Even if few big-name players changed teams — Manny Machado qualifies, but not many others -- it was a highly active non-waiver trade deadline in baseball, with a total of 39 trades made in the week leading up to Tuesday's 4 p.m. cutoff.
Per usual, some teams were trading for the present -- obtaining "rentals,'' or players eligible for free agency this fall -- and others were busy unloading such players while intent on building for the future. And then there were a few deals that didn't necessarily fit into either category. Not surprisingly, the unorthodox Tampa Bay Rays seemed to, at times, be headed in different directions at once.
Let's take a look at the winners and losers and then, a deeper dive into the remade A.L. East landscape, post-deadline.
WINNERS
Los Angeles Dodgers: If for no other reason than they came away with the best player to change uniforms all season (Machado), the Dodgers walk away as winners. No single player traded will likely impact the rest of the regular season and postseason the way Machado will. But that wasn't all for the Dodgers, who beefed up their already-potent lineup further by getting Brian Dozier and also got bullpen help in the person of John Axford. Argue, if you will, that they should have gotten another starter (they were in on Chris Archer to the end), but they remade half their infield and have thrust themselves into the position of Team To Beat in the National Leagues. World Series or bust.
Atlanta Braves: General manager Alex Anthopoulos loves to be aggressive, and with his team a year ahead of schedule in its rebuild, it wasn't hugely shocking that Anthopoulos shifted into aggressive mode and began to wheel and deal. He landed Adam Duvall from Cincinnati to fill a void in left, relievers Brad Brach and Jonny Venters for the bullpen, and Kevin Gausman for the rotation. Duval gives them a strong defender and power in left, while Gausman is a serviceable arm in the rotation who may benefit from reuniting with former Orioles coaches Dave Wallace and Dom Chiti, now both with the Braves.
Baltimore Orioles: With the worst record in the game, the Orioles wisely backed up the truck and sold off everything that wasn't nailed down. That resulted in 15 prospects being acquired from the O's, who shipped out -- deep breath -- Machado, Brach, Gausman, Jonathan Schoop, Zach Britton and Darren O'Day. They had intended to trade Adam Jones, too, but the veteran outfielder used his 10-5 status to block any deal. Ultimately, this haul will depend on how good a job the O's did in scouting other organizations, and it may well be that they got more quantity than quality. But even if they get two or three future major leagues out of their haul, it will have been worth it for the rebuild to begin in earnest. And as an added bonus: Dan Duquette, who may or may not be a lame duck, got the Angelos family to enter the 21st century with a commitment to the international market, which the organization had inexplicably ignored.
LOSERS
New York Mets: First, by most industry evaluations, they failed to get as much as they should have for the veteran pieces they moved (especially closer Jeurys Familia). Next, they didn't move others (Jose Bautista) who might have gotten them some future help. And finally, they stubbornly held onto Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard at a time when a number of prospect-rich teams were desperate for rotation help. Even if the Mets want to delude themselves into thinking that they can bounce back from this star-crossed season and contend in 2019 with a viable rotation, what was their excuse for not moving someone like Zach Wheeler, whose value has never been higher -- and whose durability has never been established?
Seattle Mariners: Jerry Dipoto likes to trade the way other people like to breathe. He's made a record number of deals since becoming GM in Seattle, and he smartly jumped the line earlier this season when he landed bullpen help (Alex Colome) and outfield depth (Denard Span). But the Mariners, who have longest playoff drought in the game, needed starting pitching reinforcements and yet, Dipoto strangely didn't get any.
Washington Nationals: Maybe the Nats will justify Mike Rizzo's belief that they're not out of the race and will overtake one or both of the Phillies or Braves and finally find a way to get out of the first round. But Rizzo's seemed so indecisive in the days leading up to the deadline that it appeared they didn't know what to do. One minute, they were selling, the next they were staying pat. Pick a lane, please.
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- The Red Sox, as was the case last year, didn't necessarily do anything dramatic, but rather, a series of smaller moves designed to improve the team's depth. Starter Nathan Eovaldi has been brilliant in two outings to date and gives the Red Sox multiple options in October. Either way, one more power righty arm has to help. Ian Kinsler played only 19 innings before suffering a strained hamstring, but if the first two games were any indication, he has the ability to significantly upgrade them defensively and add a strong bat to the bottom half of the lineup. You have to count Steve Pearce, too, who was obtained a month before the deadline and has been terrific (9-for-18) against left-handed pitching -- precisely the role for which he was obtained.
- The Yankees, too, skipped the blockbusters and instead mostly concentrated on improving their pitching depth, getting starters Lance Lynn and J.A. Happ, while also landing Britton. They resisted the temptation to acquire a bat to fill in for the injured Aaron Judge, reasoning that Judge's absence is relatively short-term. Actually, while beefing up rotation depth, the Yankees were also focused on the future: most of the prospects they dealt for Britton, Lynn and Happ would have had to be added to the 40-man roster this winter or else lost in the Rule V draft, so they got, in effect something for nothing. And they wisely continued to stockpile international pool money, allowing for improvement of what is already a very deep development system.
- The Blue Jays didn't have the big sell-off some expected. Yes, they moved Happ, along with a couple of bullpen arms (Aaron Loup to Philadelphia; Axford to the Dodgers, and controversial closer Roberto Osuna to Houston). But they held on to injured third baseman Josh Donaldson -- headed for free agency -- and sort of stayed stuck in neutral.
- The Rays were, without question, the most intriguing team in the division. They were involved in a flurry of deals (Eovaldi to the Sox, Matt Andriese to Arizona, catcher Wilson Ramos to the Phillies), but they also obtained some major league-ready pieces, acquiring Tommy Pham from St. Louis, whom they control for several seasons at affordable money. The biggest move they made, of course, was one they had been rumored to make for years: dealing Chris Archer. They moved him to Pittsburgh for two highly-regarded prospects (pitcher Tyler Glasnow and outfielder Austin Meadows). Are they rebuilding? Are they trying to win next year? Who knows? But the Rays are seldom conventional -- or dull.
- Orioles: see above.
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