A Busy Deadline

Wow!  There was a lot of movement at the Trade Deadline!  By a lot of teams!  Two unexpected reunions (Carlos Correa to Houston, Eugenio Suarez to Seattle) were the headliners, but that's just the tip of the iceberg.  So many contenders decided to go for it.  Teams that aren't contenders became buyers (Cincinnati?!).  Some teams decided to both buy and sell.  And some guys we fully expected to be on the move stayed exactly where they were when the day began.

This was also one of the strangest Trade Deadlines for me.  A few years ago, I was at a Yankees-Diamondbacks game on the day of deadline.  Zack Greinke started for Arizona, then was traded mid-game during a rain delay.  That has nothing on what happened this year, though!  I was at the Yankee game again.  There was a rain delay again.  When they came back from the rain delay, Tampa Bay took Jose Caballero out of the game...because he had been traded to the Yankees during the rain delay!

The Yankees were one of the busiest teams at the Deadline.  They'd already addressed their glaring holes by trading for Ryan McMahon on Amed Rosario before adding Austin Slater and Caballero.  Everyone knew they still needed help in the bullpen, the most glaring weakness on the team.  And boy did they add to the bullpen!  During the rain delay, they closed deals for David Bednar (who they've long coveted), Camilo Doval and Jake Bird, a clear upgrade over the parade of crappy relievers they'd been trotting out there.

While the Yankees definitely improved, I can't say it was a complete win because they didn't land a starter.  Luis Gil is coming off the IL, so that could be viewed as similar to a Trade Deadline acquisition.  But a postseason rotation of Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Marcus Stroman and Gil still doesn't seem like enough, even with a significantly improved bullpen.  Despite that, I'd still have to consider them "winners" at the Deadline since they became a better team.

So, who else are the Trade Deadline winners?  Well, nobody is a bigger winner than the Seattle Mariners.  They were the winners in the Eugenio Suarez Sweepstakes, and they also got Josh Naylor from Arizona in a separate deal.  That gives the Mariners a pretty lethal lineup to go with their already solid starting rotation.  After these moves by the all-in Mariners, it's not a stretch to see Seattle catching Houston in the AL West!

Speaking of Houston, the Correa deal is an absolute shocker.  He'll play third base in the short term while Isaac Paredes is out and his contract runs through 2028, so it sure looks like this reunion is for the long term, as well.  And, with Correa effectively replacing Paredes, plus the low-key additions of Ramon Urias and Jesus Sanchez, as well as the pending returns of Jeremy Pena and Yordan Alvarez, the Astros aren't exactly conceding the AL West to the Mariners.

And, while we're at it, let's throw Texas in the mix!  The Rangers are tied with Seattle for the last wild card spot and can be a scary opponent for anybody in October should they get there.  They were the ones to land Arizona starter Merrill Kelly, whose postseason experience they saw first-hand in the 2023 World Series.  A rotation of Nathan Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom and Kelly is pretty good in a short series!  Especially since Texas also made upgrades to its already solid bullpen in Danny Coulombe and Phil Maton.

Then there's San Diego.  The Padres always keep it interesting at the Deadline.  That's for sure!  Their already strong bullpen was made even better with the addition of Mason Miller, but they didn't stop there.  Two starters (J.P. Sears and Nestor Cortes), a left-handed bat (Ryan O'Hearn), a backup catcher (Freddy Fermin) and the left field problem that they've had all year (Ramon Laureano).  Is it enough to pass the Dodgers?  Probably not.  Is it enough to make them a playoff team (an entertaining one at that)?  Definitely.

Like the Yankees, New York's other team had some glaring issues that needed to be addressed.  The Mets did just that.  Their bullpen has been a mess outside of Edwin Diaz.  Enter Ryan Helsley, Tyler Rogers and Gregory Soto!  They've been lacking a center fielder all season.  Enter Cedric Mullins!  Considering how good the Mets already were, upgrading their two most significant areas of need makes them legitimate World Series contenders.

It's also easy to see the Phillies holding off the Mets.  Because Philadelphia got the thing it needed the most--a closer.  The Phillies got a good one, too, in the Twins' Jhoan Duran.  They also increased their outfield depth with the addition of Harrison Bader.  The Phillies already boasted an incredibly strong starting rotation, and the top of their lineup is as good as anybody's.  The NL East race is gonna be fun!

There is one NL East team that would have to be considered a Deadline loser, though.  Atlanta.  The Braves made it very clear that they no longer have a use for Marcell Ozuna and they were looking to trade him.  Yet Ozuna is still on Atlanta's roster.  So is Raisel Iglesias.  Meanwhile, Rafael Montero isn't.  Other than that, the Braves didn't really do much of anything (other than trading for Carlos Carrasco).  Maybe they're banking on being competitive next year (which isn't a terrible strategy).  This year, they already had no chance of catching the Mets and Phillies.  Being quiet at the Deadline sure didn't increase them.

One seller that surprised me was San Francisco.  The Giants weren't that far out of it a week ago.  Then they went on a six-game losing streak and waived the white flag.  Not only did they ship out Doval, they also sent Mike Yastrzemski to Kansas City.  The Giants, who made a big all-in splash with the Rafael Devers trade, gave up on the 2025 season six weeks later by trading away their closer and right fielder.

Most of the other teams that did the selling were expected.  Arizona, obviously, was the biggest seller with the most significant names being shipped out.  (As well as a smaller deal that sent Shelby Miller and Jordan Montgomery to the Brewers.)  In addition to Mullins and the moves they'd already made, Baltimore shipped Charlie Morton to the Cubs.  Minnesota's not catching Detroit, so the Twins traded their moveable pieces, but, oddly, kept Joe Ryan.  And I'll give Cleveland a pass for not moving Emmanuel Clase since he became impossible to trade after everything about the gambling came out.

Of course, only two teams will end up making it to the World Series, and only one of those two will win it.  And that'll ultimately be what decides who had a successful Trade Deadline and who didn't.  It's also a given that not all of these trades will work out, while others will be the exact missing piece that a team needed.  So, even though it's way too early to judge, there are plenty of teams that have plenty of reason to feel better about their World Series chances tonight than they did this morning.