MLB trade deadline was busy as usual. Why did the biggest names and top prospects stay put?
BALTIMORE — Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell and Garrett Crochet all stayed put.
Relatedly, so did baseball's most highly regarded prospects.
Whether it was stingy sellers or cautious buyers, the biggest potential trade targets weren't dealt before Tuesday's deadline. There were still plenty of moves, but they involved players with a bit less star power and prospects further down the food chain.
“Its hard to expect it to go any differently. You expand the playoffs, a whole host of things, and the deadline hasn’t moved,” Baltimore general manager Mike Elias said. “Maybe if they moved the deadline back 10 or 15 days or something like that, it could change things, but there’s no talk of that happening yet. For the foreseeable future, you have more playoff teams, you have fewer teams that want to give up on the season.”
The Tampa Bay Rays did trade All-Star infielder Isaac Paredes to the Chicago Cubs for third baseman Christopher Morel and a couple minor leaguers, but Luis Robert Jr. of the White Sox and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays didn't go anywhere, and although plenty of relievers switched teams, they did not include Oakland standout Mason Miller.
Instead, a lot of deals resembled what Detroit and the Los Angeles Dodgers did. The Tigers traded right-hander Jack Flaherty — who is having a nice season this year after a couple of uneven ones — and received minor league catcher Thayron Liranzo and infielder Trey Sweeney from the Dodgers. Sweeney becomes Detroit's 24th-best prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. Liranzo is ranked fifth for the Tigers but hasn't played above Class A.
None of Baseball America’s top 100 prospects were traded.
The Rays and Miami Marlins both shed a lot of talent. That was no surprise in Miami's case, but Tampa Bay remains above .500 and not too far out of a playoff spot.
In addition to Paredes, the Rays dealt away Amed Rosario, Zach Eflin and Randy Arozarena. Given their track record, you'll probably be hearing about some of the prospects Tampa Bay received at some point down the road.
If any team had the ability to swing a trade for a potential ace like Skubal, it was Baltimore, with its wealth of young talent. But the Orioles held onto their top three prospects — infielders Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo and catcher Samuel Basallo — and traded for Eflin and Miami lefty Trevor Rogers instead. Baltimore also added a couple relievers but ultimately steered clear of a real blockbuster deal.
Then the Orioles promoted Holliday back to the majors Wednesday.
San Diego general manager A.J. Preller was a busy man again. He traded a huge package of prospects for Juan Soto at the deadline in 2022, then he dealt Soto to the New York Yankees this past offseason — and traded for Dylan Cease soon after that.
The Padres recently went on a seven-game winning streak that put them in decent position for a wild card — with an outside chance at challenging the Dodgers atop the NL West. Now Jason Adam, Tanner Scott, Bryan Hoeing and Martín Pérez have been added to San Diego's pitching staff after a recent flurry of moves.
Although the number of teams still in playoff contention probably led to less selling, even some teams that are completely out of it were pretty quiet. The Chicago White Sox traded Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham but kept Crochet and Robert. Oakland still has Miller and Brent Rooker. Colorado didn't do anything all that drastic either.
It remains to be seen who the big winner of this deadline will be, but the Yankees are off to a fine start. They acquired Jazz Chisholm Jr. from Miami, and he hit four homers in his first three games.
