The best Ranking the 2025 MLB trade
By Andy McCullough, Stephen J. Nesbitt, and Grant Brisbee Have you ever binge-watched a show that initially seemed uninteresting? After that, you became engrossed and began spending time on Reddit discussing plot theories and going down rabbit holes on the internet. You didn't realize your condition until the last credits rolled and you unglued your eyes from the screen. You were worn out. You looked terrible. You required a glass of water.
That was the experience of following the MLB trade deadline this year. Over the course of the last day, a sluggish market turned into a race, and now Carlos Correa is an Astro, Shane Bieber is a Blue Jay, David Bednar is a Yankee, and Mason Miller is a Padre. This time of year, it's time to group all 30 MLB teams into the three most important categories: winners, losers, and snoozers. Buyers or sellers who met the needs of their clubs and improved without being defrauded are the winners. Losers made small moves when large swings were required to address areas of need, overpaid, or misread the market. Snoozers slept. Well, that sounds good.
The Baltimore Orioles won. On this one, we were genuinely divided. Due to this season's failure, the Orioles are here. However, after arriving, Baltimore's front office completed the tasks that needed to be done during the previous two weeks. General manager Mike Elias made efficient use of the team's stash of pending free agents, which may prove useful in the future. Declaring Baltimore a winner in a season when the team started with World Series hopes and ended up becoming one of the most active sellers by July seems absurd. This kind of losing season might serve as a launching pad to contending again. At least give them credit for being decisive. — AM
The Colorado Rockies You faithful, rejoice. At the last minute, the Rockies sold and behaved like a typical bad team. I can't help it, but we shouldn't give them extra credit for doing the most obvious thing a rebuilding team can do. A million bonus points. Before I even check the prospects they received in exchange for Ryan McMahon, Jake Bird, and Tyler Kinley, they are in the winners section. Yes, now that I've researched the possibilities! Okay, they are prospects. One of them has the amazing Rockies name Roc Riggio. Additionally, it sounds like Scooby Doo discussing the Astros Hall of Famers. These young players are winners in my opinion even before the Rockies get anything from them. I'm really proud.
The Houston Astros Recall the conclusion of the 2021 season. Carlos Correa was a 27-year-old free agent. He was coming off a 7-WAR season, Gold Glove, and fifth-place MVP finish. On a winning team, he was one of the clubhouse leaders. He had the entire world in front of him and was a superstar. Folks, this was roughly 1,300 days ago. Since then, there have been one-year contracts, unsuccessful physicals, trips to the IL, All-Star seasons, multiyear contracts with various club options, and ultimately a trade back to the starting point. What a strange, strange interruption to what should have been a perfectly normal Hall of Fame journey. Even though his peak was only last, it's difficult to anticipate the same level of exceptional performance from him again.
The Royals of Kansas City The Royals' decision to extend starter Seth Lugo instead of leaving him hanging at the trade deadline had the biggest impact. They performed well with their smaller manoeuvres as well. In exchange for catcher Freddy Fermin and two minor leaguers, they acquired a left-handed outfielder named Randal Grichuk, a right-handed outfielder named Mike Yastrzemski (well, mashing might be overstating), a reunion with utility infielder Adam Frazier, and three major league arms: Stephen Kolek, Ryan Bergert, and Bailey Falter. For a team that is still in the running for the playoffs, that is neat trade-deadline work. They improved somewhat, and for 2026 and beyond, they will now have Lugo, Falter, Bergert, and Kolek. SN
The New York Mets Without significantly harming his farm system, David Stearns acquired two of the top rental relievers, Ryan Helsley and Tyler Rogers, while other teams sought pitchers with several years of team control. He replaced outfielder Cedric Mullins on the day of the deadline. Is it possible that the Mets will pass up the surplus value of pitcher Blade Tidwell or outfielder Drew Gilbert? Yes. However, owner Steve Cohen's money can be used to quickly close those gaps in the future. This is the closest the Mets have come to resembling Cohen's ideal team—the East Coast Dodgers—using a thriving minor league system to position the major league team for success in October. — AM
New York Yankees
The Yankees improved in several areas at the deadline as general manager Brian Cashman utilized a plethora of catching prospects to help the big-league club. Ryan McMahon offers strong defense, cost certainty and some potential offensive upside at third base. Austin Slater should aid the lineup against left-handed pitching. The relief duo of David Bednar and Jake Bird can keep traffic off the bases in the late innings. Camilo Doval, a last-minute acquisition, is more of a wild card, but has flashed the potential to be a closer in the past. It’s a good haul. Will the influx of new talent outweigh the team’s propensity for sloppy play? We’ll find out in October. — AM
The Philadelphia Phillies A closer was needed by the Phillies. In order to get a closer look, Dave Dombrowski went out. Since making his debut in 2022, Jhoan Duran has established himself as one of baseball's top relievers. Make no mistake: This agreement is about this October, even though Duran is under team control through 2027. In baseball, Philadelphia's starting lineup is the best. Veterans who have been in combat are in the lineup. The bullpen now has a last boss. Dombrowski protected top prospects Andrew Painter and Aidan Miller by taking the necessary actions. — AM
The San Diego Padres Right now, A.J. Preller is floating above Petco Park's roof, giving off an unearthly glow and a humming sound that sounds like a cross between a bagpipe and a cricket. Although there are police present, there is neither panic nor urgency. This is nothing new to them. Preller simply does this at this time of year. He will descend by himself. From here, it's difficult to care that Leo De Vries might become a superstar and a cosmic credit card bill for the Fernando Tatis Jr. trade. Making the Padres better is Preller's only goal, and he has accomplished it.— GB
The Seattle Mariners When was the last time the Mariners acquired a corner infielder and then promptly traded for another one with the same team? They purchased Ben Broussard and Eduardo Pérez from Cleveland in 2006. The pair's combined record of 198 games and -1.6 WAR is already quite poor. Except the Mariners gave up Asdrúbal Cabrera and Shin-Soo Choo, who combined for 31 seasons, 65 WAR and a couple of All-Star Games. For amateur historians of general Mariners malaise, those transactions are a humorous note, even though they have little in common with the trades of Eugenio Suárez and Josh Naylor, which occurred nearly twenty years later. Regarding their actions at this deadline, what more can you say? There were clear holes in
The Sports You should never give the A's team any credit for anything, and you never "gotta hand it to them." Over the past two seasons, however, they have not been in their customary sell-sell-sell mode; instead, they have chosen to sign a number of players to long-term contracts, presumably for their future home in Las Vegas. They therefore had no intention of trading Mason Miller unless they were able to acquire one of the game's top prospects, which is precisely what they did with De Vries. Along with some other gifted prospects, they prevailed by holding out for one of the best prospects traded since Yoan Moncada. The winners' section is the only place to put them. — GB
Arizona Diamondbacks, losers The Diamondbacks' presence isn't solely due to the prospects they acquired in their trades. The Merrill Kelly haul was more than sufficient, but Eugenio Suárez's return seemed a bit light. Overall, they traded some of their best players for future contributors, which is what a rebuilding team is meant to do. The Diamondbacks aren't supposed to be rebuilding at all, so it's difficult to avoid wondering if they ought to be the team making a half-hearted attempt, like the Angels. Perhaps they ought to have seen what they had when they selected their free agents in the draft at the end of the previous season. Is there anything else? That's loser talk, to be honest. However, their owner will be pleased that they received
The Chicago Cubs You lose sometimes when you snooze. A great starter like the Cubs is essential for any contender. Although there was a lot of smoke, there was no fire when the deadline passed. The Cubs acquired league-average hitter Willi Castro, a utility player, and three veteran pitchers: starter Michael Soroka and relievers Andrew Kittredge and Taylor Rogers. That's all. They refused to give up the best prospects who could have returned a high-end starter. During their one (and only?) season with Kyle Tucker, they also made the decision not to improve the lineup. Matt Shaw's continued hotness seems to be the answer to their third-base query. In a pivotal season, it was a surprisingly cautious approach. SN Promotion
The Cincinnati Reds "What on earth did the Reds just do?" an assessor texted Wednesday afternoon. They recently acquired Gold Glove third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes from the Pirates in exchange for reliever Taylor Rogers and shortstop prospect Sammy Stafura. Hayes is among the best defenders in baseball, but his offensive prowess overshadows any defensive value he may have. Although starter Zack Littell is a good addition, Taylor Rogers was lost and not replaced by the bullpen. However, it remains unclear if the Reds will be able to address Hayes' hitting issues prior to his contract expiring in 2030. They will have won this trade if he can turn into an average hitter. However, he still has a long way to go.
The Detroit Tigers There is no doubt that the Tigers were active. This week, they replaced half of their pitching staff. However, Codi Heuer, Randy Dobnak, Paul Sewald, Chris Paddack, Charlie Morton, Rafael Montero, and Kyle Finnegan are not winning deadlines. It has depth. The bats are where? The best late-inning relievers are nowhere to be found. The Tigers losing the individual trades isn't the problem. They didn't even come close to landing any of the top relievers because they were unwilling to pay too much for them. Rather than raiding their prospect stash, they made small improvements. It feels fantastic until the ninth inning of a postseason game comes around and you might have had David Bednar or Ryan Helsley come trotting in from the bullpen. SN
The San Francisco Giants Only three weeks have passed since the Giants emerged victorious from the trade deadline. Rafael Devers, who may still be the best player traded this month, was one of them. They have been the worst baseball team ever since, going so far as to commit to an aggressive sell-off in July. The prospects will be helpful because they have a thin system in the midst of a largely uninteresting 2025. In particular, the prospects they acquired from the Mets in exchange for Tyler Rogers will soon make their Giants debut and have some name value. It's even possible that the Giants traded Yastrzemski to make room on the active roster for Gilbert. It's still difficult to see them as
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