The MLB Trade Deadline passed at 6 pm on Monday night, with some teams shoring up their roster to make a postseason run and others selling off key pieces to compete in the future.
With the Trade Deadline comes an evaluation of the winners and losers for this year.
Here are two from each side…
Winners
New York Mets
Believe it or not, the Mets are winners at this Trade Deadline. Is the season a failure? Obviously, however, the Mets knew what direction they had to go in and clearly read the writing on the wall. The Mets weren’t going to win this year, so selling at the deadline was the only way to go, and that’s exactly what they did. They traded five of their most sellable players off to teams looking to contend this year David Robertson, Tommy Pham, Mark Cahna, Max Scherzer, and Justin Verlander.
The Scherzer and Verlander deals got them some top-rated prospects in Luisangel Acuna (Texas), Drew Gilbert (Houston), and Ryan Clifford (Houston). While their fans might not like the outlook for the rest of this season and 2024, they’ve set themselves up in a great position to either have their new young talent come up and eventually contribute or flip them for pieces to contend when they are ready.
Texas Rangers
The Rangers took advantage of their contender status and are looking to lock up the AL West over the juggernaut Astros en route to what they hope to be the club’s first title in franchise history. They acquired three-time Cy Young award winner Max Scherzer, seven-time All-Star Aroldis Chapman, Jordan Montgomery, Chris Stratton, and Austin Hedges.
They took care of multiple needs at this year’s deadline. Another ace and more starter depth in general? Check. More bullpen help? Check. A backup catcher? Check! In an American League that looks as wide open as EVER, the Rangers took care of business and are now in a prime position to reach the World Series for the first time since 2011. All they need to do now is take care of business.
Losers
New York Yankees
What an awful deadline for the New York Yankees. The one thing they couldn’t do at the deadline was stand pat. They had to pick a direction. They could choose to add and try to fix their miserable offense, as they sit just a few games out of the third AL Wild Card spot. Or, they could’ve sold off some of their few valuable players on expiring deals or close to expiring deals. What did they do? Stand pat.
In a recent article, we argued that they should buy at the deadline. By that barometer, what an atrocious deadline from the Pinstripes. They failed to add any offense when it was desperately needed, and now need to count on the roster that has disappointed for most of the season to carry them into the playoffs this year.
Minnesota Twins
Everyone expects the AL Central winner to be a rollover come October anyways, so why not try to improve your roster and surprise some folks come the Postseason? Well, the Twins clearly weren’t thinking this way and did nothing of note at the Deadline. In a division that is as weak as the AL Central is, which has basically guaranteed the Twins a spot by default in the Postseason, it would be foolish of the Twins to not take advantage of the playoff spot they will be granted and try to better themselves come October. After all, everyone else in the division was sellers.
The Twins did nothing except a bullpen swap of Jorge Lopez for Dylan Floro and are no better than they were pre-deadline.
Photo: Ron Jenkins/Getty Images
