The Juan Soto Mega-Deal Headlines The Trading Deadline In The NL

The August 2 MLB trading deadline has come and gone, and it was one of the craziest ever. The Juan Soto deal between the Nationals and Padres is the obvious headliner – he may be the biggest, youngest star EVER dealt at the deadline

The net is are full of trade deadline review articles these days, and most seem to identify the “winners” as the clubs who picked up the biggest names, and the “losers” as the ones who dealt them. It’s not that simple.

This week, I’m taking a look at all 30 clubs’ deadline efforts through a somewhat different lens. Let’s split up the buyers, sellers and do-little-to-nothings and rank them within those groups. As we’ll see, it’s possible to buy or sell well……and even possible to do both at the same time. Today, we explore the National League, tomorrow the American.

BUYERS

BUYING BIG, WINNING BIG: In this case, the team that bought the biggest, the San Diego Padres, won the biggest. Not only did they get Soto without decimating a deep farm system, they also upgraded first base by adding Josh Bell, and oh, by the way, added potentially the game’s best closer in Josh Hader. Picking up the multipositional Brandon Drury from the Reds also helps. They do lose big club contributors like Taylor Rogers and Luke Voit/Eric Hosmer, and top minor leaguers James Wood, Robert Hassell, C.J. Abrams, Esteury Ruiz and Robert Gasser, but they’re now set up to battle the Dodgers for NL supremacy in the intermediate term.

THEY’RE AT IT AGAIN: The Atlanta Braves won themselves a World Series at last year’s deadline and stealthily were at it again this time around. They swooped in and stole high-end closer Raisel Iglesias from the Angels for starting pitcher prospect Tucker Davidson and, basically, the cost of Iglesias’ contract. He might not quite be Hader/Edwin Diaz quality at this stage, but he’s at the next tier down. Ehire Adrianza and Robbie Grossman fortify the club’s infield and outfield depth, respectively, and they made a challenge trade with the Astros, adding starter Jake Odorizzi for reliever Will Smith.

TINKERING WITH THE MARGINS: The New York Mets didn’t make a splash move, but Tyler Naquin is an upgrade over Travis Jankowski as a depth outfielder, and Mychal Givens lengthens the pen a bit and was acquired at negligible prospect cost from the Cubs. They rearranged the deck chairs a bit on the bench, swapping J.D. Davis to the Giants for Darin Ruf.

SWING, AND A…..RELATIVELY WEAK CONTACT: The Los Angeles Dodgers were rumored to be in the mix for everyone, and emerged only with a damaged Joey Gallo. They gave up a decent pitching prospect in Clayton Beeter to get him, and it will be interesting to see if they are willing to deploy a lineup featuring both Gallo and Cody Bellinger in their quest to win a championship. They also added reliever Chris Martin and proactively managed their 40-man roster by sending pitcher Mitchell White and infielder Alex DeJesus to the Blue Jays. Nothing sexy here.

PAYING TO PLAY: The Philadelphia Phillies don’t have a particularly deep farm system, but they gave up a couple of their best – catcher Logan O’Hoppe and pitcher Ben Brown – in deals to upgrade their big league club, adding RHP Noah Syndergaard and CF Brandon Marsh from the Angels and RHP David Robertson from the Cubs. None of the new acquisitions are sure things, and the Phils paid handsomely to bring them aboard.

BUYING AND SELLING

KEEPING THE KIDS, BEEFING UP THE ROTATION: No, they didn’t get Soto, but the St. Louis Cardinals kept Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman, Masyn Winn and all the kids, and quietly added two quality lefties to their rotation in Jordan Montgomery and Jose Quintana. Yes, they gave up CF Harrison Bader to the Yankees, but 3B Malcom Nunez is probably the best prospect they let go.

IT’S COMPLICATED: Josh Hader is gone, but the Milwaukee Brewers press on as contenders. They’re betting that the addition of Taylor Rogers, Dinelson Lamet, Matt Bush and Trevor Rosenthal makes their pen deeper, and that Devin Williams is ready for at least a share of the closer’s job. The additions of Robert Gasser and Esteury Ruiz deepen their minor league pitching and offensive arsenals, respectively. It will be interesting to see how the clubhouse responds to Hader’s departure.

SPECIAL CATEGORY – DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING

DANIEL BARD EXTENSION SPECIAL: Yup, all the Colorado Rockies did at the deadline was extend their 37-year-old closer, Daniel Bard. Okie dokie.

SELLERS

MELTING IT TO THE GROUND: Generally, I don’t like to give kudos to the biggest tankers, but the Cincinnati Reds certainly did get top value in the Luis Castillo deal. The package from the Seattle Mariners brought back a pair of legit future starting MLB shortstops in in Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo, and pitchers Levi Stoudt and Andrew Moore are promising as well. They also dealt away starter Tyler Mahle to the Twins and position players Tyler Naquin (to the Mets), Brandon Drury (to the Padres) and Tommy Pham (to the Red Sox). The Mahle deal netted a couple of solid position player prospects in Spencer Steer and Christian Encarancion-Strand and a promising arm in pitcher Steve Hajjar.

SELLING SMALL BUT EFFECTIVELY: I liked what the Chicago Cubs did as sellers at last year’s deadline, and approve again of their relatively minor moves this time around. They didn’t move big pieces, sending relievers Zac Effross to the Yanks, Mychal Givens to the Mets and David Robertson to the Phils, but got some promising arms back in Hayden Wesneski for Effross and Ben Brown for Robertson. No guarantees here, but if even one of the two clicks, that’s six years of control in exchange for rental bullpen arms.

THEY SIMPLY HAD TO DO BETTER: Juan Soto is a generational player, a 23-year-old one at that. The Washington Nationals needed to get a generational return. And they didn’t. Robert Hassell is the closest to a sure thing in the deal, but the development of power isn’t a given. SS C.J. Abrams and LHP Mackenzie Gore were once sure things, but are no longer. IF James Wood’s star is on the rise, and could be the key to the deal. 1B Luke Voit (replacing the departed Josh Bell) and Jarlin Susana fill out the quantity-over-quality deal.

AT LEAST THEY GOT A PROSPECT: The Miami Marlins didn’t do much at the deadline, but at least got a legit infield prospect in Jordan Groshans from the Blue Jays in exchange for two marginal bullpen pieces in Anthony Bass and Zach Pop.

PRETTY UNDERWHELMING: The San Francisco Giants likely fancied themselves buyers only a couple weeks ago, but a recent rough patch reduced them to light sellers at the break. They cut bait on their recent flyers on the injured Matthew Boyd and Trevor Rosenthal (to the Mariners and Brewers), for light returns. They did the Davis-Ruf swap with the Mets, and added C Ford Proctor from the Rays and OF Tristan Peters from the Brewers.

CUTTING SALARY, PART I: The Pittsburgh Pirates sent both Jose Quintana and Chris Stratton to the Cards, and at least got a low-level prospect back in 3B Malcom Nunez.

CUTTING SALARY, PART II: The Arizona Diamondbacks sent David Peralta to the Rays and Luke Weaver to the Royals, getting a decent catching prospect in Christian Cerda for the former, and a Quadruple-A bat in Emmanuel Rivera for the latter.