Last season, a relatively tranquil trade deadline exploded in the final moments, and when the dust settled, we saw that there turned out to be quite a bit of activity. This year, that explosion began days before the actual deadline and never really let up. It was a whirlwind of moves, equally exhausting and exhilarating to keep up with.
Who were the winners and losers from the deadline? That's a question best answered after the season, of course, but that's not how this works. So let's dig in and try to make sense of what did -- and did not -- happen. The guiding principle of this analysis is that everything that has happened since the start of the season counts as "deadline" activity. This is about how teams have evolved since Opening Day.
BIGGEST WINNER: Los Angeles Dodgers
In landing Max Scherzer, Trea Turner and Danny Duffy, the Dodgers pulled off the harder-than-it-sounds feat of making a superstar-laden roster even more laden with superstars. The consequence of doing so can't be ignored, because in trading away top prospects Keibert Ruiz and Josiah Gray, Los Angeles thinned its prospect depth for what could turn out to be two months-worth of Scherzer, two months plus one season of Turner and nothing for Duffy, who is on the injured list but is expected to return in a month or so.
Still, Andrew Friedman has put together one of the most overpowering on-paper rosters in recent memory and solidified his club's status as the favorite to repeat as World Series champs. But it is an "on paper" proposition and the Dodgers, who trail the Giants by three games in their division, still have to prove that dominance on the field. Still, the sheer collective accomplishment of this group is dizzying.
OTHER WINNERS
Note: Teams are listed in alphabetical order, and not in a ranking of deadline performance.
Winner: Atlanta Braves
In their ongoing pursuit of .500 and still-alive hopes of defending their NL East crown, the Braves added some options to a replacement rotation of outfielders to compensate for the absences of Ronald Acuna Jr. and Marcell Ozuna. Adam Duvall and, if he gets healthy, Eddie Rosario might help fill some of that void. So, too, might Jorge Soler, if he holds up defensively and retains some of the hot power bat he's displayed lately.
Initially, the Braves still landed in the losers column because they needed bullpen help at the level of a top available closer, and they didn't get it...until they did. The last-second addition of Pirates closer Richard Rodriguez salvaged the deadline for the Braves. Atlanta still needs to collectively play to the standard they've set in recent seasons, but GM Alex Anthopoulos has done his part.
Winner: Boston Red Sox
Even before the deadline period, we knew that the biggest upgrade Boston was likely to make will happen when Chris Sale returns from the injured list and resumes his place as the Red Sox's unchallenged ace.
Beyond that, it was a measured deadline approach for Chaim Bloom. But in landing the one additional bat his lineup needed in Kyle Schwarber, the Red Sox checked off the most important item on their deadline to-do list. Also, Hansel Robles is the kind of veteran reliever contending teams love to acquire, though his addition is a bit of a letdown after rumors suggested a possible reunion with Craig Kimbrel.
Winner: Chicago White Sox
If the Dodgers weren't dealing with the Trevor Bauer fiasco, of which they solved the baseball ramifications by acquiring Scherzer, the White Sox would probably have emerged as the biggest winners at the deadline. The status would have been clinched by the deadline day trade in which Chicago landed an end-of-game hammer in now-former Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel.
The White Sox entered the deadline with two clear needs: Second base and additional leveraged relief help. They checked off those items nicely by acquiring Indians second baseman Cesar Hernandez and another ex-Cub reliever in Ryan Tepera. When you have needs that specific, it speaks to the quality and depth of your existing roster.
Solid as those pickups were, they weren't particularly sexy. Landing Kimbrel is sexy. Now with the bullpen stacked with Kimbrel, Liam Hendriks, Tepera, Michael Kopech, Garrett Crochet and Aaron Bummer, Tony LaRussa's squad is perfectly situated for a long October run.
Giving up Nick Madrigal could not have been easy, and just as Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease now torment the North Side team that once employed them, now Madrigal (and Codi Heuer) can do the same to South Siders during a long run at Wrigley Field. Still, for the White Sox, this is about maximizing a golden opportunity, here and now. They've done that.
Winner: Houston Astros
It's a soft win. The Astros didn't add a bat. They didn't add rotation depth. But in landing Kendall Graveman, Phil Maton and Yimi Garcia, they did accomplish their top priority of adding to their high-leverage bullpen contingent. There is some concern that Graveman's 2021 performance is misleading, as it's so far above his previous level. But the Houston front office is a smart one and they clearly think that Graveman is equipped to remain at an elite level.
Winner: Miami Marlins
The Marlins made a couple of second-tier moves that made sense, dealing away reliever Garcia and outfielder Adam Duvall. Still, what makes the Marlins clear winners is that in salvaging the impending free agency of Starling Marte, they landed an elite young pitching talent in Jesus Luzardo. They still have to provide the platform for Luzardo to translate that talent into big league production, but this was a major bit of business by the new Marlins front office.
Winner: Milwaukee Brewers
I went on ESPN's baseball podcast the other day and in responding to Dave Schoenfield's high-pressure question about where Max Scherzer would end up, I came up with the Brewers. It sounds silly now, but it made sense to me at the time, which was before we heard reports of Scherzer's preference for the West Coast. Anyway, I'm not holding the Brewers responsible for my poor speculating skills.
Milwaukee added a needed bat in Eduardo Escobar, who can help them at multiple positions but should primarily be needed at third base. With Christian Yelich's power bat having abandoned him, the Brewers needed to add thump, and Escobar provides that. Scherzer aside, I would have liked to see Milwaukee come up with another starting pitcher to go with the big three of Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta in October. I'm not assuming that Daniel Norris will be that guy. But if he is, he wouldn't be the first pitcher to find his footing after being acquired by the Brewers.
Winner: New York Mets
The Mets have had a knack for turning short-term PR wins into long-term PR problems by trading legit prospects for star veterans who don't pan out. And so if Javier Baez strikes out four times per game and Pete Crow-Armstrong turns into the next Jim Edmonds, this may be another Jarred Kelenic fiasco for the Amazings. Still, the Mets now have a middle infield of Francisco Lindor and Baez for at least two months and, likely, during the playoffs. That's a win for us all.
Winner: New York Yankees
The Yankees have needed help on offense for a couple of months and they've needed power from the left side for longer than that. Both needs were satisfied and then some by the dual acquisitions of Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo. But did they happen in time to salvage this disappointing season? On the other hand, the last-minute acquisition of Andrew Heaney is a nice get for the innings-starved New York rotation, provided his homer-allowed rate doesn't spike at Yankee Stadium.
Winner: Oakland Athletics
Whenever they are in the running, Oakland seems to improve its roster at the deadline. This season is no exception. The longer-term impact of trading Jesus Luzardo to Miami for Marte might be felt for a while. But there is no question that Marte improves Oakland's chances for winning the first title of the long Billy Beane era.
The A's also added a starter-quality backstop in Yan Gomes to go with Sean Murphy, deepened the bullpen with lefty Andrew Chafin and gave Bob Melvin a quality jack-of-all trades in veteran infielder Josh Harrison. Nicely done.
Winner: San Francisco Giants
The Giants' offense has been a little better than it gets credit for, as San Francisco has a collective OPS+ of 105 that's based primarily on an NL-leading home run total. However, it clearly was not an attack on the level of the healthy version of the Dodgers' roster, nor that of San Diego. The addition of Kris Bryant levels that playing field considerably, as he can play at any corner position, particularly left field where the Giants' production has lagged. Another impact starting pitcher would have been nice, but Bryant was one of the strongest additions any team made during what was a frenzied trade deadline week.
Winner: Seattle Mariners
I didn't love the decision to trade Kendall Graveman during Seattle's biggest series of the season -- to the team they were playing. But Jerry DiPoto has since added Diego Castillo to take Graveman's place in the back of Scott Servais' bullpen. Meanwhile, Abraham Toro already looks like a quality and much-needed addition to the Seattle infield. Plus the Mariners' rotation needed some stable innings and while Tyler Anderson is more a journeyman than an ace, he can at least provide those. It was a sensible approach for DiPoto, to augment an overachieving roster without going crazy in doing so. And we know DiPoto is very much capable of going crazy.
Winner: Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays have needed a middle-of-the-order thumper for a couple of years, as well as they've played. When you're an AL team with that need, an elite defense and no clear-cut everyday DH, it's a great chance to rev up the offense with disrupting your run prevention machine. The Rays landed Nelson Cruz to DH. They could not have done better.
The Rays' other moves involving a churn of pitchers strike me as a bit of running in place. But if the Rays see something they can work with in the likes of Shawn Armstrong and JT Chargois, their track record suggests that we probably should believe them.
Winner: Texas Rangers
The Rangers certainly didn't improve their chances to win many games this year by dealing away Kyle Gibson, Ian Kennedy and Joey Gallo, but that's really immaterial. Texas did what teams in the talent-acquisition phase do, which is to trade productive veterans for multiple prospects who might help down the line. I was inclined to slot the Rangers in the last group of rebuilding teams below, who were neither fish nor fowl at the deadline. However, Friday's deal that brought them Spencer Howard from Philadelphia strikes me as a deft acquisition for the long term.
Winner: Toronto Blue Jays
The Jays needed pitching in the worst way and they got it. They have been hanging on the fringes of contention all season with a great offense and a revolving door pitching staff. Now they have a new No. 1 starter in Jose Berrios and a new closer in Brad Hand. They added a second quality veteran with closing experience for the bullpen in Joakim Soria. The prospects they gave up in the Berrios deal -- Austin Martin and Simeon Woods Richardson -- were considerable. So consider this "winner" status a tenuous label. Nevertheless, the folks in Toronto, who just got their team back, have to be excited for the last two months of the season.
Winner: Washington Nationals
Give Mike Rizzo credit. As resistant as he's generally been to subtract from his roster at the deadline, when he chooses to do so, he jumps in with both feet. Look, it was time to turn the page on an accomplished roster that was getting long in the tooth. The minor league system was barren. If Rizzo had been stubborn about trying to squeeze every last drop from this year's team, the multi-year floor for the franchise might have been terrifying. That's not to say that Rizzo doesn't still have plenty of work to do, but with an injection of young talent, some cornerstone players still on hand and a clean payroll outlook beyond Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin, there is a path to returning to contention sooner than later.
BIGGEST LOSER: San Diego Padres
It's A.J. Preller's own fault for setting a high bar for his team's deadline performance. All day on Friday, you waited for his bold response to the Dodgers' additions of Scherzer and Turner. Every text, every tweet, every Web page refresh -- you expected to see a Padres splash that never came. And, sorry, Jake Marisnick doesn't qualify.
Getting Adam Frazier was a clear upgrade for the offense and defense alike. But Preller didn't meaningfully add to his injured-riddled rotation, losing out in the pursuits of Scherzer, Jose Berrios and Kyle Gibson. He didn't do anything to improve the Padres' tete-a-tete with the luxury tax threshold. Given the depth of talent in the Padres' system, it feels like he could have made these things happen.
What clinches San Diego's place in this dubious spot is how the Padres came out comparatively against the Dodgers and Giants. The Padres faced an uphill climb to catch either of them when the week began. Now they have to chase a Dodgers squad bolstered by Scherzer and Turner, and a Giants team that now features Kris Bryant.
Don't weep too deeply for Preller and his club. The Padres remain a super-talented, electric bunch with a real chance at winning it all this season. But those chances aren't quite as strong as they were a couple of days ago.
OTHER LOSERS
Note: Teams are listed in alphabetical order, and not in a ranking of deadline performance.
Loser: Arizona Diamondbacks
Given the depth of depravity this year's D-backs have displayed on the field, they could have at least shown some deadline initiative at shuffling the deck. They did not. And maybe it's for the best -- Arizona did not figure to be anywhere as bad as they've been this season. Perhaps staying level-headed and looking ahead to a winter fine-tuning is the right way to go. Just doesn't feel that way at the moment.
Loser: Chicago Cubs
Trading first Anthony Rizzo and then Javier Baez and Kris Bryant on consecutive days is a brutal outcome for Cubs fans. The returns in the deals Jed Hoyer has made are fine. It's not about that. The first question I ask myself when analyzing a trade is "did this really have to happen?" For me, the answer is no, these trades did not. The Cubs have the revenue and the resources to have kept their still-youngish core in place while plotting a course to surround them. It's hard to see this deadline as a win for the Cubs through that prism. This entire season has played out with an air of inevitably that simply did not need to exist.
Loser: Cincinnati Reds
Some pedestrian additions to the bullpen and still no shortstop. Joey Votto's hot bat deserved better.
Loser: Cleveland Indians
This is a soft loser designation, mostly because I feel like the Indians wouldn't have had to push themselves that much prior to this month -- in terms of payroll -- to avoid being a deadline subtractor. But it happened and they came out of it with Pablo Sandoval, which is always nice. However, getting Myles Straw from the Astros was deft. Finally, the Indians have a legit defensive center fielder to play every day. Cleveland is still in position to push back into contention next season, given a healthier rotation and the ongoing presence of Jose Ramirez. But this season's middling outcome is nevertheless a disappointment.
Loser: Colorado Rockies
Is Trevor Story seriously still with the Rockies? Can someone explain this to me? I get that Story isn't having the strongest of platform seasons. I get that he'll be a free agent in a couple of months, which further limits his deadline appeal. I get the Rockies will get a compensatory draft pick when he signs elsewhere. These things are mostly reasons why the Rockies should have traded Story shortly after they decided to ship Nolan Arenado to St. Louis. The organization would be in a far better place today if they had.
Loser: Los Angeles Angels
Not only did the Angels fail to land a starter with control beyond this season, like Berrios, but they traded away one-time rotation hopeful Andrew Heaney, who was headed for free agency. This is a team that needs to cling to every capable starting pitcher that enters the market. Oh well. At least Angels fans can still marvel at Shohei Ohtani.
Loser: Minnesota Twins
Again, while most of these comments are driven by recent developments, the winner/loser dichotomy is also driven by season-long factors. And the Twins' inability to stem the tide of an early season pitching crash led to this outflow of not just talent, but a good chunk of the identity the Twins established during recent successful seasons.
The return from Toronto for Berrios was considerable, but at what point do those prospects give the Twins a better chance to win than Berrios himself? And if you're going to trade Berrios and Nelson Cruz, why is Andrelton Simmons still around? In the end, the loser rating is more about the Twins' collectively disappointing season than the deadline itself.
At least Minnesota did not pull the trigger on a Byron Buxton trade, so Twins fans have that much with which to provide them solace.
Loser: Philadelphia Phillies
Trading young starter Spencer Howard to the Rangers for veterans Kyle Gibson and Ian Kennedy was a classic Dave Dombrowski trade. This one, though, might not really work out. Kennedy has had periods of success as a high-leverage reliever. He's had a decent 2021 season. But you'd never accuse Kennedy of being consistent. Still, it would be hard for him not to upgrade what the Phillies have gotten from their bullpen the last couple of seasons.
Gibson will stir some excitement in Philadelphia and he is in the midst of a career season. Surely, the Rangers had a number of eager suitors for his services. I'm middling about the impact of his immediate prospects, mostly because when you look at where his HR/FB and BABIP rates stand this season in relation to recent campaigns, his ERA doesn't seem sustainable. I know Howard has struggled to find his way as a big leaguer, but I'd almost be willing to gamble that he could do that rather than deal him for Gibson.
Also, the Phillies did not address their need for help in center field. And while there are reasons why teams are always willing to acquire Freddy Galvis, there are also reasons why teams are always trying to do better once they have him.
Loser: St. Louis Cardinals
Two things: Jon Lester in Cardinal red? Blasphemy! Also: Is J.A. Happ actually better than John Gant? Look, St. Louis needed rotation innings in the worst way. But when you've got a big gap to close to even approach returning to contention in the short term, you need those innings to be impact innings. This is not the way. Generally, I'm just not sure the Redbirds do the trade deadline very well.
WINNER, LOSER, WHO KNOWS?
The O's could maybe have gotten something for their veteran relievers, like Paul Fry, but they eventually have to start moving out of the talent-flipping phase. You can't trade everyone.
Could the Royals have clung a little less tightly to Whit Merrifield? Sure. It's hard to judge the trade of Duffy to the Dodgers, since the quality of the player to be named later in the deal will probably be predicated on if and when Duffy returns from his flexor strain. The deal to send Soler to the Braves was pretty standard deadline fare -- a pending free agent whom you weren't going to keep for a low-minors pitcher. All in all though, Dayton Moore is someone who has never traded players just to trade them, even in a non-contending season. The fact that he held on to Merrifield might look like a very wise decision this time next year.
The Tigers weren't in a position to do much, as some of the pitching they might have otherwise traded is hung up with injuries. Getting something for Daniel Norris was a win, given his numbers. And the Tigers probably could have gotten some kind of prospect for Jonathan Schoop. Still, it's hard to be annoyed with the Tigers right now, when they are playing great ball and have a terrific vibe going on. Even if their current run isn't going to end up in October, which it won't, their fans deserve a chance to see this group do its thing.
The Pirates did the obvious thing, which could arguably shift them into the winners category. They received prospects for veteran pitchers Clay Holmes and Tyler Anderson. Landing a package of talent headlined by Tucupita Marcano was a nice future-tinted move, even if it cost the Bucs the considerable talents of Adam Frazier. The late addition of Michael Chavis, a talented hitter who may benefit from a change of scenery, was a worthy gamble. All in all, it's hard to say that the long-term status of the Pirates' bid to return to contention has changed much.