Although the trade deadline is among the most anticipated benchmarks of every season, not every deadline deal is worth remembering \u2014 or even noticing \u2014\u00a0and most can be fully evaluated only with the benefit of hindsight. It often takes a while to reach a final verdict.<\/p>\n
Today, we\u2019re looking back at some of the notable deals from last year\u2019s trade deadline. A few had real consequences in the short term, some are still reverberating today, and many you will have completely forgotten about by tomorrow \u2014 if you ever remembered them in the first place.<\/p>\n
The cost of a championship<\/p>\n
As last year\u2019s trade deadline approached, the Dodgers had a considerable lead in the National League West, but they also had considerable depth issues up the middle and on the pitching staff. They addressed those problems in ways big and small.<\/p>\n
July 29: Dodgers acquire INF\/OF Tommy Edman, RHP Michael Kopech and RHP Oliver Gonzalez in a three-team deal with the Cardinals (RHP Erick Fedde and OF Tommy Pham) and White Sox (INF Miguel Vargas, INF Jeral P\u00e9rez and INF Alexander Albertus)
\nJuly 29: Dodgers acquire INF Amed Rosario from the Rays for RHP Michael Flynn
\nJuly 30: Dodgers acquire OF Kevin Kiermaier from the Blue Jays for LHP Ryan Yarbrough
\nJuly 30: Dodgers acquire RHP Jack Flaherty from the Tigers for C Thayron Liranzo and SS Trey Sweeney<\/p>\n
Rosario lasted less than three weeks on the roster, and Kiermaier was a regular less than a month before moving to the bench, but Edman, Kopech and Flaherty were game-changers.<\/p>\n
Edman needed some time to get healthy, but he became the team\u2019s primary center fielder before moving mostly to shortstop in the playoffs (because Miguel Rojas was hurt). Kopech was a dominant reliever down the stretch and pitched 10 times in the postseason, including once as an opener. Flaherty \u2014 the last blockbuster just before the deadline \u2014 became the team\u2019s ace, starting Game 1 of the NLCS and World Series (he pitched well enough in those series openers to help make up for falling flat in other postseason starts).<\/p>\n
The impact was a championship. The cost, so far, has been minimal. Sweeney was called up by the Tigers late last year and became their everyday shortstop for a stunning postseason run, but he\u2019s been optioned back to Triple-A this season. Vargas has been a roughly league-average hitter for the White Sox. Edman and Kopech, meanwhile, are back with the Dodgers, Edman having signed a five-year extension in November.<\/p>\n
Finishing touches on postseason runs![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-2217881889-scaled-e1749009076484.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Jazz Chisholm proved to be exactly what the Yankees needed. (Evan Yu \/ MLB Photos via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The most surprising playoff team of 2024 actually sold at the deadline. The Detroit Tigers were seemingly out of contention when they sent Flaherty to the Dodgers, but they surged into the postseason \u2014 and within a win of the ALCS \u2014 in part because Sweeney, acquired in the Flaherty deal, became their shortstop. Other playoff runs came in part because of actual trade deadline investments.<\/p>\n
July 27: Mets acquire OF Jesse Winker from the Nationals for minor league RHP Tyler Stuart
\nJuly 27: Yankees acquire INF Jazz Chisholm from the Marlins for C Agustin Ramirez and minor league INFs Abrahan Ramirez and Jared Serna
\nJuly 29: Royals acquire RHP Michael Lorenzen from the Rangers for LHP Walter Pennington
\nJuly 30: Royals acquire RHP Lucas Erceg from the A\u2019s for RHP Will Klein, minor league RHP Mason Barnett and minor league OF Jared Dickey<\/p>\n
The Yankees got to the World Series after acquiring Chisholm to solve their revolving door at third base (his OPS jumped almost 100 points after the trade). The Mets made a surprising run to the NLCS with help from a series of smaller additions. Winker became a crucial left-handed bat (especially in the playoffs), but the Mets also purchased Phil Maton from the Rays and traded for Ryne Stanek from the Mariners. Those two combined to make 13 playoff appearances. The Mets also traded for A\u2019s veteran Paul Blackburn, who was less effective as a depth starter.<\/p>\n
More interesting as trade deadline buyers were the Royals. In third place, with playoff odds hovering around 50 percent, the Royals made an early move for Nationals reliever Hunter Harvey, then further supplemented at the deadline by trading for starter Lorenzen, reliever Erceg, and White Sox infielder Paul DeJong. Lorenzen (1.57 ERA in seven games, six starts) and Erceg (more than 10 strikeouts for every walk and 11 late-season saves) were especially effective in getting the Royals into the playoffs for the first time in nine years, and then past the favored Baltimore Orioles in the wild-card round.<\/p>\n
Lingering impact<\/p>\n
There are other examples, but here we\u2019ll list five deadline deals from which the buyers didn\u2019t get the intended impact. At least not right away.<\/p>\n
July 26: Mariners acquire OF Randy Arozarena from the Rays for OF Aidan Smith, RHP Brody Hopkins and RHP Ty Cummings
\nJuly 27: Brewers acquire RHP Nick Mears from the Rockies for RHP Bradley Blalock and minor league RHP Yujanyer Herrera
\nJuly 28: Padres acquire RHP Jason Adam from the Rays for OF Homer Bush, C J.D. Gonzalez and RHP Dylan Lesko
\nJuly 28: Cubs acquire 3B Isaac Paredes from the Rays for 3B\/OF Christopher Morel, RHP Hunter Biggie and RHP Ty Johnson
\nJuly 30: Phillies acquire LHP Tanner Banks from the White Sox for INF William Bergolla<\/p>\n
Only three of these teams made the playoffs in 2024 (the Brewers, Padres and Phillies), and only one actually won a playoff series (the Padres), But a year later, all five are back in the hunt with some lasting impact from these deadline deals.\u00a0Mears, Adam and Banks have stuck around to become important bullpen pieces for the Brewers, Padres and Phillies (Mears, in particular, was pretty awful in the second half of last season, but he\u2019s been great this year). Arozarena, too, has struck around as the Mariners take another shot at the postseason. They missed last year, but they\u2019re back in the hunt this season, and Arozarena\u2019s been one of their best players.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the Paredes trade. The Cubs didn\u2019t get much out of him (.633 OPS in 52 games) and missed the playoffs, but they included him in their offseason blockbuster trade for star right fielder Kyle Tucker, who\u2019s helped the team take control of the NL Central this season.<\/p>\n
Moves that kinda worked![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/USATSI_24276418-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Yusei Kikuchi delivered for the Astros after the trade deadline. (Thomas Shea \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the definition of a good trade? Does it depend on the player acquired, or the impact it has on the team\u2019s championship ambition? These trades can be evaluated differently depending on where you set the goalposts.<\/p>\n
July 25: Diamondbacks acquired LHP A.J. Puk from the Marlins for INF Deyvison De Los Santos and OF Andrew Pintar
\nJuly 27: Phillies acquired RHP Carlos Estevez from the Angels for LHP Samuel Aldegheri and minor league RHP George Klassen
\nJuly 29: Astros acquired LHP Yusei Kikuchi from the Blue Jays for INF Will Wagner, OF Joey Loperfido and RHP Jake Bloss
\nJuly 29: Braves acquired OF Jorge Soler and RHP Luke Jackson from the Giants for LHP Tyler Matzek and minor league INF Sabin Ceballos
\nJuly 29: Mariners acquired 1B\/DH Justin Turner from the Blue Jays for minor league OF RJ Schreck
\nJuly 29: Brewers acquired RHP Frankie Montas from the Reds for RHP Jakob Junis and OF Joey Wiemer
\nJuly 30: Giants acquired 1B\/OF Mark Canha from the Tigers for RHP Eric Silva
\nJuly 30: Padres acquired LHP Mart\u00edn P\u00e9rez from the Pirates for minor league LHP Ronaldys Jimenez.
\nJuly 30: Diamondbacks acquired 1B Josh Bell from the Marlins for cash<\/p>\n
Look at the post-trade numbers for these guys. Generally speaking, the key pieces were pretty good after the fact. The Astros took a lot of heat for trading for Kikuchi (who had a 4.71 ERA at the time), but he was awesome for Houston, making 10 starts with a 2.70 ERA. Soler gave the Braves an offensive jolt, P\u00e9rez made 10 pretty good starts for the Padres, Canha got on base at a good clip for the Giants, Puk was dominant for the Diamondbacks, Bell helped fill a void when Christian Walker was hurt, and both Montas and Junis were better after the trade than before.<\/p>\n
But the end results were\u2026 not much. The Astros were swept out of the playoffs before Kikuchi got into a game, P\u00e9rez also didn\u2019t pitch in the postseason (Montas did, but in a loss), the Giants didn\u2019t have a ton of at-bats for Canha, and none of the Mariners, Diamondbacks or Giants even made the postseason. The Astros can sleep a little easier knowing none of the guys they gave up in the Kikuchi deal has done much for the Blue Jays this year, but there are multiple years of team control for that to change.<\/p>\n
It pays to sell<\/p>\n
It\u2019s more fun to buy at the deadline, but it\u2019s occasionally more useful to sell. Trade deadline deals often take years to pay dividends for the selling team, but some of last year\u2019s trades are already making a difference.<\/p>\n
July 27: Blue Jays trade C Danny Jansen to the Red Sox for INF Eddinson Paulino, INF Cutter Coffey, and RHP Gilberto Batista
\nJuly 28: Tigers trade C Carson Kelly to the Rangers for C Liam Hicks and RHP Tyler Owens
\nJuly 29: Nationals trade OF Lane Thomas to the Guardians for INF Jos\u00e9 Tena, LHP Alex Clemmey, and INF Rafael Ramirez Jr.
\nJuly 29: Blue Jays trade DH\/1B Justin Turner to the Mariners for OF RJ Schreck
\nJuly 30: Angels trade RHP Luis Garcia to the Red Sox for 1B Niko Kavadas, INF\/OF Matthew Lugo, RHP Ryan Zeferjahn and RHP Yeferson Vargas
\nJuly 30: Marlins trade LHP Trevor Rogers to the Orioles for OF Kyle Stowers and INF Connor Norby
\nJuly 30: Marlins trade LHP Tanner Scott to the Padres for LHP Robby Snelling, RHP Adam Mazur, INF Graham Pauley and INF Jay Beshears<\/p>\n
One year removed from his 2023 breakout, Thomas was having a good-not-great season when the offense-needy Guardians traded for him to be their new center fielder. He\u2019s been replacement-level or below ever since. Thomas did hit a big Guardians home run last postseason, but he\u2019s otherwise struggled offensively and with injuries. The Nationals sold when he still had some value, and Tena became their regular third baseman until prospect Brady House made his debut last month. The other prospects in the deal are still extremely young, but Clemmey has a lot of strikeouts as a teenager in A ball. Schreck, acquired by the Blue Jays in the Turner deal, also has yet to reach the big leagues, but he\u2019s having a good offensive season in the upper minors, suggesting he could be close (Turner hit pretty well after the trade, but did not get the Mariners into the playoffs and became a free agent).<\/p>\n
The Marlins ultimately could be among the big winners of last year\u2019s deadline. In return for Rogers \u2014 who\u2019s been basically a depth starter for the Orioles \u2014 the Marlins got Stowers, who\u2019s been one of their few bright spots and still has four years of team control remaining. Norby has been the Marlins\u2019 primary third baseman, while Snelling and Mazur are two of their top 11 prospects according to Keith Law.<\/a> Hicks \u2014 acquired by the Tigers in the Kelly trade \u2014 went to the Marlins in the Rule 5 draft and has been pretty good as a semi-regular catcher, first baseman and DH. (The other piece of that Kelly deal, Owens, made his big league debut this season and threw a scoreless inning in each of his first two Tigers appearances.)<\/p>\n Nothing about the Red Sox\u2019s 2024 trade deadline worked. Kavadas, Lugo and Zeferjahn have been little more than up-and-down role players for the Angels \u2014 though Zeferjahn could have some staying power \u2014 but the Red Sox got next to nothing from any of their deadline rentals. Garcia had an 8.22 ERA, Lucas Sims had a 6.43, James Paxton got hurt after three starts, and Jansen hit .188 with three extra-base hits. The Red Sox didn\u2019t give up a ton to get any of them (though the minor leaguers in the Jansen deal are having decent seasons), but they didn\u2019t get much in return, either, and they missed the playoffs.<\/p>\n Back on the block<\/p>\n Some of last year\u2019s deals might be primed for a do-over, especially if some key pitchers can get healthy in the next few weeks.<\/p>\n July 13: Royals acquire RHP Hunter Harvey from the Nationals for INF Cayden Wallace and a draft pick The Orioles made moves at the 2024 deadline assuming they\u2019d remain in contention in 2025. Instead, they were swept in the wild-card round last season, and they\u2019ve been among the most disappointing teams in baseball this season. That means two of the relievers they acquired a year ago \u2014 pending free agents Dominguez and Soto \u2014 could be trade bait again. It would make sense to trade Eflin, too (he\u2019s also about to be a free agent), but Eflin got hurt late last month, and even before the injury, he was performing far worse this season than last season, leaving little hope that the Orioles could recoup what they gave up.<\/p>\n Harvey, too, has been hurt while the Royals, too, have underperformed. Harvey could be another trade chip if he can get back on the mound in the next few weeks. Kiner-Falefa is providing his usual defense for the Pirates and reportedly is already generating trade interest.<\/a> Two pitchers acquired at last year\u2019s trade deadline \u2014 veteran Aaron Civale by the Brewers and young Quinn Priester by the Red Sox \u2014already have been traded again this year.<\/p>\n (Top photo of Flaherty: Harry How \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the hours leading up to last year\u2019s trade deadline, the New York Yankees traded for veteran reliever…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28300,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-28299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28299","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=28299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nJuly 26: Orioles acquire RHP Zach Eflin from the Rays for INF\/OF Mac Horvath, OF Matthew Etzel and RHP Jackson Baumeister
\nJuly 26: Orioles acquire RHP Seranthony Dominguez and OF Cristian Pache from the Phillies for OF Austin Hays
\nJuly 30: Orioles acquire LHP Gregory Soto from the Phillies for RHP Seth Johnson and RHP Mois\u00e9s Chace
\nJuly 30: Pirates acquire INF Isiah Kiner-Falefa from the Blue Jays for INF Charles McAdoo<\/p>\n