Key Takeaways from the 2023 MLB Trade Deadline: AL West Commits Fully; Mets Shift to Selling Mode; Top Teams in First Place Remain Calm – Update

Major League Baseball’s trade deadline passed on Tuesday evening. This was already an eventful deadline entering Tuesday, and we saw more trades throughout the afternoon. Mets star Justin Verlander became the latest big name to be traded, as he is heading from the Mets back to the Astros in New York’s second blockbuster in four days.

The Mets also traded veteran ace Max Scherzer to the Rangers on Saturday. Prior to Tuesday, these other notable names had been dealt: Lucas Giolito (White Sox to Angels), Lance Lynn (White Sox to Dodgers), Jordan Montgomery (Cardinals to Rangers), Jordan Hicks (Cardinals to Blue Jays) and Jeimer Candelario (Nationals to Cubs). The best player in baseball stayed put, as the Angels committed to making a playoff push with free-agent-to-be Shohei Ohtani.

Here’s a look at the deadline day deals:

Notable trade deadline day deals

Here now are our takeaways from the 2023 MLB trade deadline.

The AL West went for it

No division went for it as aggressively as the AL West. OK, the Athletics continued their shameless teardown (so long, Sam Moll and Jace Peterson) and the Mariners moved on from closer Paul Sewald, but the other three AL West clubs all bought and bought big. To recap:

• Angels: C.J. Cron, Randal Grichuk, Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López (plus they kept Shohei Ohtani)
• Astros: Kendall Graveman, Justin Verlander
• Rangers: Austin Hedges, Jordan Montgomery, Max Scherzer, Chris Stratton

Arguably the four best starters traded at the deadline — Giolito, Montgomery, Scherzer, Verlander — all wound up in the AL West. Don’t forget the Rangers added Aroldis Chapman last month, ditto the Angels with Eduardo Escobar and Mike Moustakas. 

The Astros are looking to repeat as World Series champions. That’s a pretty big deal. Baseball hasn’t had a repeat champion since the 1998-2000 Yankees. The Angels and Rangers, meanwhile, are looking to end long postseason droughts. And, of course, the Halos are trying to prove to Ohtani they are contenders, and convince him to re-sign after the season. I’m not sure that’ll happen, but they’re trying. The top three teams in the division all made significant upgrades at the deadline.

The Orioles got rotation help

Orioles GM Mike Elias is deeply protective of the impressive young core he’s assembled, thanks in large measure to a run of high draft picks. Last season, that was to the club’s detriment, as they wound up just missing out on a playoff spot thanks to a puzzling deadline approach. This time around, despite some signaling from Elias that the team again would hoard its chips, they addressed their leading roster need by dealing for Cardinals right-hander Jack Flaherty for left-handed pitcher Drew Rom, infielder César Prieto and right-handed pitcher Zack Showwalter.

Flaherty is no one’s ace, but he’s pitched well overall since getting past some early-season control issues. Over his last 12 starts, for instance, Flaherty has pitched to 3.45 ERA and a 3.43 FIP, and in eight of those 12 starts he’s lasted at least six innings.

The current Oriole rotation is experiencing regression in some spots and generally lacks depth. Elias, no doubt, is also pleased that he could add the walk-year upgrade without giving up any of their top-15 prospects.  

The Mets pivoted hard

Good deadline work by the Mets. They came into the season with the highest payroll ever and expected to contend for a World Series title, and when things didn’t go according to plan, they pivoted hard to selling. Not many owners and front offices would be that brutally honest with themselves. The Mets leveraged owner Steve Cohen’s wealth and ate a ton of money — more than $70 million, reportedly — which netted them high-end prospects in trades for David Robertson (Marco Vargas), Scherzer (Luisangel Acuña), and Verlander (Ryan Clifford, Drew Gilbert), among others. They’ll have to rebuild their rotation over the winter, but now they have much more young talent in the organization, and of course they still have Cohen’s billions to spend.

The Dodgers swung big but settled for a less ambitious deadline-day deal

The Dodgers have been among the most active teams leading up to the deadline, but even after adding Lance Lynn to the fold they were looking to add help to a rotation that’s been battered by injuries and under-performance. They were close to landing one of the most coveted of deadline arms – Eduardo Rodriguez of the Tigers – but the veteran lefty invoked his no-trade clause to block the deal in order to remain closer to his family on the east coast.

At that point, the Dodgers pivoted to lefty Ryan Yarbrough of the Royals. Yarbrough started off the season in the bullpen, but eventually KC put him in the rotation. He was quite effective in that role, even after returning from the facial fractures he suffered in early May when a line drive struck him in the head. He’ll help L.A. from a depth perspective, but one can argue they needed more of a front-end type, someone like Rodriguez, when it comes to making a deep playoff run.  

First place teams tinkered on the margins

The NL Central-leading Reds added lefty reliever Sam Moll and that’s all. The AL Central-leading Twins flipped Jorge López for Dylan Floro and called it a deadline. The Braves, owners of MLB’s best record, improved their depth with a few role players (Brad Hand, Pierce Johnson, Nicky Lopez), and nothing more. Even the Dodgers (Enrique Hernández, Joe Kelly, Lance Lynn, Amed Rosario, Ryan Yarbrough) went quantity over quality.

Other than the Rangers, every first place team had a low-key deadline. The Orioles did the bare minimum by adding a competent starter (Jack Flaherty) and the other clubs didn’t do much else. Most of the deadline activity involved postseason bubble teams. All those clubs fighting for wild-card spots sought ways to add those extra 2-3 wins that could get them over the hump and into October. All things considered, the non-Rangers first place teams had low-impact deadlines. 

Two wild-card competitors helped each other

It’s always a little unusual when two teams in direct competition hook up for a trade at the deadline. On Tuesday, the Brewers and Diamondbacks swapped relievers: Andrew Chafin for Peter Strzelecki. A sensible trade for both teams, to be sure. It’s only unusual once you take a gander at the NL wild-card standings entering play Tuesday:

1. Giants: 58-49 (+1 GB)
2. Phillies: 57-49 (+0.5 GB)
t-3. Brewers: 57-50
t-3. Diamondbacks: 57-50
t-3. Marlins: 57-50
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6. Cubs: 53-53 (3.5 GB)

The Brewers and D-backs are tied for the third wild-card spot with the Marlins. There’s room in the postseason for both clubs, no doubt, and they’re both certainly in their respective division races as well. It’s just not often you see two teams battling for the postseason making a trade with each other. Props to the front offices for not being afraid.

(Alas and alack, the Brewers and D-backs have already completed their season series, with Milwaukee taking four of six. We won’t have a chance for a W: Chafin, L: Strzelecki game, or vice versa. Unless, of course, the Brewers and D’Backs meet in October.)

It was a seller’s market

According to Baseball America’s midseason rankings, four of the top 100 prospects in baseball were traded at the deadline, as were several others just outside the top 100. That may not seem like much, but it is a big number this time of year. With so many teams in the postseason race — a feature of the 12-team postseason field, in MLB’s eyes — there were significantly more buyers than sellers, so the teams that did sell were able to get outsized returns. It was a very good year to sell. And, if you were a buyer, congrats, you improved your team for the second half and the postseason. That’s what you’re supposed to do at the deadline.