Who won the MLB trade deadline? After weeks of MLB trade rumors and speculation, Tuesday wrapped things up for trade season in Major League Baseball. Now we have the chance to look at how teams fared.
As always, these trades can’t be fairly judged for months or even years. The MLB playoffs will be the ultimate judge of how buyers fared, while it will take years to determine what happens with the prospects sellers landed. With all of that in mind, let’s dive into our winners and losers from the MLB trade deadline 2024.
Winner: Los Angeles Angels
Hats off to the Halos. The Los Angeles Angels haven’t won 80 games in a season since 2018 and their last playoff appearance came in 2014, so this roster needed to be retooled. A flush market for closer Carlos Estevez led to Los Angeles landing both Philadelphia Phillies top prospects Samuel Aldegheri and George Klassen. Those names won’t be found on any Top 100 MLB prospects list, but that will change this offseason. As noted by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, Klassen immediately becomes arguably the second-best prospect in the Angels farm system while Aldegheri slots into the Angels top 10 prospects. All of this for a a relief pitcher on an expiring contract.
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Loser: Oakland Athletics
For an organization that has shown zero interest in spending money or attempting to win games for several years now, it’s inexplicable to see the Oakland Athletics waste an opportunity at the MLB trade deadline. Oakland made it clear long before Mason Miller hit the injured list that he wouldn’t move. Likewise, the Athletics refused to move outfielder Brent Rooker. A team that hasn’t won more than 60 games in a season in 3 years kept an outfielder who turns 30 in November and an All-Star closer with a long history of arm issues and long-term durability concerns. Considering the A’s are years away from sniffing the MLB playoffs and their farm system isn’t strong, this feels like malpractice.
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Winner: Baltimore Orioles
It might not have been the perfect MLB trade deadline for the Baltimore Orioles, but it’s hard to complain about their haul. Baltimore strengthened its starting rotation, swinging a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays for Zach Eflin. Don’t let the 4.09 ERA fool you, Eflin is a command specialist (99th percentile walk rate) with a strong 1.16 WHIP and a 3.37 expected ERA. He won’t miss many bats, but Baltimore landed a quality innings-eater for the next year-plus. On top of that, the club added some bullpen depth with righty Seranthony Dominguez (3.72 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in the last 138 innings pitched). Most importantly, all of the Orioles top prospects are still here. Baltimore remains a World Series threat and it boasts the assets to make a blockbuster trade this winter. Eloy Jimenez is a nice low-cost lottery ticket as well, even if he just boosts the Orioles bench.
Loser: Colorado Rockies
We’re most critical of the sellers at the MLB trade deadline who didn’t do nearly enough to restore confidence in their future. The Colorado Rockies have a history of being inactive at the trade deadline, which showed up again this summer. Keep in mind that Colorado hasn’t recorded a season with a winning record since 2018. To make matters even worse, Colorado ranks just 14th in FanGraphs’ farm system rankings. All-Star third baseman Ryan McMahon could’ve landed Colorado a franchise-changing haul, but they told teams in June he wouldn’t move. It’s decisions like this that raise even bigger questions about the Rockies’ future.
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Winner: Miami Marlins
Quite a few sellers stood out to us as winners ahead of the MLB trade deadline and the Miami Marlins are among them. In the Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade, Miami landed a likely top-100 prospect in Agustin Ramirez. Rated by FanGraphs as the 78th-best prospect in MLB and placed third among the Yankees top prospects, 2024 is his breakout year. In 335 at-bats at the Double-A and Triple-A levels this season, the 22-year-old hit 20 home runs with 69 RBI, 18 steals and a .862 OPS. He’s got a future as a bat-first option at catcher, first base and DH. After that, Miami took advantage of the seller’s market for closers. Making this deadline even better, Miami turned Trevor Rogers (4.92 ERA since 2022) into a pair of Baltimore’s top prospects. The icing on the cake is the return for closer Tanner Scott.
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Loser: Chicago White Sox
Unlike the Colorado Rockies and Oakland Athletics, circumstances outside of the Chicago White Sox control helped shape them as losers of the MLB trade deadline. Chicago made it fairly clear it wanted to trade Garrett Crochet trade and coming out of the All-Star Break, a deal seemed inevitable. Then, news broke that Crochet wants a contract extension if he is traded to a contender and he’d sit out the postseason (innings limit) without one. It took control out of Chicago’s hand. We can still knock the White Sox for setting the asking price on a Luis Robert trade far too high, especially since they should’ve dealt him when his value was at its peak this past offseason. To make matters worse, the return in the Erick Fedde trade underwhelmed. All of this is why Chicago lost the MLB trade deadline.
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Winner: Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners lineup desperately needed help. It doesn’t take long to figure out how this club blew a 10-game lead in the AL West when you consider Seattle entered July 27 with the third-worst OPS (.664) and the lowest batting average (.217) in MLB. Randy Arozarena will help out a lot. Look past the .2111/.318/.394 slash line he had this season with the Tampa Bay Rays, because he raised his OBP to .361 with a .824 OPS after May 1. Not only did Seattle add an All-Star bat to its lineup for this season, but also for another 2 years with Arozarena arbitration-eligible through 2026. Plus, the Mariners didn’t have to part with any of their premium prospects to land him. That’s a big win.
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Loser: Chicago Cubs
Sellers can buy at the MLB trade deadline if it’s a long-term addition and that’s exactly what the Chicago Cubs did. However, there are legitimate reasons to worry if All-Star third baseman Isaac Paredes will live up to Chicago’s expectations. Paredes does not hit the ball very hard and he has the second-highest Pull rate (53.5 percent) in the majors. A pull hitter who ranks in the 5th percentile for Hard-Hit rate (25.9 percent) and is in the 4th percentile for Average Exit Velocity (84.9) is a very bad fit at Wrigley Field. Baseball Savant highlights this as only 11 of Paredes’ 16 home runs would’ve left the yard at Wrigley Field. Paredes is better defensively than Christopher Morel, but Chicago paid a hefty price for a player who seems like an awful fit in their ballpark.
Winner: Tampa Bay Rays
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic said it best, the Tampa Bay Rays ran a clinic on how to sell at the MLB trade deadline. In a lost season for the franchise, the front office recognized it needed to reset things with this roster. Shedding significant payroll matters to ownership, but the quantity and quality of prospects Tampa Bay added in deals for Jason Adam, Zach Eflin, Randy Arozarena, Isaac Paredes and Co. stand out. We also see reason to believe that the Rays will find a way to get more out of Christopher Morel, who ranks in the 97th percentile for bat speed, The Rays might not be contenders in 2025, but an MLB trade deadline like this gets them back on the path to perennial contention. To top it all off, right at the deadline, Tampa Bay bought low on Dylan Carlson’s talent. Just another W.
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Loser: Houston Astros
The Houston Astros have managed to turn their season around since June 1, jumping back into playoff contention and becoming buyers at the MLB trade deadline. They needed starting pitching and Yusei Kikuchi provides that, but this felt like the biggest overpay of the summer by a significant margin. Kikuchi is only a half-season rental and he hasn’t been very good this year. He ranks in the 28th percentile for Pitching Run Value, the 33rd percentile for Chase rate and holds a 5.49 ERA in his last 16 starts. This is a back-end starter for half a season. The Astros traded a cost-controlled starter (Jake Bloss), one of their best prospects who is ready for the majors (Joey Loperfido) and a lotto ticket in Will Wagner all for Kikuchi. This looks like one of the most one-sided MLB trade deadline deals.
Winner: Los Angeles Dodgers
Once Garrett Crochet made it clear he wouldn’t pitch in October without a new contract, the Los Angeles Dodgers had to pivot. There was no better option realistically available than Jack Flaherty. The 28-year-old dominated in Detroit this season, holding opponents to a .211 batting average and registering a 2.95 ERA with a 32% K-rate. Now, Los Angeles could roll into October with a playoff rotation of Flaherty, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Gavin Stone with Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler also available. Plus, Los Angeles improved defensively in center field (Kevin Kiermaier), strengthened their bullpen (Michael Kopech) and added one of the most versatile Gold Glove Award winners in baseball (Tommy Edman). That’s winning the MLB trade deadline.