One of the wildest MLB trade deadlines in recent memory has come and gone. And now is the time where we look at the 30 teams, and see who emerged the winners and losers of the trade deadline.
Many teams solid prospects for the future, while others built themselves to win now and compete for an immediate World Series title. Other teams, however, completely gutted their roster.
Let’s start looking at the winners and losers from the trade deadline:
WINNER: Mets’ Bullpen
No team reinforced its bullpen quite like the New York Mets did at the deadline. Along with keeping star closer Edwin Diaz, the Mets added Ryan Helsley from the St. Louis Cardinals, Tyler Rogers from the San Francisco Giants and Gregory Soto from the Baltimore Orioles.
It couldn’t have come at a better time for the Mets either. They currently sit 0.5 games ahead of the Phillies in the NL East standings, and with Philadelphia making their own set of moves at the deadline, Smart of New York to stack up their bullpen even more.
LOSERS: Minnesota Twins
No team nuked their roster the way the Minnesota Twins did at the Trade Deadline. The Twins are having a full-blown fire sale, and the team’s players aren’t happy about it.
“Now no one wants to stay if they are selling like this,” one Twins player told The Athletic’s Dan Hayes ahead of Thursday’s MLB trade deadline.
The comment came after Minnesota traded star shortstop Carlos Correa to the Astros, closer Jhoan Duran and outfielder Harrison Bader to the Phillies, reliever Brock Stewart to the Dodgers, reliever Danny Coulombe to the Rangers and starter Chris Paddack to the Tigers in the last few days.
Ten players from the active 26-man roster were traded away (11 players in total). Team leaders, high-leverage relievers, young controllable talent, all gone.
You would think they have one of the worst records in baseball the way they were selling off, but the reality is they’re 51-57, and five games out of the wild card. Plenty of time to mount a comeback… at least, before they traded everybody.
To me, they’re the biggest losers of the deadline.
WINNERS: Seattle Mariners
There’s an old saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Well this year, the Seattle Mariners tried something different, and they’re hoping it pays off.
President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto ponied up and got the most notable instant-impact bat on the market, landing third baseman Eugenio Suárez from the Diamondbacks on the heels of acquiring Josh Naylor a week prior. Neither trade coughed up any top prospects from the Mariners, so not only do they have the present ready to roll, but the future is still bright!
LOSERS: The Entire NL Central
Okay, hear me out on this one.
None of the five teams in the division did anything to improve their short-term fortunes come this October. And while the Cardinals got a couple of impressive prospects, nobody in the division stood out.
Chicago’s rotation ranks 17th in ERA (4.05) and 19th in opponent batting average (.250). And to fix that? They traded for a pitcher with a 4.87 ERA (Michael Soroka).
Pittsburgh parted with Bednar and third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes in a surprising deal with rival Cincinnati Reds. But it does little to improve any of their fortunes in the short term or long-term.
You could honestly say that the Cardinals had the best deadline out of all the teams in the division. In What is the final trade deadline of John Mozeliak’s tenure with the Cardinals, he and Chaim Bloom sold off some bullpen arms and got future prospects in return:
Who’s in: SS Jesus Baez (from Mets)SP Nate Dohm (from Mets)RP Frank Elissalt (from Mets)1B/3B Blaze Jordan (from Red Sox)LHP Mason Molina (from Rangers)RHP Skylar Hales (from Rangers)
Who’s out: CP Ryan Helsley (to Mets)RP Steven Matz (to Red Sox)RHP Phil Maton (to Rangers).
Somebody has to win this division and go to the playoffs. Milwaukee currently leads the division, but they stayed quiet as well as the deadline came and went.

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