MLB Post Trade Deadline Report 2023

I’m running a little late on this, but I assure you, I was on top of this MLB Trade Deadline.  I listened to a bunch of podcasts.  I watched MLB Network’s live coverage the day of and Stadium’s wrap up show that happened right after the deadline expired.  I would like to consider myself an expert this year, but it really just feels like a confusing jumble of random trades.

   

The story of the 2023 Trade Deadline was the trades not made.  I already mentioned Shohei Ohtani not being moved.  That was a surprise (and likely a terrible mistake by the Angels).  Two other good pitchers everyone assumed were going, Eduardo Rodriguez and Dylan Cease, stayed put.  Orioles, in spite of contending and having an abundance of prospects, did not make a big deal for either of them.  The Dodgers tried to get Rodriguez, but he blocked it.  (Everyone is questioning that decision.)

 

A literal arms race developed in the AL West.  At the Mets’ fire sale, the Rangers picked up Max Scherzer.  The Astros countered by plucking his teammate, Justin Verlander, for a return engagement with Houston.  They also picked up pitcher Kendall Graveman.  I saw graphic that listed the Astros now taking over for the Mets with MLB’s biggest payroll.  That won’t last long.  They don’t have those kind of deep pockets.  Regardless, Framber Valdez celebrated the deadline by throwing a no hitter that night for the team.  They may also be getting some key injured players back soon.

 

The Rangers had already gotten Aroldis Chapman earlier in the month.  They also picked up Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton from the Cardinals, and even Austin Hedges from the Pirates, just for his pitch framing abilities.  Unfortunately, these moves were really precipitated by injuries.  Ace Jacob DeGrom has been gone for most of the season.  Nathan Evoldi is on an extended rest, probably trying to avoid surgery.  Star catcher Jonah Heim is hurt and his return schedule is unknown. 

            

Compared with all this, the Angels move of keeping Ohtani, snapping up Lucas Giolito (from a more deserving contending team) and acquiring alumni CJ Cron and Randal Grichuk looks laughable.  Even getting Mike Trout back in the near future will only bring up questions as to whether they can trade him or not.  The Mariners gave up and were sellers this season.  They didn’t do anything in the offseason to build on their playoff team.  The A’s are so bad (-268 run differential), they only made one notable trade. 

  

In the AL East, the O’s did get Jack Flaherty from the Cards and reliever Shintaro Fujinami from the A’s.  These did not seem to be especially bolstering moves.  At least if there are any injuries, they’ve got plenty of good prospects they can bring up.  The    Rays picked up Aaron Civale, a good starter.  Trading off a bunch of their good prospects is not their team philosophy. 

 

The Blue Jays added closer Jordan Hicks.  With an injury to Bo Bichette the day before, they quickly added Paul DeJong from the Cardinals.  The Red Sox and Yankees basically did nothing.  For the Yankees, it’s almost the equivalent of a tear down, since the NYC media would roast them to death for actually doing that.

 

The AL Central is an embarrassment.  White Sox still have Dylan Cease, so this deadline was a failure for them.  Likewise for the Tigers hanging on to Eduardo Rodriguez.  The Twins are leading the division, or should I say, first among the losers.  They did nothing.  Cleveland sold off, though even minimal effort trading might have given them a chance to catch the Twins.     

 

As for the NL, you have the Braves standing pat.  Why mess with perfection?  Everyone else seems to be kidding themselves, except for the Mets.  They had a terrible strategy of trying to buy a championship this year, but least salvaged a huge haul of good prospects from their trades.  They also dumped salary.  Someone suggested they might take that money to go after Shohei in the offseason, though the team told Scherzer before they traded him that they were rebuilding for 2025.   

 

In the NL West, the Dodgers got Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly, Amed Rosario, and a returning Kike Hernandez, but have to be gritting their teeth at losing Eduardo Rodriguez.  He was their Win Button.  The Giants are in second place, but you’d never know it from their Trade Deadline activity.  The Diamondbacks have faded, but picked up Paul Sewald, a good closer, and Tommy Pham.  Who am I forgetting?  Oh yeah, the Rockies.  At least they had some players worth trading. 

 

Then there’s the Padres.  Add to the list of non-trade surprises Juan Soto, Josh Hader, and Blake Snell, who will be free agents at the end of the season.  The Friars are not competing for the division, but still have a chance to get a wild card.  They did bolster their lineup a bit via trades for Rich Hill and Ji Man Choi.  If they can play up to the level of what the back of their bubble gum cards say they can, they could make it in and nobody would want to face them in the playoffs.  If this doesn’t happen, there’s going to be some hard questions for GM AJ Preller.    

 

In the East, the Marlins were the only team making a move for this season, albeit only for a wild card, by getting closer David Robertson and hitters Josh Bell and Jake Burger.  In the Central, the Reds are still leading, but were idle in trading.  The Brewers, right behind them, picked up hitters Mark Canha and Carlos Santana.  The Pirates sold, but did keep David Bednar.  They think they’ve got future to build on.  As for the Cardinals, enjoy your new prospects from all those trades. 

 

Let’s add two more to the list of players that were expected to be traded, Marcus Stroman and Cody Bellinger from the Cubs.  Northside management looked at their division and that they are the only team with a positive run differential and said, “We’re still in this.”  With that, they added Jeimer Candelario, maybe the best hitter available.  The Cubs responded by scoring 20 runs that night.

 

I don’t know if any of these moves are World Series winning, except for maybe the Verlander one.  I could see him really making a difference on what was already a great team.  The Ranger moves were basically just to keep themselves competitive after injuries.  We won’t know for a couple of years if the Mets and Cardinals actually made the best moves of this Trade Deadline.  In the meantime, it feels like everyone who was good before is still good and everyone else is still bad.