The Biggest Winners and Losers of the 2020 MLB Trade Deadline
The 2020 Major League Baseball trade deadline was short on blockbusters, long on players to be named later and, ultimately, about as hectic as usual.
Now that the dust from Monday's action has settled, it's time to size up the winners and losers.
For anyone who doesn't know the drill, this means applauding teams that did well at the deadline and scolding teams that didn't do as well as they should have. We mostly focused on contenders, though there was one seller that caught our eye.
Now then, we have four winners and five losers to get to.
Winner: San Diego Padres
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The San Diego Padres were already one of the National League's top World Series contenders on the eve of the trade deadline. Yet they went ahead and scored the following haul anyway:
- RHPs Trevor Rosenthal, Dan Altavilla, Taylor Williams and Austin Adams
- C Jason Castro
- UTIL Austin Nola
- OF Greg Allen
- 1B Mitch Moreland
- SP Mike Clevinger
The biggest star here is Clevinger, who comes to San Diego with a 3.20 career ERA. He's the kind of top-of-the-rotation talent that the Friars needed alongside Dinelson Lamet, and he's even under control through 2022.
The Padres otherwise shored up more minor weaknesses at designated hitter (Moreland) and catcher (Castro), as well as on their bench (Nola) and in their bullpen (Rosenthal, Altavilla, Williams and Adams). As a result, a roster that had been thriving on its stars now has quite a lot more depth.
What makes San Diego's improvement that much sweeter, meanwhile, is the reality that outfielder Taylor Trammell was the only top-10 prospect sacrificed for the effort.
Loser: Texas Rangers
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Somewhere in the cosmos is an alternate reality in which the Texas Rangers made out like bandits in trades of Lance Lynn, Joey Gallo and Mike Minor.
But in our reality? Not really.
Minor, who has a 5.60 ERA in seven starts, was the only one who moved on Monday. And because he only brought back two low-level minor leaguers, the Rangers might be kicking themselves for not cashing him in while he was in the process of leading the majors in rWAR last season.
The Rangers surely could have gotten more for Lynn, who's pushed his value to a peak with a 1.93 ERA through eight starts. He also still has another year left on his contract. By keeping him, they've opened themselves up to a decidedly Minor-esque missed opportunity.
By also failing to move Gallo, who's an extraordinary talent with club control through 2022, the Rangers ultimately did little to improve either a major league roster or a farm system that badly need talent.
Winner: Toronto Blue Jays
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Even if they weren't quite as productive as the Padres, the Toronto Blue Jays were surely the most active team in the American League on deadline day.
Having already added right-hander Taijuan Walker several days before the deadline, the Blue Jays piled on with trades for fellow righty Ross Stripling, left-hander Robbie Ray and utility man Jonathan Villar.
The deal for Villar was a case of Toronto fortifying a strength. Its offense had already been humming with an average of six runs per game over its last 19 contests. Now it has a versatile defender who blasted 24 homers and stole 40 bases just last season.
In the grand scheme of things, the trio of Walker, Stripling and Ray more so constitutes a quantity improvement than one of the quality variety. But with plenty of good talent already present in their moundstaff, quantity was arguably all the Jays needed.
All told, the club cemented itself as a contender for one of the AL's eight playoff spots.
Loser: New York Yankees
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The New York Yankees went into deadline day with an 11-12 record over their last 23 games.
That largely came down to injuries that had thinned out both their offense and their pitching staff. But instead of aggressively pursuing fixes on the trade market, the Yankees came away with...[checks notes]...nothing.
To be fair, the Yankees did kick a few tires. Jon Morosi of MLB.com reported that they were in on Lynn. Per Jon Heyman of MLB Network, they were also poking around Milwaukee Brewers closer Josh Hader.
Evidently, the prices for these players and others were simply too high for the Yankees. General manager Brian Cashman apparently also had it in mind that the injuries afflicting the club now will eventually heal: "Knowing that we're getting everybody back at some point, that's certainly exciting."
Well, he's not wrong. But if all the club's aches and pains don't heal as quickly or as well as it hopes, a deep postseason run may prove elusive.
Winner: Cincinnati Reds
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As they rolled into deadline day with just a 15-19 record, the Cincinnati Reds could have been expected to deal ace right-hander Trevor Bauer and other shiny trade chips.
Instead, the Reds went in the other direction. They only landed two players, but said players were right-hander Archie Bradley and outfielder Brian Goodwin.
The 1.73 ERA that Bradley posted in 2017 is clearly an aberration in retrospect, but his 3.62 ERA and rate of 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings since 2018 aren't exactly embarrassing numbers. He should help a Reds bullpen that's flopped with a 5.22 ERA.
For his part, Goodwin has been solid with a .795 OPS and 21 home runs since the start of last season. He'll boost a Reds offense that hasn't lived up to its preseason billing in scoring only four runs per game.
In light of how the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals did nothing to get better, the Reds just opened up a path to the NL Central's second playoff spot.
Losers: Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins
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Cleveland gave its top competition in the American League Central an opening on Monday.
Terry Francona's squad has thus far subsisted on a pitching staff with a sparkling 2.87 ERA. Clevinger did his part by posting a 3.18 ERA through four outings.
Well, Clevinger is with San Diego now. And whether it was because of his recent demotion or some unseen force, the haul that Cleveland got in return featured nothing in the way of established star power.
Particularly after this went down, either the Chicago White Sox or Minnesota Twins could have sought to take advantage by patching whatever holes are standing in their way of overcoming Cleveland for the AL Central lead. But when the deadline passed, both looked exactly the same as they had before.
Granted, all three clubs figure to make the playoffs anyway. But with Cleveland having made itself worse in the short term, the White Sox and Twins may regret passing on a chance to further assert themselves in the race for the American League pennant.
Winner: New York Mets
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The New York Mets are on a four-game losing streak that's dropped their record to 15-20.
But in the National League's wide-open playoff race, the Mets' subpar record isn't a death sentence. They acted accordingly on deadline day, bringing in three players that could help them right their ship.
The best of the bunch is Miguel Castro. The right-hander has his fastball up to 97.7 mph on average, and that's helped him strike out 24 batters in 15.2 innings. With Dellin Betances (lat tightness) injured and Edwin Diaz back to struggling, Castro is thus a huge addition for New York's pen.
The Mets also landed corner infielder (and old friend) Todd Frazier and catcher Robinson Chirinos. Neither was having a good year for the Rangers, but both are accomplished veterans who may be energized by the prospect of pushing the Mets into October.
Elsewhere in the NL East, the Miami Marlins balanced their big addition (Starling Marte) with a big subtraction (Villar), while the Philadelphia Phillies settled for a single bullpen arm (David Phelps). As we'll discuss, Atlanta did even less.
Loser: Atlanta
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Just how badly did Atlanta need to overhaul its starting rotation on deadline day? Let us count the ways.
Atlanta starters have averaged only 4.2 innings while racking up a 5.46 ERA. Ascendant southpaw Max Fried has done his part time after time, but manager Brian Snitker has otherwise had to find ways around injuries (Mike Soroka), poor performances (Sean Newcomb and Mike Foltynewicz) and one opt-out (Felix Hernandez).
Atlanta did acquire Tommy Milone to fill some of the space behind left-hander Max Fried and rookie right-hander Ian Anderson. But after Milone allowed seven runs in 2.1 innings on Sunday, Atlanta had its cue to keep adding.
For whatever reason, it didn't. Atlanta was in on some big names—including Lynn, per Morosi—but nothing materialized.
Maybe this won't keep Atlanta from finishing first in the NL East for a third straight season. But if a deep playoff run is what it has in mind, the club may well regret its inaction.
Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs, and are current through Monday, August 31.
