After making a surprising run to the World Series a year ago, the D-backs are unlikely to be big sellers this season, even if they fall out of the race by the Trade Deadline. If Arizona did decide to play for next year, though, Sewald would be an obvious trade candidate, considering he can become a free agent this offseason. The closer has been nearly flawless in 15 appearances since returning from a left oblique strain, going 9-for-9 in save chances with a 0.66 ERA and a 0.51 WHIP.