A Month After MLB Trade Deadline, Teams Assess Moves Good And Bad

For big-league baseball teams, the advent of September means it’s been a month since the passing of the Aug. 1 trade deadline – and time for teams to evaluate the impact of those trades.

With a month left to the 162-game schedule, the best acquisitions might have been made by the two Texas teams, both of whom acquired veteran starters from the New York Mets.

Justin Verlander has thrived since his trade back to the Houston Astros, where he won a World Series ring and Cy Young Award last season, while Max Scherzer has pitched far better in his few starts for the Texas Rangers (3-1, 2.64 in first five starts) than he did during the first half of the season in Flushing.

Both trades became possible when the disappointing Mets decided to divest themselves of an age-heavy team that had the highest payroll in baseball history ($377 according to Cot’s Contracts).

Verlander and Scherzer had matching $43.3 million contracts – the highest single-season payouts ever received by a player – and no-trade clauses that needed to be waived.

After a little coaxing, plus the chance to earn bonus money for postseason performance, they agreed, allowing the Mets to acquire both blue-chip prospects plus payroll relief.

Owner Steve Cohen also sweetened the pot by sending a combined $88 million to the acquiring clubs in order to offset the inflated salaries of the incoming pitching horses.

The Rangers, seeking their first pennant since 2011, also acquired a pair of left-handers, starter Jordan Montgomery from the St. Louis Cardinals and reliever Aroldis Chapman from the Kansas City Royals. The former posted a 2-1 mark and 2.30 ERA in his first five turns with Texas while the closer fanned 38 in his first 21 innings with his new club.

The situation is different in Houston, where the Astros are hoping to become the first repeat world champion since the 2000 New York Yankees. Verlander, though months past his 40th birthday, has the motivation to make that happen; he wants to become the first 300-game winner since Hall of Famer Randy Johnson in 2009. He went 4-1 with a 2.79 ERA in his first five starts since returning to Houston.

Like Verlander, veteran set-up reliever Kendall Graveman returned to Houston in a deadline day deal, that one with the Chicago White Sox. He has also performed well, averaging better than a strikeout an inning since returning.

For the Los Angeles Dodgers, trade deadline day seems like eons ago. They had an exceptional August, including an 11-game winning streak that pushed them within striking distance of Atlanta for the best record in baseball – and home-team advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Dodgers, who have reached post-season play for 11 consecutive campaigns, improved a small lead in the National League West to a huge margin over several wild-card contenders, including the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks. Three of the key reasons were Lance Lynn, Amed Rosario, and Kiké Hernández, prospective free agents all acquired at the trade deadline.

Lynn, to cite one example of how a change of scenery can prompt a change of performance, has suddenly morphed from Cy Old to Cy Young. After posting a 6-9 record and 6.47 earned run average with the moribund ChicagoWhite Sox, he’s become the best right-hander in a strong Los Angeles rotation headed by Clayton Kershaw and Julio Urias.

In his first five starts, the bearded right-hander had a perfect 4-0 record and microscopic 2.03 ERA. Both Kelly, a reliever who has also engineered a Lynn-like turnaround since arriving at Chavez Ravine, and the versatile Hernández were members of the Dodgers team that won the 2020 World Series.

Arizona also rode the road to improvement on the backs of trade acquisitions.

Outfielder Tommy Pham, obtained from the Mets, and closer Paul Sewald, hooked from the Mariners, have prospered in their new uniforms.

And how about Michael Lorenzen, a one-time journeyman reliever and spare center-fielder who became an All-Star starter for the 2023 Detroit Tigers and pitched a no-hitter for his new team, the Philadelphia Phillies, a month later?

Other players whose games perked up after Deadline Day swaps include Jack Flaherty (Orioles), Aaron Civale (Rays), Josh Bell and Jack Burger (Marlins), and Jordan Hicks (Blue Jays).

Sometimes, however, trades can have the opposite impact.

Consider the Los Angeles Angels, a team that seemed ready to break a string of seven straight losing seasons. Faced with the choice of keeping or trading Shohei Ohtani, the two-way star headed for his second MVP award, the Angels pulled off a series of swaps designed to keep the club in playoff contention.

All flopped, pushing the club deeper in its division and increasing the odds that Ohtani will sign elsewhere – perhaps for double the money – once his $30 million contract expires.

Things got so bad that the Angels placed a half-dozen players on irrevocable waivers, losing Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López, Matt Moore, Hunter Renfroe, and Dominic Leone to remaining would-be contenders within days.

The New York Yankees lost a once-invaluable piece after Harrison Bader went on waivers to the Cincinnati Reds, who also claimed Renfroe for their outfield.

With playoffs expanded to a dozen teams (three winners and three wild-cards per league) and 17 still harboring realistic hopes of getting there, it’s surprising that nobody took Carlos Carrasco, Randal Grichuk, and a couple of others who were dangled by their ballclubs.

Waiver priority runs in reverse order of the standings, with ties broken by last year’s records. Any team that makes a claim must pay the remainder of that player’s contract, which may explain why Carrasco’s pitching problems resulted in no takers.

Unclaimed players can continue playing for the teams that requested waivers on them.

Post-season rosters expanded from 26 to 28 on Sept. 1.