RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Another trade deadline has passed.
As has become customary in recent years — particularly with the expanded postseason making it more difficult to distinguish who should be buying and selling — most MLB teams waited until the final 48 hours to ramp up their trade activity. More than 40 trades were executed on deadline day alone , with another handful of deals completed in the week leading up to the final buzzer , including the seismic swap sending two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal to the superteam known as the Los Angeles Dodgers .
With the deadline behind us , it’s time to conduct our annual exercise of ranking (nearly) all of the deals that went down since the All-Star break, when trade activity picks up around the league.
Let’s get to it.
The non-Skubal Dodgers deal
50. Dodgers acquire C Ben Rortvedt from Mets for RP Chayce McDermott 49. Dodgers acquire C Hunter Feduccia, RP Jacob Kmatz from Rays for OF Jack Suwinski, international bonus pool money 48. Dodgers acquire SP Kris Bubic from Royals for RP Carlos Duran 47. Dodgers acquire RP Seth Halvorsen from Rockies for OF Landyn Vidourek, SP Nick Frasso
Let’s be real – you know the Skubal blockbuster is waiting for you at the bottom of this list. But the defending champs did more than land the splendid southpaw before the deadline, and that collection of moves was plenty fascinating.
It began July 20, when the Dodgers completed their first trade with the Rockies since 2014, sending prospects to Colorado for right-hander Seth Halvorsen , who will need to hone his command to become an option in the big-league bullpen but has a fastball up to 102 mph that is hard to ignore.
Catcher Will Smith has been on the injured list since early June due to a neck injury, and on Monday, Dalton Rushing was placed on the IL due to an elbow strain, which sent the Dodgers scrambling for catching depth at the deadline. That meant acquiring Ben Rortvedt from the Mets … one year after acquiring Rortvedt at the deadline from Tampa Bay in a deal that sent Hunter Feduccia to the Rays. That was amusing enough on its own, and then, just before the deadline, the Dodgers reacquired Feduccia as well.
To top it all off, L.A. sent relief prospect Carlos Duran to Kansas City for Bubic – an All-Star just last season but one who has been on the injured list since early May battling elbow and shoulder injuries. It is quite possible that Bubic, who is slated to hit free agency after this season, never throws a pitch for the Dodgers. But if he can somehow rehab in time to contribute to any degree down the stretch, that would be a fairly ridiculous turn of events.
Role players
46. White Sox acquire C Joey Bart from Braves for RP Duncan Davitt 45. White Sox acquire OF Brenton Doyle from Rockies for SP Mason Adams, SS Carlos Vielma 44. Red Sox acquire OF Eli White from Braves for RP Tyler Uberstine 43. Red Sox acquire INF/OF Jahmai Jones from Tigers for SP Jojo Ingrassia 42. Blue Jays acquire INF Josh Smith, SP Josh Stephan from Rangers for RP Adam Macko
Nothing too exciting here. The White Sox needed catching depth with Kyle Teel back on the injured list, and Doyle is a nice buy-low candidate who can at least provide excellent center-field defense. The Red Sox bolstered their bench with some speed (White) and a lefty-masher in Jones who was floundering in Detroit after shining with them in a platoon role last year. The Rangers/Blue Jays swap is notable for it being one of just two trades Texas made ahead of this deadline, along with adding Chase Silseth and Logan O’Hoppe from Anaheim last week . It was a strange display of inaction from a team not that far out of first place.
Innings-eaters
41. Cubs acquire SP Aaron Civale from Athletics for RP Aiden Moffett 40. Cubs acquire SP Braxton Garrett from Marlins for 1B Jonathon Long, RP Jace Beck 39. Twins acquire SP Dean Kremer from Orioles for OF Jhomnardo Reyes 38. Braves acquire SP Tyler Mahle from Giants for RP Anthony Molina 37. Brewers acquire SP Dustin May, RP JoJo Romero from Cardinals for OF Alexander Frías, OF Josiah Ragsdale
It’s possible one or two of these arms pitches their way into a more meaningful role by the end of the season, but as things stand, they were brought in by contenders (or at least playoff hopefuls) to cover innings in a cromulent fashion, rather than with hopes of starting a postseason game. Perhaps the Braves and Brewers can coax more impact out of Mahle and May than the two right-handers were able to find in San Francisco and St. Louis, respectively . If anything, there might actually be more pressure on them to do so, considering how few other moves Atlanta and Milwaukee made at this deadline.
The surprisingly busy Cleveland Guardians
36. Guardians acquire RP Craig Yoho, OF Blake Perkins from Brewers for C Bo Naylor, RP Codi Heuer 35. Guardians acquire OF Jo Adell from Angels for C Jacob Cozart 34. Guardians acquire 1B Nathaniel Lowe from Reds for SP Alejandro Rivera 33. Guardians acquire SP Foster Griffin from Nationals for RP Will Dion, SP Josh Hartle, RP Kendeglys Virguez, OF Nick Mitchell
How about this? Cleveland has not been known in recent seasons to be particularly busy at deadline time, but they were as active as any team in the wild-card mix over the past few days. Naylor no longer had a path to playing time, so flipping him for an intriguing strikeout artist in Yoho made sense to bolster the bullpen. Adell has not had a great year but brings rare bat speed to a lineup desperate for some thump and is under team control for 2027 as well. Lowe was crushing right-handers (.885 OPS) with Cincinnati, providing a veteran lefty bat to boost the Guardians’ first-base production, which has been sorely lacking.
Finally, the Guardians made a surprising swap with Washington, leveraging the depth of their farm system to add an All-Star lefty in Griffin, who gives them a much more capable rotation option behind their terrific to...
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