Like every trade deadline in sports, there are clear winners and losers.
The MLB Trade Deadline has ended. Like any sport, Major League Baseball’s deadline is a time that separates the contenders from pretenders and the smart general managers from those who are desperate.
This season is no different.
Here are the top teams who won, and lost the trade deadline.
Winners – San Diego Padres
Juan Soto. Josh Bell. Josh Hader. Brandon Drury. What a haul.
Anytime you get a 23-year-old MVP candidate to improve a team in the playoff race, you know that you have made out like bandits.
The Padres not only acquired the generational talent that is Juan Soto, but also Josh Bell in the same deal. Add in the fact that San Diego also brought in Josh Hader and the Padres lineup, and the bullpen has become absolutely loaded. Before the deadline even ended, they added Brandon Drury
The NL West has become increasingly stacked and anyway you look at it, the Padres came away as big winners of the trade deadline.
Losers – Boston Red Sox
What in the world is going on in Boston?
The team was in talks with several about the availability for JD Martinez. In what is quickly becoming a lost season, one would’ve thought Boston would try to sell off some of their top players.
Instead, Boston added Eric Hosmer from San Diego and Tommy Pham. They traded away a fan favorite in Christian Vazquez to Houston. One can easily ask if Chaim Bloom expects a team currently in last place in the division to magically play better with problems across their pitching staff.
It seems like Boston refused to make any moves to make them contenders, but also refused to give up players for prospects and went-in on a rebuild. That “half/half” mantra has always doomed teams before and could doom the Sox again.
Winners – New York Yankees
The Yankees needed a player who could get on base, another starting pitcher, and relief help.
Andrew Benintendi, Frankie Montas, Lou Trivino, and Scott Effross were all added days before the deadline and improved the roster.
Montas fits nicely in behind Cole as the #2 starter for the Mets while Benintendi’s ability to get on base has been a major help already for the Yankees.
On top of that, the day of the trade deadline saw the team find a taker for Joey Gallo. Not only did the Yankees improve the team by subtracting a bad player, but really helped push themselves further ahead of the pack.
Add in trading away Jordan Montgomery for a defensive center fielder in Harrison Bader and it was a flurry of excellent moves in the Bronx.
The Yankees are massive winners of the deadline.
Losers – Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles were one of the most intriguing teams over the last month. Baltimore is a game over .500 and has exceeded any and all expectations this season.
So it was puzzling when the team traded away locker room anchors Trey Mancini and Jorge Lopez to Houston and Minnesota.
An argument can be made that Baltimore wasn’t ready to take the next steps to compete for a playoff spot, but what does this tell a fanbase that has been looking for any signs of life?
Baltimore did get back some nice prospects but all-in-all, this does nothing to help MLB’s problem of teams openly tanking.
It’s hard to see the Orioles as winners when ownership won’t let them be.
Winners – Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies
Chalk me up as someone who has really liked what the Twins have done this deadline. Add in Philadelphia as well. So both go on the list together as winners.
Both teams needed pitching in the worst way. The Twins got Tyler Mahle from Cinncinati and Jorge Lopez from Baltimore. The Phillies – Noah Syndergaard and David Roberston,
Minnesota has been sitting idly by in the AL Central and was looking for anything to close the gap between the Yankees and Astros. The two moves today certainly help.
Philadelphia needed extra arms to keep pace with the Mets and Braves and certainly did that. Robertson has had a great year in Chicago while Syndergaard has plenty of experience against the NL East.
Of course, it all comes down to if the Twins win in the Bronx when it matters. But for now at least, the Twins and Phillies are winners at the deadline.
Losers – Washington Nationals
What. A. Mess. First, general manager Mike Rizzo offers a generational player on the roster a contract he was never going to accept with a low AAV. Then, instead of being patient knowing he had the player for multiple years of team control, looks for the best offer available right away.
Rizzo has a history of having a nice eye for prsopects but trading away a generational talent before he even turns 25 is one of the worst moves in baseball history.
It continues the issue baseball has had with tanking teams. And to top it all off, he gave up another very good hitter in Josh Bell as well. Giving up two players: one a generational talent, the other a .300 hitter for a beavy of prospects is not good enough to put them as winners on this list.
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