MLB Trade Deadline 2021: Twitter Reacts to Trades, Fails, Surprises, Non-Deals

The Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals emptied their rosters before the 2021 Major League Baseball trade deadline arrived Friday afternoon.

The Cubs shipped off Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez and Craig Kimbrel. The Nationals traded away Trea Turner, Max Scherzer, Josh Harrison, Daniel Hudson, Jon Lester and Yan Gomes during one of the most exciting trade cycles ever.

By trading all of their star players with the exception of Washington's Juan Soto, the Nationals and Cubs closed their championship-winning windows.

Nationals principal owner Mark Lerner called Friday "heart-wrenching" when commenting on the deal that sent Scherzer and Turner to the Los Angeles Dodgers, per MLB.com's Jessica Camerato:

670 The Score's David Haugh outlined how stunning the Cubs' selling spree was, even though general manager Jed Hoyer hinted at the sell-off:

The last major deal to come across the wire was the San Francisco Giants' acquisition of Kris Bryant. As MLB Network's Jon Morosi noted, that was one of two deals made possible by connections within other organizations:

Bryant's deal to the National League West leader meant that 10 MLB All-Stars were dealt over the past week-and-a-half, starting with Nelson Cruz, per MLB's Sarah Langs:

Cruz was part of the Minnesota Twins' fire sale, which concluded Friday with Jose Berrios going to the Toronto Blue Jays and Hansel Robles sent to the Boston Red Sox.

Minnesota got arguably the best return of any seller at the deadline, receiving Austin Martin and Simeon Woods-Richardson in exchange for Berrios.

ESPN's Jeff Passan was one of many baseball analysts surprised at the quality of the haul sent back to the Twin Cities for the right-handed hurler.

As MLB Network's Jon Heyman noted, the Twins are set up for success with a plethora of young talent in place:

The Cubs also brought in some impressive young talent in the trades for Rizzo, Bryant, Baez and Kimbrel. Baseball America's Matt Eddy outlined the value the Cubs got in return for their departed superstars:

The one major player who was not moved Friday was Trevor Story, who will become a free agent at the end of the regular season.

MLB.com's Mark Feinsand outlined what is ahead for Story and the Rockies. Eno Sarris of The Athletic summed up a lot of our thoughts on Colorado potentially not getting anything for its star shortstop.

With the trade deadline in the rearview, the focus turns to the divisional races with improved rosters. San Francisco leads the Los Angeles Dodgers by three games and the San Diego Padres by 5.5 in the NL West. The New York Mets hold a 3.5-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies and a four-game lead on the Atlanta Braves in the NL East.

Over in the American League, the Boston Red Sox lead the Tampa Bay Rays by 1.5 games, and the New York Yankees reside 8.5 games adrift of first place. The Houston Astros hold a 5.5 game lead on the Oakland Athletics, who are 2.5 games ahead of the Seattle Mariners for the final AL wild-card spot.