One thing I’ve always liked about deadline day is the peak into how major league organizations actually value players. I know there’s money and budget and job security issues that illustrate the evaluations, but it’s still a money-where-your-mouth-is moment on the calendar. Some guys (AJ Preller) thrive in this environment. Some don’t.
Atlanta asked about Jacob deGrom and seemed to give up when he chose to remain in Texas. Some of their fans were big mad on the internet, calling for the head of Alex Anthopoulos. They did get Lane Thomas and Bailey Falter from Kansas City and Tyler Mahle from San Francisco. Also Brent Suter for the bullpen. Their fans seemed angry online and are right to suspect AA is looking forward to the post-deadline scrap heap. Jorge Soler is out there now, for what it’s Werth.
The Marlins made clear how they feel about LHP Braxton Garrett and 2B Connor Norby. It’s nice to see them get Brayden Taylor back from the Rays. He could be in Miami a couple weeks from now. The Liam Hicks trade opens a spot for C Agustin Ramirez, though I think he’ll be more of a backup option than a true timeshare guy, partly because they added 1B Jonathan Long from the Cubs who figures to get a look at designated hitter.
The Mets did some stuff, prying SS Jefferson Rojas off the Cubs in exchange for RHP Clay Holmes and OF Tyrone Taylor. Holmes had a broken throwing arm this season and hasn’t returned to the majors since. Impressive to get a new number one prospect for your club for two months of a pitcher coming back from a broken throwing arm.
Philadelphia traded away Itch-fave Ramon Marquez in a package for Caleb Killian and two months of Luis Arraez. Am I the only guy who doesn’t understand why these teams don’t think about this stuff in the off-season when all Arraez would have cost was money. Captain Hindsight over here. Maybe the only reason they didn’t sign him was because he wanted to play second base. They also added left-handed reliever Brooks Raley, who should come in handy during October.
Washington sold expiring contracts and held SS CJ Abrams. Seems like the right way to play it, although I hope they tried to re-sign Foster Griffin before sending him to Cleveland. Then again, why do that when the 2027 season is hypothetical at this point.
It’s easy to see why the Cubs would like Ryan Zeferjahn considering they have him through 2030, and his stuff is top-of-the-scale difficult to hit: literally in the 100th percentile in opponents batting average according to statcast. As a Cubs fan, I actually like the trade even though I think Ballesteros is an excellent hitting prospect and Zeferjahn is volatile as any reliever can be. The Cubs clearly don’t think Moises Ballesteros can catch. I might disagree considering he’s just 22 years old, but the clock is ticking on all these guys, contract wise. If they don’t think he can catch during the time they have him, and they don’t think he thumps enough to be an everyday designated hitter, then they might as well trade him to try and win games now. The club steered hard in the opposite direction than they chose last year, adding as many pitchers as possible in Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes, Braxton Garrett and Zeferjahn along with pre-deadline additions David Peterson and Aaron Civale.
The Reds did as little as possible, trading Nathaniel Lowe to Cleveland for a guy the Guardians cut (Juan Brito) and RHP Alejandro Rivera. Not a lot of joy in chilliville this week.
The Brewers were never really part of the Tarik Skubal talks, in this writer’s completely outside opinion. It’s cute for them to claim they offered competitive trades, but nobody in the league is taking SS Luis Pena seriously next to OF Zyhir Hope. Nor does anyone else want SS Jett Williams compared to RHP River Ryan. If that’s really what they were offering, I can almost understand why the Tigers didn’t even bother to wait a couple days to see if the offers might improve. If the third piece was 2B Josh Adamczewski, that’s enough to make me send a counter offer, but I don’t love him either if I’m the Tigers, who have plenty of infielders, and Adamczewski is a hitter without a defensive home. Nobody plays the woe-is-us media game better than the Brewers.
I was shocked the Cardinals got OF Alexander Frias (and Josiah Ragsdale) from Milwaukee for SP Dustin May and RP Jojo Romero. Guy’s a top 50 prospect for me. May will be a free agent in a few months. So it goes, I suppose, but it caught me off guard. I’m sure Romero and May will be money for Milwaukee, who demoted Brandon Sproat to open a rotation spot. Crazy that the right side of the Freddy Peralta trade might have been neither. Although now that I’m thinking about it, I’d rather have Frias and Ragsdale than Williams and Sproat, so perhaps the right move was always to hold Freddy, who might’ve been the same successful Peralta in Wisconsin. The Cards also managed to offload OF Lars Nootbaar, which should presage a promotion for OF Joshua Baez. Nice deadline for St. Louis.
The Pirates had a fun deadline, adding a new bullpen in Luke Weaver, Camilo Doval, Kirby Yates and Luke Bachar while primarily surrendering infielders Sammy Stafura and Hyun Seong Lee. The Bachar trade surprised me a bit because Miami is still in contention against Pittsburgh for a wild card spot, and Bachar has been among their best relievers.
Arizona acquired Lars Nootbaar in exchange for pitchers Daniel Eagan and Sandro Santana along with a player to be named later. He’s arbitration eligible next season, which is perhaps what explains the three-prospect price tag. I have never understood the appeal for fantasy baseball, but plate skills and defense keep him useful for the real game. And that was that. No more trades for a team that would make the playoffs if they started today. Reporting suggests they had a trade in place for Clay Holmes, but the Mets backed out, perhaps because the Cubs made such an aggressive offer.
The Rockies made trades with three different organizations, which is three times as many teams as they transacted with the last couple of seasons. For that reason alone, 2026 represents a step forward for the club under Paul DePodesta. RHP Mason Adams is an interesting arm coming from Chicago in return for OF Brenton Doyle. He’s a 26 year old in Triple-A who should soon join the big league pitching staff, perhaps in a swing man role. Norby is an interesting bat to get from Miami for RHP Victor Vodnik and his 5.35 ERA, and 2B Juan Martinez is an excellent pull from Milwaukee in exchange for RHP Antonio Senzatela.
What can we say about the Dodgers? Nothing that hasn’t been said seven times elsewhere, I suspect. They got better at the deadline like they always do, only more so this time. I actually don’t think they’ve been all that good this year aside from Ohtani, Yamamoto and Wrobleski, and I won’t be at all surprised to see them get bounced early from the postseason. Their hitters are literally the oldest hitters. They can’t keep getting away with that. (Of course they can, but they look legitimately less impressive on paper than other offenses for the first time in a while.)
The most surprising trade of the day came from the Padres, though I suppose that itself is no surprise. AJ Preller and company acquired LHP Robbie Ray and RHP Casey Mize while trading from baseball’s most barren farm system. Kudos to them for having little hesitation to trade 2024 first-round pick LHP Kash Mayfield for a package headlined by Casey Mize, who I thought would bring back a little bit more for Detroit, who instead held 2B Gleyber Torres, another surprise for yours truly.
It was a sellers’ market with most of the league in reach of a wild card spot, and the Giants made the most of it. I’ve always been lower than consensus on IF Marcelo Mayer, but it was still a bit stunning to see him deal for LHP Erik Miller. I like the trade for both sides though. Miller has three years of arbitration after 2026, so this is no rental, and if they can improve his control even a little bit, he could become a borderline elite reliever. Mayer gets a chance of scenery that seems badly needed. The Giants also got Itch-fave Henry Lalane from the Yankees in the Heliot Ramos trade and another Itch-fave in Phillies RHP Ramon Marquez, Kaeden Kent came over with Lalane, and that guy can really hit. SS Joniel Hernandez is still in the Dominican Summer League, but it can pay off to poach Preller’s prospects, and Hernandez joins the deepest shortstop group in the minor leagues behind Jhonny Level, Joshua Gonzalez and Luis Hernandez. Attrition is unavoidable in the prospect game, but San Francisco seems almost certain to get a major league shortstop out of this group. Might have been Buster Posey’s best week as a President of Baseball Operations.
Thanks for reading! (I’ll cover the American League next time. Words added up in a hurry here.)
Hey itch! Does this bump up or down river’s timeline? Thanks!
If Detroit wins some games, he’ll be up when he’s healthy.
If not, we won’t see him until mid September if at all.
Maybe I’m just being naive, but has there ever been a team in contention leading up to the deadline that DOESN’T need bullpen help? Why don’t teams just pay a little more to stock up on good RPs in the offseason? Come July, if they are contending they are theoretically all set. If they are selling, there is ALWAYS a market and they’ll get back some prospects.
Wouldn’t it be better to spend a little more $ on RPs up front than give up good prospects for 2 months of a LOOGY? It’s not like there’s a salary cap…yet (cough cough DODGERS cough)
Makes sense to me. I think this happened for a minute after the Royals won, no?
Maybe bullpens are inherently more likely to break, so the time-value of knowing a guy is healthy is worth the cost in prospects v. money. Still, you could sign an extra guy or two . . .
I just think they are so volatile year to year (even month to month) that it doesn’t make sense to pay up front vs. Knowing later if you actually need them or have it covered in-house
12 team dynasty 5×5 drop Willy Adames for Long? In a rebuild at SS I have Genoa Culpepperand Vaughn Grissom and Montgomery…also would you trade Bryce Eldridge for Jackson Jobe? Thank you!
I’d Adames and Eldridge. I like em both.
One of those guys should emerge for that rebuild. Genoa’s been on fire so I suspect he’ll come out of the gate hot in the majors.
Very nice as always, Itch! As a Padres fan, trading away Kash Mayfield for 2 months of Casey Mize stings but I guess I should be happy that we are going for it this year. Maybe one day I’ll see a ‘home grown’ pitcher. Kruz Schoolcraft come on baby!
Thanks!
I almost wrote something about Miguel Mendez who could’ve perhaps been moved last season. Stings to hold a pitcher and see him have a tough follow-up season. Leaves a mark.
Incredible job by Preller and his group this week though.
I’m in a 12 team dynasty league that uses OBP/SLG and my OFers are crapping out on me. If I had to take a chance on a 5th OF from waivers who would you want to roll with:
Larry Butler
Garrett Mitchell
Nootbaar
Varsho
Conine
The slug mutes the Noot effect.
Shoot for the moon with Conine, I think.
Nice roundup, AA’s gotta be the one best in the business picking up gems from the scrap heap
Yeah he finds value. Might just circle back to Jorge Mateo if it comes to that.
Haha yep or a Jorge Soler reunion