Carlos Correa to Astros and 10 Best and Worst Moves of 2025 MLB Trade Deadline
The 2025 MLB trade deadline was one of the most active in recent memory, and while there was no true superstar-caliber player changing hands, some major trades went down ahead of the annual deadline.
Relief pitching was a hot commodity this summer, and a number of top-tier closers changed hands. The big move of the day saw the Athletics ship flame-thrower Mason Miller to the San Diego Padres in exchange for one of baseball's top prospects in Leo De Vries and three others.
As the dust settles on a busy week of trading across Major League Baseball, now is the perfect time for some early takes on the best and worst deals of the 2025 deadline.
Ahead, we'll alternate between the best and worst to count down the five notable trades on each end of the spectrum, with early takes based on each deal's short-term and long-term outlook.
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No. 5 Worst: Reds Buy Low on Ke'Bryan Hayes, Make Significant Long-Term Commitment
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Ke'Bryan Hayes was a 4.5-WAR player in 2022 on the strength of his defense and a 3.9-WAR player in 2023 when he took home NL Gold Glove honors and posted a 103 OPS+ with 53 extra-base hits.
However, since the start of the 2024 season, he has hit just .234/.281/.290 for a 60 OPS+ and 2.0 WAR in 196 games, devolving into essentially a glove-only player, albeit an elite one.
The Pirates signed him to an eight-year, $70 million extension prior to the 2022 season, and that contract will pay him $30 million over the next four years, along with a $12 million club option and $6 million buyout in 2030.
For a team that generally doesn't spend big, adding $36 million to the books for a player who has been a black hole offensively for the better part of two years is a risky move, and it also cost them a quality prospect in shortstop Sammy Stafura who was the No. 43 overall pick in 2023.
No. 5 Best: White Sox Turn Adrian Houser Flier into Former Top Prospect
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Adrian Houser opened the 2025 season pitching on a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers, and after posting a lackluster 5.03 ERA in 39.1 innings at Triple-A, he exercised an opt-out clause in his contract and became a free agent.
The White Sox scooped him up a few days later and slotted him into their starting rotation, and it ended up being the best bargain bin move of the year, as he 6-2 with a 2.10 ERA and 3.29 FIP in 68.2 innings over 11 starts before he was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday.
In exchange, the White Sox brought back a former top prospect in Curtis Mead, who as recently as the start of the 2023 season was ranked as the No. 35 prospect in all of baseball.
Still only 24 years old and with club control through 2030, he is the perfect buy-low pickup for the rebuilding White Sox. He has hit just .238/.318/.339 in 356 plate appearances in the big leagues the last three seasons, but has never seen regular playing time.
He hit .297/.371/.504 in 1,731 plate appearances during his time in the minors.
No. 4 Worst: Pirates Get Middling Return for David Bednar
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Based on the going rate for quality relief pitching, trading David Bednar to the New York Yankees should have brought back a significantly bigger haul of prospect talent to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
To that point...
It took a Top 100-caliber prospect as the centerpiece in deals to acquire Mason Miller (Leo De Vries) and Jhoan Duran (Eduardo Tait), but that was to be expected given their multiple remaining years of club control.
However, there is an easy case to be made that rental relievers Ryan Helsley and Tyler Rogers also netted better returns, with the Mets giving up Jesus Baez, Blade Tidwell, Drew Gilbert and controllable MLB arm José Buttó in those two deals.
Bednar, 30, got off to a rocky start this year and was briefly demoted to Triple-A, but since returning on April 19 he has a 1.70 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 12.2 K/9 with 16 saves in 39 appearances. The two-time All-Star is controllable through 2026, giving the Yankees a controllable, top-tier closer option for roughly the cost of a quality rental.
Shining even more light on the lackluster return is the fact that the Pirates ended up holding onto Mitch Keller, Dennis Santana and a trio of expiring contracts in Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Tommy Pham and Andrew Heaney, further limiting their overall prospect haul.
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No. 4 Best: Rays Flip Taj Bradley for Griffin Jax
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Let's preface this by saying there is still a very real chance Taj Bradley is a quality big league starter for years to come, but he was recently demoted to Triple-A after giving up four hits, three walks and four earned runs in 1.2 innings against the White Sox on July 23.
Few organizations do a better job identifying and developing pitching talent than the Tampa Bay Rays, and they were willing to pull the plug on a starter with club control through 2029, there's probably a reason.
In exchange, they brought back one of the most dominant relievers in baseball in Griffin Jax, and managed to do it in a one-for-one swap in a market where relief pitching costs absolutely exploded.
Jax ranks seventh among all qualified relievers with a 36.4 percent strikeout rate, and he has a wealth of high-leverage experience serving as the primary setup man to Jhoan Durán the past two seasons.
Acquiring him could also pave the way for the Rays to trade incumbent closer Pete Fairbanks during the offseason, and even with a modest raise over his current $2.37 million salary, Jax should still be a budget-friendly option for the cost-conscious Rays.
No. 3 Worst: Cubs Settle for Michael Soroka to Bolster Starting Rotation
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Would you want him to start a playoff game?
That's the question to ask when drawing the line between impact starting pitchers and depth starting pitchers at the trade deadline, and Michael Soroka falls squarely into the second category.
With a 4.11 FIP and 1.13 WHIP backing his less-than-stellar 4.87 ERA, there is some potential for positive regression, but he still slots in behind Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Cade Horton and a rehabbing Jameson Taillon in the Cubs presumptive playoff rotation.
The additions of Taylor Rogers and Andrew Kittredge to the bullpen should help shorten games, but the biggest need for the Cubs was to find an impact starting pitcher, and they had the trade chips to do it with a deep farm system.
Instead, they settled for Soroka and will now have to hope their offense and an improved bullpen can shoulder the load.
No. 3 Best: Guardians Turn Shane Bieber into Quality Pitching Prospect
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Shane Bieber has thrown exactly zero pitches at the MLB level this season.
In fact, he has not pitched in a big league game since April 2, 2024, though he is currently on the comeback trail from Tommy John surgery with four starts and 11.1 innings under his belt.
His contract pays him $10 million this season and has a $16 million player option and $4 million buyout. If he returns down the stretch and pitches like an ace, declining that option should be a no-brainer. If he doesn't return or struggles upon returning, the Blue Jays might be on the hook for $16 million and not know what to expect.
For all of that uncertainty, the Guardians were able to pry loose right-hander Khal Stephen in the deal that sent Bieber to Toronto, and he has been one of the biggest breakout pitching prospects in baseball this year.
The 22-year-old has a 2.06 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and 99 strikeouts in 91.2 innings across three minor league levels, and he has reached Double-A in his first full professional season after going in the second round of the 2024 draft.
He is the type of polished, high-floor starter that the Guardians have proven time and again they can get the most out of at the big league level.
No. 2 Worst: Astros, Twins Both Lose in Carlos Correa Deal
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It's not often that a trade deadline deal looks like a true lose-lose from the second it's announced, but the trade that reunited Carlos Correa with the Houston Astros looks like just that for all involved.
For the Astros, it's a three-year, $70 million commitment to a player who has battled injuries throughout his career and who is currently hitting .267/.319/.386 for a 92 OPS+ with 0.1 WAR in 93 games.
For the Twins, it's a $33 million commitment to show that same player the door, with 26-year-old left-hander Matt Mikulski who has never pitched above the High-A level the only player changing hands.
It gives the Astros a replacement for their banged up left side of the infield, and some nostalgia feels for a player who was instrumental in their 2017 World Series title, but does it really move the needle in their 2025 playoff push?
It gives the Twins some salary relief, but also saddles them with a $33 million sunk cost, which could also provide ownership with an excuse to not spend on the level of the contract they gave Correa again any time soon.
Did anyone win this trade?
No. 2 Best: Yankees Halt Revolving Door at Third Base With Ryan McMahon
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Since Alex Rodriguez's final season as the New York Yankees starting third baseman in 2012, the hot corner has been a revolving door, with a staggering 45 different players lining up at the position.
Here's a quick look at their top options at third base during that span:
Chase Headley (422 G, 7.3 WAR)
DJ LeMahieu (251 G, 6.1 WAR)
Gio Urshela (250 G, 4.7 WAR)
Miguel Andujar (148 G, 2.8 WAR)
Josh Donaldson (125 G, 2.2 WAR)
Oswaldo Cabrera (118 G, 1.1 WAR)
The deal to acquire Ryan McMahon not only gives them an upgrade at the position for the stretch run, but also an everyday third baseman in 2026 and 2027, as he plays out the final two seasons of a six-year, $70 million deal.
Despite a middling .217 average and 93 OPS+ in 401 plate appearances with the Rockies, his batted-ball metrics this year suggested potential for more. In his first five games with the Yankees, he is 6-for-17 with two doubles and four RBI, including a walk-off single on Wednesday.
No. 1 Worst: Diamondbacks Fail to Get Top 100 Prospect for Eugenio Suarez
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Unless Tyler Locklear just never got a fair shake with the Seattle Mariners, it looks like the Arizona Diamondbacks failed to make the most of arguably the top trade chip on the market this summer.
Granted, Eugenio Suárez was a rental, which was always going to be a limiting factor on his value, but with a 143 OPS+ and 36 home runs on the year he moved the needle in a way arguably no one else on the market did, at least on the position player side of things.
The D-backs cashed in their biggest trade chip overnight leading up to deadline day, reuniting him with former teammate Josh Naylor in Seattle in exchange for a package of two mid-level pitching prospects and the aforementioned Locklear.
The 24-year-old is having a huge season at Triple-A, hitting .316/.401/.542 with 25 doubles, 19 home runs and 82 RBI in 98 games, but he also struggled mightily in his first taste of the majors last year, going 7-for-45 with 20 strikeouts in 16 games.
As a first-base-only prospect with limited value outside of what he does in the batter's box, Locklear will need to develop into a middle of the order run producer in Arizona to make this deal a win for the D-backs.
No. 1 Best: Rangers Assemble Legitimate "Big Three" with Merrill Kelly Trade
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Would you want him to start a playoff game?
That question was posed while questioning the Chicago Cubs decision to settle for Michael Soroka as the only addition to their starting rotation, but the answer is a resounding yes in the case of Merrill Kelly.
The 36-year-old was the best rental starter on the market this summer, posting a 3.22 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 121 strikeouts in 128.2 innings over 22 starts with the D-backs, and now he joins a Texas Rangers rotation with the talent to carry them to a deep playoff run.
No contender will want to run into this trio in the postseason:
Nathan Eovaldi: 18 GS, 9-3, 1.49 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 105 K, 103.0 IP
Jacob deGrom: 21 GS, 10-3, 2.55 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 130 K, 123.2 IP
Merrill Kelly: 22 GS, 9-6, 3.22 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 121 K, 128.2 IP
The final spot in the rotation can now go to a resurgent Patrick Corbin, a healthy Tyler Mahle, rookie Jack Leiter or a bullpen game with Jon Gray serving as a bulk option, as opposed to relying on one of those guys in a Game 3 situation.
Kelly had a 2.25 ERA in 24 innings over four starts during the D-backs run to the 2023 World Series, including seven innings of three-hit, one-run ball against the same Rangers team he will now be pitching for in Game 2 of the World Series.
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