In a busy MLB trade deadline, the number of deals overshadowed the quality of players

Before you ask for your GM’s head and complain about the players your favorite team hasn’t landed, consider the bigger picture first.

The three left-handed starters discussed in the trades – Tarik Skubal, Garrett Crochet and Blake Snell – did not move.

Hitters who might have shocked the market — Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Luis Robert Jr., even Brent Rooker — didn’t move either.

It wouldn’t be fair to call it a “Dudline,” not when there have been 60 trades in the last six days, including 32 on Tuesday before the 6:00 PM ET cutoff.

But think about it:

Who was the most traded starting pitcher? Jack Flaherty, who wasn’t as big a prize as David Price in 2014 and ’15, Zack Greinke in 2019 or Max Scherzer in 2021.

The best relievers traded? Tanner Scott and Carlos Estévez, who are both having great seasons, but are relative unknowns to many fans.

The best hitters traded? Take your pick between Jazz Chisholm Jr., Randy Arozarena and Isaac Paredes, none of whom will be confused with 2022 deadline prize Juan Soto.

Part of this is the luck of the draw. For whatever reason, the crop of available players this season just wasn’t that great. But some of it also has to do with the shift in trade dynamics that occurred when Major League Baseball implemented expanded playoffs in 2022. With twelve postseason spots available, there are more teams in contention. And fewer teams tend to be pure salespeople.

Mike Petriello of MLB.com put it well: say on X“I think we have to stop saying it’s a seller’s market because with the expanded playoffs there are now only a handful of teams that are really selling, and that’s going to be the case every year.”

Call it an unintended consequence of the league’s decision to invite more teams to Oktoberfest. Some might argue that the league should adapt by moving the deadline to mid-August. The extra two weeks would create more separation in the rankings and perhaps clearer boundaries between buyers and sellers. But such a move would reduce the drama. Takeovers would have less impact. And for a six-week loan, teams would be even less reluctant to give up better prospects.

For all its quirks, this deadline had no shortage of intrigue. The Tampa Bay Rays made 10 trades, most of them sales, and still think they could compete for a wild card. The Miami Marlins exploded their roster and also made 10 trades, starting with the Luis Arraez deal in early May. Their flurry resulted in 11 additions to their list of their top 30 prospects, according to MLB.com.

The Chicago Cubs’ trade for Isaac Paredes and the three-team deal between the Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago White Sox qualified as bangers, if not blockbusters. And San Diego Padres general manager AJ Preller was his usual crazy self, trading for twelve prospects from the Top 20 list The Athletics Keith Law was released in February, including nine of the top 11. (Shortstop Leodalis De Vries, 17, did not make Law’s list, having only signed in January; Law ranked him as the 39th best player in his latest Top 60).

But despite all the bodies flying around, many teams were left with more.

The Baltimore Orioles determined that none of the available players deserved the sacrifice of their top players, one of whom, second baseman Jackson Holliday, hit a grand slam on Wednesday in his first game back from Triple A.

Even two players below Baltimore’s top tier, infielder Connor Norby and outfielder Kyle Stowers, may have been too high a price for left-hander Trevor Rogers. And the Orioles’ biggest asset, right-hander Zach Eflin, has primarily been a starter in the league throughout his career.

The Cleveland Guardians and Milwaukee Brewers are virtual mirror images in the game’s respective Central divisions, first-place teams with new managers and frighteningly thin starting pitching. Both had reason to be aggressive. Neither quite was, and not just because of pay considerations.

With a limited supply of starters available, the Guardians took chances on two pitchers who were injured and have yet to appear in a Major League game this season, lefty Matthew Boyd and righty Alex Cobb. The two starters the Brewers added, righties Aaron Civale and Frankie Montas, each had ERAs above 5.00 at the time they were acquired.

The Pittsburgh Pirates also did Pirates things and made a series of modest upgrades: infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa, outfielder Bryan De La Cruz, lefty relievers Jalen Beeks and Josh Walker.

Ideally, they would have done more to take advantage of the emergence of newcomer Paul Skenes, who gives them an excellent chance to win every five days. Then again, the pool of available talent wasn’t exactly teeming with difference-makers.

Even certain high-turnover teams struggled to meet their needs.

The New York Yankees were left without a starting pitcher after failing to reach an agreement with the Tigers for Flaherty. The Boston Red Sox addressed their bullpen by adding Lucas Sims and Luis Garcia, but failed to acquire a right-handed middle infielder hitter and a starting pitcher besides James Paxton. The Dodgers settled for complementary offensive pieces (Tommy Edman, Amed Rosario, Kevin Kiermaier) instead of landing the impact hitter they wanted.

There it went. The Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros and Yankees were left out in their search for another hitter. The San Francisco Giants added only Mark Canha while subtracting Jorge Soler. Most contenders had their bullpen needs addressed, but it’s not like the 2016 versions of Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller were available. Some of the relievers, especially Estévez and Scott, should be good additions. But the New York Mets, who kept their top prospects while adding four relievers as well as righty Paul Blackburn and outfielder Jesse Winker, were among the clubs that essentially just put bodies in their bullpen.

This is not an excuse for the teams that have failed to do more. Preller, with his acquisitions of right-hander Dylan Cease in spring training, then Arráez in May and then relievers Jason Adam and Scott at the deadline, proved that big moves are possible if the head of baseball operations is bold enough.

Some teams obviously deserve scrutiny. The White Sox, for failing to get a bigger score while parting ways with three Major Leaguers (Erick Fedde, Michael Kopech and Tommy Pham) in their deal with the Cardinals and Dodgers. The Oakland A’s, who could have exploited the hot relief market by trading Mason Miller even after his pinkie injury. The Minnesota Twins, for acquiring only Trevor Richards, a mediocre type. The Los Angeles Angels and Colorado Rockies, both of which limited their activities primarily to trading relievers.

The Angels, under owner Arte Moreno, operate in their own island universe, with their long-term plan extending only to the next day’s lineup. The Rockies are just as bizarre and seem to pride themselves on being conscientious objectors to the deadline.

The actions of those teams are tired. But for most other clubs, the deadline offered limited opportunities in one way or another. Time will tell if the Astros overpaid for left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, if Preller did the same for relievers Scott, Adam and Bryan Hoenig, or if other teams, in their attempts to fix their bullpens, also went too far. But the high prices simply reflected supply and demand.

Just this once, cut your GM some slack. There was only so much quality.

(Top photo: Rich Story/Getty Images)