3 Biggest Winners and Losers From the 2024 MLB Trade Deadline

It’s always about about winners and losers, isn’t it?

The trade deadline frenzy may be firmly behind us, but the truth is that it’ll take years for us to fully understand the ramifications of many of these moves. This is particularly true of teams like the Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays, who went full-blown sell mode this past week, stockpiling scores of prospects with every passing transaction.

More on those clubs in a little bit.

But whether you thought the trade deadline lived up to the hype, or whether you thought it underwhelmed compared to expectations, there are still winners and losers to evaluate from it all.

Let’s start with our winners.

Winner: San Diego Padres

If Padres GM AJ Preller isn’t among the ‘winners’ every year, was it really a trade deadline?

This is the reputation Preller has built for himself, but there doesn’t appear to be any regrets on his end. And why should there be? San Diego swings for the fences and that should be rewarded in a sport where we simply don’t see enough of that.

Let’s remember something about the Padres: For each of the nine prospects they shipped out in trades for three relievers and one starter, they will find 10 more gems to replace them with. Preller has an innate ability to scout talent, which keeps San Diego’s pipeline replenished amidst all the wheeling and dealing.

And with the Padres occupying one of the National League’s three wild card spots, they were in great position to buy anyway.

In Tanner Scott, San Diego landed the best closer widely thought to be available this trade deadline and even snagged Bryan Hoeing’s 2.70 ERA in the deal as well. The price may have been three of Just Baseball’s Top 15 Padres prospects list (plus infielder Jay Beshears), but this was a seller’s market and Preller paid that premium.

The Jason Adam acquisition was a costly one, too, as the former Tampa Bay Rays reliever was dealt for two additional Padres’ Top 15 prospects Dylan Lesko (RHP) and Homer Bush Jr., as well as catcher J.D. Gonzalez.

Martin Perez was a nice depth addition for San Diego’s starting rotation as well. His World Series experience with the Texas Rangers last season should benefit this team greatly come October.

In total, that’s two of the top relievers available on the market, plus a depth starter. The Padres now boast one of the game’s most dominant bullpens, featuring Scott and Adam but also Robert Suarez, Jeremiah Estrada and Adrian Morejon.

Winner: Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers never ended up making that big splash move we were all anticipating, but sometimes it’s better to simply understand what you need and make those necessary upgrades.

A three-team trade between the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox and Dodgers on Monday was undoubtedly intriguing, but let’s be honest as well: The primary reason Los Angeles was a winner at this year’s trade deadline was because they swiped starter Jack Flaherty from the Detroit Tigers for two solid but unspectacular prospects in Thayron Liranzo and Trey Sweeney.

Without that move, the Dodgers’ trade deadline haul goes from solid to, well, unspectacular.

Sure, Michael Kopech is a flame-throwing reliever whom Los Angeles should certainly unlock after coming over from the historically bad Chicago White Sox, but the Dodgers have had plenty of those types walk through the doors at Chavez Ravine over the years.

As for Tommy Edman and Amed Rosario, both are fine utility players at positions of need for Los Angeles, but the former has yet to play a game in 2024, while the latter was a Dodger last season. Nothing crazy here, but nonetheless important additions.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the Dodgers’s trade deadline was that they didn’t surrender any elite prospect capital to bring in these reinforcements. That seems typical of how they’ve operated in recent years and we’re not sure how they keep getting away with it.

Winner: Tampa Bay Rays

It’s hard not to love what the Rays did at the trade deadline.

Well, maybe it is if you’re a fan.

But objectively, we can say few teams did better than Tampa Bay when the dust settled. A club with one of the sport’s lowest payrolls and diminishing postseason odds did exactly what you’d might expect: sell off its most expensive current assets in exchange for younger, more controllable players down the road. That’s precisely how you sustain windows of contention given those circumstances.

The Rays made five straight postseasons between 2019 and 2023, including a World Series appearance in 2020. They also did the same between 2008 and 2013. That doesn’t happen by accident. Their method works, in large part because of their extraordinary ability to develop talent in-house. And they’re banking on that strategy again in 2024.

Tampa’s newest acquisitions aren’t just reporting to the minor leagues, however. Christopher Morel, the dynamic former Cub, launched two home runs in his first two games with the Rays. And Hunter Bigge, who came over with Morel from Chicago in exchange for third baseman Isaac Paredes, already has a scoreless relief appearance out of Tampa’s bullpen.

That’s how you win at all levels.

Honorable Mention: Miami Marlins

Like their American League counterparts, the Miami Marlins aced the trade deadline.

No team took advantage of the sellers’ market as proficiently as the Marlins did, reeling in an absolute haul from the San Diego Padres for two months of impending free agent closer Tanner Scott. You can read more on what exactly the Marlins received here, but the point is this: Miami’s future just got much brighter.

Even the trades of Jazz Chisholm Jr. (New York Yankees) and Bryan De La Cruz (Pittsburgh Pirates) netted some intriguing pieces, not the least of which was right-hander Jun-Seok Shim from the Pirates organization with “video game stuff” according to our own Jack McMullen.

And we can’t neglect left-handed starter Trevor Rogers, who fetched the Marlins two MLB-ready prospects from the Baltimore Orioles in Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers.

So why just an honorable mention for the Marlins? Ultimately, their player development lags behind the Rays. And that’s an important distinction to make when we’re talking about prospects and their impact on a big league roster down the road. Miami’s haul looks great in a vacuum, but can it bear fruit the way Tampa’s development team is so adept at maximizing?

That’s a wait and see proposition.

Loser: Chicago White Sox

The White Sox may have been involved in the most complex trade at the deadline, but don’t mistake that for competence.

Not only did they miss a golden opportunity to trade away ace left-hander Garrett Crochet and oft-injured but tantalizing outfielder Luis Robert Jr. in a heavy seller’s market, they also botched what few assets they did manage to ship out.

Combined, the South Siders received one MLB player in Miguel Vargas and two lower-level prospects in exchange for starter Erick Fedde, outfielder Tommy Pham and reliever Michael Kopech.

The White Sox probably could’ve gotten more for each of those players individually, let alone what they acquired in that three team trade.

At least Chicago was able to part ways with Eloy Jimenez, who was sent to the Baltimore Orioles. But that’s about it.

Just a disaster of a trade deadline for a historically bad team.

Loser: Houston Astros

Other than the San Diego Padres, no team felt the burn of buying at the trade deadline more than the Houston Astros.

Though they only made two transactions, one of them was significant in that it set an unfathomable precedent for the rest of the trades that would follow.

It’s not that Yusei Kikuchi, the former Toronto Blue Jays’ left-hander whom the Astros acquired in their first deal, is a bad pitcher. His ERA of 4.75 at the time of the trade may not look great on the surface, but beneath that lies a 4.00 xERA and an even more promising 3.65 FIP. And perhaps best of all? An xFIP of 3.42.

But two problems here: He’s a pure rental, meaning Houston only has him for these two months plus the playoffs. And in return, the Blue Jays got two MLB-ready players in outfielder Joey Loperfido and right-hander Jake Bloss plus an infield prospect in Will Wagner (Billy Wagner’s son).

That seems like an awful lot for two-plus months of a solid left-handed starter, no?

Perhaps the Astros didn’t have a strong enough farm system to entice the Blue Jays with young talent alone, meaning they wouldn’t have had a choice but to deal from big league depth. Or they simply fell prey to desperation. Either way, this was not a great trade deadline for Houston.

Loser: Minnesota Twins

It was a modest trade deadline for the contending Twins, who acquired middle reliever Trevor Richards from the Blue Jays in a transaction that likely flew under the radar as time was expiring Tuesday afternoon.

Considering that was Minnesota’s only manuever, it’s understandable why their players felt ‘disheartened’ with the club’s course of action.

The Twins will only go as far as their injury-prone (but immensely talented) trio of Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis will take them, but they still missed an opportunity to further assert themselves as a potential playoff team in the American League, much as their division rivals in Cleveland and Kansas City did.

As much as Minnesota’s front office might ‘believe’ in this roster as is, the real culprit behind their inactivity was a mandate from ownership that payroll would not be expanding. And that’s no excuse to let a good roster go to waste.

Honorable Mention: Atlanta Braves

The idea of getting the 2021 World Series band back together was a fun one for the Braves, but let’s be real: Acquiring Jorge Soler and Luke Jackson from the San Francisco Giants wasn’t a true needle-mover.

Atlanta decided to play it (relatively) safe this trade deadline, opting to move forward with its heavily injured roster and hoping the likes of Austin Riley and Matt Olson can heat up down the stretch for an underperforming offense. Perhaps Soler can be a catalyst once again, but don’t count on it.

It probably wasn’t smart to leave their lack of pitching depth unaddressed, either. Even when starters Max Fried and Reynaldo Lopez return from injury, their health will be worth monitoring alongside Chris Sale and Charlie Morton, who have both stayed remarkably durable in 2024. And their other starter, young right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach, has been decent in a smaller sample size. However, he’s unproven as a whole, especially with respect to playoff baseball.

Time will tell if the Braves made the right choice to (mostly) sit this trade deadline out, but considering how much they’ve closed the gap on the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East heading into August, this could shape up to be a missed opportunity.