MLB Trade Deadline Winners and Losers

The MLB non-waiver trade deadline is the last opportunity for teams to make a change to their roster, and on Monday general managers across the league made a series of deals. Some teams looked to bolster their roster for a run at the postseason, while others acquired prospects in order to improve their farm systems. Check the winners and losers are for this season’s MLB non-waiver trade deadline.

Winners

Texas Rangers

The Rangers acquired two All-Stars — Carlos Beltran and Jonathan Lucroy — to improve an already dangerous lineup. Texas also added closer Jeremy Jeffress to improve a bullpen ranked 28th in ERA this season. Beltran, a nine-time All-Star, made it back to the Midsummer Classic this year, showing that at 39 he hasn’t slowed down yet. The Rangers were in need of an upgrade at catcher, and Lucroy is one of the best in the game. He’s batting .299 with 50 RBIs this year. What truly makes Texas a winner is the fact that it didn’t have to trade JuricksonProfar, Joey Gallo, or NomarMazara, three players who will be stars for the Rangers in the future.

New York Yankees

For the first time in recent memory, the Bronx Bombers were sellers at the deadline. New York looked to get younger and restock its depleted farm system, and that’s exactly what the team accomplished. The Yankees now have seven of the top 100 prospects in baseball, according to the MLB.com prospect rankings. Now that the Yankees have waved the white flag on this season, they can now focus on developing that young talent.

San Diego Padres

After two years of disastrous win-now acquisitions, GM A.J. Preller switched gears to focus on rebuilding. San Diego was able to clear massive amounts of salary, especially by sending the Braves Matt Kemp, who was owed $160 million. Newly acquired prospects Josh Naylor, Anderson Espinoza, and Manny Margot are all young building blocks that could one day make the Padres one of the top teams in the MLB.

Cleveland Indians

The Indians have had one of their best seasons so far, thanks to a dangerous lineup and a strong starting rotation. The one thing that the Indians were missing was a reliable pitcher in the bullpen. So they got one of the best on the market, Andrew Miller, from the Yankees. Miller has a 1.39 ERA and 77 strikeouts. Cleveland also acquired outfielder Brandon Guyer from the Tampa Bay Rays. He’ll provide some much needed depth for the Indians.

Losers

Yasiel Puig

When Yasiel Puig entered the league in 2013, he was an instant superstar with the potential to be one of the best outfielders in the league for a long time. Fast forward to 2016, and things have gone downhill quickly. After being left off the team’s recent flight to Colorado, Puig was demoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Had he been traded, he likely would still be in the majors. To make matters worse for Puig, the team acquired Josh Reddick, which will make it difficult for him to regain the starting job.

Detroit Tigers

The Tigers are within striking distance of the Indians in the AL Central, so their inability to make a deal is puzzling. The Tigers needed to upgrade their rotation with both Jordan Zimmerman and Daniel Norris on the 15-day DL. Detroit could also have used an upgrade at catcher.

Houston Astros

The Astros were already six games back of the Texas Rangers in the AL West, and they just sat and watched their in-state rival significantly improve its roster. Houston needed to upgrade its rotation, but the team couldn’t get any deals done. The Astros haven’t gotten consistent production from their ace, Dallas Keuchel, and they needed to acquire pitchers to help improve the back-end of their staff.

Miami Marlins

The Marlins thought they had already addressed their need for starting pitching when they acquired Andrew Cashner and Colin Rea from the San Diego Padres last Friday. Then Rea made his Marlins debut on Saturday and, after pitching just 3.1 innings, was pulled because of an elbow injury. On Monday, the Marlins traded Rea back to the Padres, because apparently Miami wasn't told of a potential elbow issue. They did get prospect Luis Castillo back, but they couldn’t acquire another pitcher, which puts the team in a bit of a bind for the rest of the season.

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