Trade Deadline Winners, Losers and Inbetweeners

Winner- San Diego Padres

The Padres went into the trade deadline with a clear goal, to build an elite bullpen capable of carrying the team deep into the postseason. In one fell swoop the Padres brought in two bullpen upgrades in a blockbuster deal with the Miami Marlins. LHP Tanner Scott and RHP Bryan Hoeing give the Padres an additional lefty to slot into the back end of the pen as well as a reliable setup man with two years of team control. This comes on the heels of an earlier move that brought in Rays reliever Jason Adam. All together this came at the price of seven prospects, all of whom were ranked in the Padres top 30 prospects. The incredibly steep price may come back to haunt the team in the future, but with the Padres annual win-now approach in full effect and the high asking price of bullpen help across the board both moves were fairly balanced both ways. The Padres seem to have met their goals for the deadline and came away much stronger, and should the team find themselves in the postseason they will certainly be a force to be reckoned with.

Loser- Baltimore Orioles

Few recent teams have had more hype going into the trade deadline than this year's Baltimore Orioles. With a plethora of trade chips on the table the team came away with much less than expected and still managed to move some of their most desirable prospects. The buzz leading up to the deadline was that the Orioles would come away with a true Ace, either Tarik Skubal or Garrett Crochet as well as a true power bat in the outfield or at first base. Unfortunately for O’s fans none of these predictions came true. The team did manage to bring in two decent back of the rotation starters in Zach Eflin and Trevor Rodgers to strengthen a position group that has been plagued with injury, but at a steep cost. One could argue that with the logjam of bats in the Orioles farm system it makes sense to move some in exchange for reliable arms, but the level of talent being shipped out does not seem to match the talent coming in. Don't get me wrong, I think the Orioles have improved their roster and have a better chance to compete with the other elite teams come playoff time, it just feels like a letdown given the extremely high expectations coming into the deadline.

Winner- Seattle Mariners

Next we have a team with a historically good starting rotation that lacks depth in the bullpen and has struggled to find run support. The focal point of the deadline for Seattle was to fix the lack of offensive production up and down the lineup, especially in the outfield where injuries have become a real concern for the team. The Mariners got off to an early start by securing one of the best outfielders on the market in Randy Arozarena from the Rays. Though Arozarena has struggled in 2024 he is still capable of hitting for above average power and provides a ton of speed while playing solid defense. Another move that has been undervalued is the Mariners addition of Justin Turner, who brings veteran leadership, a wealth of postseason experience and provides additional depth as Julio Rodriguez and Dominic Canzone return from injury. After addressing their offense the team turned its sights to the bullpen and made another savvy move by acquiring Blue Jays setup man Yimi Garcia. He has been one of the better late inning relievers in the game this season, boasting a 167 era+ and a 0.758 whip at the time of the trade. Garcia will be joining forces with Andrés Muñoz to create one of the better bullpen duos in the league. Seattle is certainly in a better position to fend off Houston and Texas in the AL West and should be taken seriously as a threat in the American League.

Somewhere in the Middle- Kansas City Royals

Currently fighting to hold off the Red Sox for the third wild card spot, the Royals are having one of the best turnaround seasons in recent memory. Many predicted the team to make at least one big move for a legitimate closer or a power hitting corner outfielder. Instead, the Royals brought in two bullpen arms in Hunter Harvey and Lucas Erceg along with starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen and shortstop Paul Dejong. These moves addressed bullpen depth, though it is still not clear if the team has solved the closer issue. I would expect both Harvey and Erceg to have a chance to close out games down the stretch with current closer James McArthur struggling as of late. Lorenzen gives the starting rotation additional depth and could allow the team to shift Alec Marsh to the bullpen if necessary. Paul DeJong will likely split time between the bench, DH and third base with Bobby Witt Jr. at shortstop and could add more power to the back of the lineup. Did the Royals vault themselves into World Series contention? Absolutely not, but they did bring in some pieces that will improve the team down the stretch.

Loser- Los Angeles Angels

Just last year the Angels missed the opportunity to trade Shoehei Ohtani in what would have likely netted the team one of the largest prospect hauls in modern history. Now a year later the Angels still have not learned their lesson and once again declined to make the moves necessary to improve the franchise. After the dust settled LA still had Taylor Ward, Luis Rengifo, Tyler Anderson and Kevin Pillar on their roster. While they were able to move three pitchers including Carlos Estavez it is completely inexcusable for a team with one of the worst farm systems in the MLB to continue to hold onto their limited talent in years where the market is extremely lucrative for sellers. The excuse that the Angels need to keep talent around Mike Trout is no longer valid as he has shown an inability to stay healthy and even if he were, the roster is nowhere near strong enough to compete in the American league. The only opportunity for the team to build around him over the next few seasons would have been an aggressive firesale the prior two years. Unfortunately the incompetence of the organization has once again reared its ugly head and left Angels fans and pundits alike shaking their heads.

Winner- Miami Marlins

The Marlins went into the trade deadline in rebuild move and had plenty of suitors ready to pick apart their roster. Of course one of the most desirable pieces was the extremely versatile Jazz Chisholm Jr. who was shipped to the Yankees in exchange for three prospects including two of the Yankees top-20. What lands the Marlins in the winner column however is the two epic fleece jobs they pulled off both before and after moving Chishom. First, the team sent reliever A.J. Puk to the Diamondbacks in exchange for two prospects including corner infielder Deyvision De Los Santos, who has hit .322 with 30 HRs and 88 RBIs between the AA and AAA level in 2024. Next, in what could only be described as a real head-scratcher, the Orioles handed over elite prospects Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers for left handed starter Trevor Rodgers. While Rodgers has been better in recent weeks he is still carrying a 2-9 record and a 4.53 era at the time of the trade. These and a number of smaller moves have completely reworked the Marlins minor league system and could open up a real shot to contend in the coming years.

Loser- Cleveland Guardians

It is difficult to call the Guardians deadline losers when they made two moves that likely will improve the roster down the stretch. However, between doing less than needed to in order to keep up with some of the top teams and overpaying for the moves they did make it is hard to give a solid grade to the team’s deadline moves. The acquisition of Lane Thomas gives the team a quality outfielder who will have an opportunity to slide into the starting role in right field. This move cost the Guardians three prospects, including promising lefty Alex Clemmey who was Cleveland's second round pick in last year's draft. The Guardians also made an effort to improve the starting rotation by trading for Alex Cobb. This move could have major upside if Cobb can return to his 2023 form when he made the only All-Star appearance of his career. While this is possible, it is less than likely as Cobb is coming off simultaneous hip and shoulder injuries and is turning 37 in October. Cleveland has been known to be a risk averse franchise in recent years and once again did not do enough in a year where the team has a legitimate chance to make a deep playoff run.

John Siebels is the owner of Springhill Sports Cards, he collects and sells sports cards on Ebay, you can find him on Instagram and his Ebay store here