MLB trade deadline Big Board<\/a> has won a Cy Young (as Alcantara did in 2022), and nobody else tantalizes pitching coaches across the league with what he could be with one simple adjustment.<\/p>\nThe Shutdown Closer<\/p>\n
PlayerTeam<\/p>\n
The archetype<\/p>\n
’16 Cubs<\/p>\n
Last year’s version<\/p>\n
Padres<\/p>\n
This year’s version<\/p>\n
Guardians<\/p>\n
This is the giveaway that a front office thinks it doesn\u2019t just have a good team, but that it has a team that can win a championship. This is when an otherwise smart front office gives up more than it knows it should to feel better about the final three to six outs of games in October. You can\u2019t follow baseball in July and not hear someone recall Theo Epstein\u2019s rationale for trading Gleyber Torres for Aroldis Chapman in 2016: \u201cIf not now, when?\u201d<\/p>\n
Emmanuel Clase is not having the type of historically good season he had in 2024 for the Cleveland Guardians; in fact, he\u2019s already allowed nine more earned runs than he did all of last year. But you can attribute a lot of the jump in ERA to a skyrocketing BABIP and a bad strand rate; the peripheral numbers aren\u2019t that far off from where they were last year, and he\u2019s still just 27. Plus, Clase represents a twist on the genre because of his extended team control. An acquiring team would have Clase under contract inexpensively through 2028, which provides huge value and, of course, plenty of reason for the Guardians to hold on to him if they don\u2019t think the offers are worthwhile.<\/p>\n
The One-Time Star<\/p>\n
PlayerTeam<\/p>\n
The archetype<\/p>\n
’21 Giants<\/p>\n
Last year’s version<\/p>\n
Yankees<\/p>\n
This year’s version<\/p>\n
Braves<\/p>\n
This is a player who\u2019s no longer at the peak of his value but still is talented enough to make a difference in a pennant race. By 2021, though Kris Bryant had come down from the heights of his 2016 MVP with the Chicago Cubs, he was putting together a strong season in his platform year when he was dealt to the San Francisco Giants. He helped San Francisco hold off the Dodgers in the NL West and then had a monster NLDS in the loss to L.A., hitting .471 and starting games in four positions, including center field.<\/p>\n
Ozzie Albies was never quite the star that Bryant was, but he\u2019s a three-time All-Star who\u2019s only 28 and under cheap team control for two more seasons after this one. He\u2019s followed up a subpar season in 2024 with a pretty miserable one this year, but his talent and relative youth could intrigue a team that thinks he just needs a change of scenery.<\/p>\n
The Extra Bat<\/p>\n
PlayerTeam<\/p>\n
The archetype<\/p>\n
’21 Braves<\/p>\n
’21 Braves<\/p>\n
’21 Braves<\/p>\n
’21 Braves<\/p>\n
Last year’s version<\/p>\n
Dodgers<\/p>\n
This year’s version<\/p>\n
Orioles<\/p>\n
This is the deal that doesn\u2019t get its own headlines during the deadline but rather an \u201coh, by the way, they picked up (Player X)\u201d kind of story, right up until Player X wins the LCS or World Series MVP \u2014 or, if you\u2019re the 2021 Atlanta Braves, both. Maybe it\u2019s cheating to include all four extra bats Atlanta acquired at that deadline, but no individual one represented a significant move at the time. The collective quartet ended up playing huge roles in the club\u2019s comeback from under .500 to win the World Series.<\/p>\n
Ramon Laureano has been tremendous for an underachieving Baltimore Orioles team that should probably open up regular playing time for some younger pieces. The veteran has just continued the uptick in production he started last season when Atlanta picked him up in late May. The difference is the way Laureano has crushed righties this year, rather than lefties.<\/p>\n
The Back-End Starter<\/p>\n
PlayerTeam<\/p>\n
The archetype<\/p>\n
Pirates, Yankees, Cardinals<\/p>\n
Last year’s version<\/p>\n
Brewers<\/p>\n
This year’s version<\/p>\n
Pirates<\/p>\n
This is the guy you pick up to help you get to the postseason and maybe start Game 4 once there. Each of the three times J.A. Happ was moved at the deadline as a veteran (since the other two times he was dealt at the deadline in his 20s don\u2019t matter here), he exceeded those expectations. If those three post-deadline stints with Pittsburgh, the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals constituted one single season, Happ would have won a Cy Young: In 33 starts after getting dealt, he went 19-4 with a 2.78 ERA.<\/p>\n
Besides being another lefty whose surname begins with H, Andrew Heaney fits the back-end bill. Over the last three seasons, he\u2019s reliably taken the ball every turn, keeping his team in the game with an ERA in the low 4s. He started in the World Series for the champion Rangers in 2023. Most every contending team would take that from their No. 4 or No. 5 starter.<\/p>\n
The Reliever You\u2019ve Never Heard Of<\/p>\n
PlayerTeam<\/p>\n
The archetype<\/p>\n
’21 Yankees<\/p>\n
Last year’s version<\/p>\n
Brewers<\/p>\n
This year’s version<\/p>\n
White Sox<\/p>\n
This deal has become particularly popular as of late, with good teams snatching up middling relievers from bad teams and turning them into something better. It almost seems unfair when the Yankees can take a guy like Clay Holmes, who pitched in the sixth and seventh innings for the Pirates, and make him, over time, into their closer. Pittsburgh, for what it\u2019s worth, has extracted some revenge by claiming Dennis Santana from New York and turning him into an excellent reliever over the last 13 months.<\/p>\n
If I could accurately pinpoint the reliever with pedestrian stats who\u2019d take off somewhere else, I\u2019d be working in a front office. But let\u2019s highlight Brandon Eisert, a 27-year-old rookie left-hander who doesn\u2019t hit 90 and whose ERA is near 5. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is better than 4-to-1, and his BABIP is elevated by pitching in front of one of the sport\u2019s poorer defenses.<\/p>\n
The Guy for Next Year<\/p>\n
PlayerTeam<\/p>\n
The archetype<\/p>\n
’19 Mets<\/p>\n
Last year’s version<\/p>\n
Cubs<\/p>\n
This year’s version<\/p>\n
Angels<\/p>\n
This is a move that often raises an eyebrow, that lets you know that a team that isn\u2019t exactly in the middle of a playoff hunt this year thinks it should be part of the mix the next season. The 2019 New York Mets were listening on offers for Zack Wheeler and Noah Syndergaard when they acquired Marcus Stroman from Toronto, mainly to take Wheeler\u2019s spot in the rotation the next year. (It didn\u2019t work out: Wheeler\u2019s resurgence with the Mets has just kept going for six years with the Philadelphia Phillies, and Stroman opted out of the 2020 season.)<\/p>\n
The 10th pick in the 2020 draft, Reid Detmers has rebounded from a miserable 2024 by shifting to the bullpen and becoming a late-game monster. He\u2019s controlled for two seasons beyond this, and an acquiring team could even consider trying him back in the rotation. (The Los Angeles Angels are not exactly known for getting the most out of their pitchers.) If the Halos decide to move him, Detmers could be a big help in a pennant race this year. But the 25-year-old \u2014 you read that age right \u2014 carries significant appeal for teams looking to add pitching beyond this season, which could allow Los Angeles to bring back a haul for him.<\/p>\n
(Photo of CC Sabathia celebrating a wild-card berth with the 2008 Brewers: Darren Hauck \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every trade deadline is different; every trade deadline is the same. Every deadline includes buyers and sellers and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[2317,2111,371,374,479,2318,2319,2320,1230,372,373,2321,2322,2323,2324,2325,2326,363,1189,369,2327,480,2240,2328,2329,481,99,1231,974,2330,364,2331],"class_list":["post-12316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-arizona-diamondbacks","tag-atlanta-braves","tag-baltimore-orioles","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-chicago-white-sox","tag-cincinnati-reds","tag-cleveland-guardians","tag-colorado-rockies","tag-detroit-tigers","tag-houston-astros","tag-kansas-city-royals","tag-los-angeles-angels","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-miami-marlins","tag-milwaukee-brewers","tag-minnesota-twins","tag-mlb","tag-new-york-mets","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-oakland-athletics","tag-philadelphia-phillies","tag-pittsburgh-pirates","tag-san-diego-padres","tag-san-francisco-giants","tag-seattle-mariners","tag-sports","tag-st-louis-cardinals","tag-tampa-bay-rays","tag-texas-rangers","tag-toronto-blue-jays","tag-washington-nationals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}