MLB Trade Deadline 2024: Grading all 30 teams’ moves

The 2024 MLB Trade Deadline has come and gone. There will be waiver claims, minor signings, injury returns, and other internal promotions from this point onward, but in general, each team’s roster now features the primary players who will hope to lead them to championship glory. Well, okay, maybe not in Miami, Oakland, Denver, or (gulp) the South Side of Chicago, but everyone else can at least faintly dream — even some of the sellers within 10 games of a playoff spot.

So get your red pens out. Each team will get a grade for how they fared during this trade season. I will not be taking phone calls from angry parents. These grades are final and absolutely none of them will make me look foolish in a couple months (until they do).

AL East

Baltimore Orioles: B+
Most Important Move: Acquired RHP Zach Eflin from Rays for three prospects

The O’s probably had the most curious move of deadline day itself when they acquired the disappointing and oft-injured Eloy Jiménez from the White Sox in a salary dump. But since the current AL East leaders are already so stacked with hitters that they have extra in Triple-A (including the now-recalled Jackson Holliday), the smartest addition was adding the former division rival Eflin. The starting rotation was crying out for more support beyond ace Corbin Burnes, and Eflin is rock-solid. Getting the more uncertain Trevor Rogers cost both Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers, and fans were probably hoping for better relief help than more members of the 2023 Phillies bullpen. Mike Elias utilized some of his deep, deep prospect depth. He could have used more.

Boston Red Sox: C+
Most Important Move: Acquired C Danny Jansen from Blue Jays for three prospects

Boston sits just on the outside looking in at the AL Wild Card race, and they have a weird roster. Craig Breslow improved the team a bit, though perhaps not enough to make this into a true championship contender — barring a run from the Wild Card Series to the Fall Classic, à la 2022 Phillies and 2023 Diamondbacks. Jansen will help share the load with Connor Wong behind the plate (he can team with Kenley Jansen to form a Jansen/Jansen closer/catcher battery, too!), and James Paxton, Lucas Sims, and Luis García add necessary pitching depth. Maybe Quinn Priester will be a difference-maker down the road, too, once Andrew Bailey can mold him more. But for all the moving parts, didn’t the result feel a little light?

New York Yankees: B
Most Important Move: Acquired IF/OF Jazz Chisholm Jr. from Marlins for three prospects

If the season ended today, then the Yankees would get an A+ because boy howdy has Jazz Chisholm hit the ground running with the Bombers. He’s quickly adapted to a brand-new position at the hot corner and recorded back-to-back two-homer games despite just three multi-homer games in his entire career before Saturday. There’s a long time to go though, and both the lineup and the sport’s worst starting rotation since mid-June could have used more reinforcements — especially since there are no guarantees about keeping Juan Soto beyond 2024.

Tampa Bay Rays: B+
Most Important Move: Acquired RHP Brody Hopkins, OF Aidan Smith, and a player to be named later from Mariners for LF Randy Arozarena

There is an outside chance that the Rays make the playoffs anyway, but their front office let the world know what they think of the team’s championship chances by dealing away Arozarena, the heart and soul. That’s to say nothing of the aforementioned Eflin, lone All-Star Isaac Paredes, and setup man Jason Adam. However, the Rays have made an cottage industry out of this churn, and they made the call to move on from this part of the core that they didn’t think would win a World Series in 2024, acquiring prospects like Hopkins, Smith, Dylan Lesko, JD Gonzalez, and more. The cold, hard calculus is likely correct; it’s still tough for fans to swallow. At least good players remain in the mix, and it sounds like the new stadium is happening.

Toronto Blue Jays: A
Most Important Move: Acquired RHP Jake Bloss, OF Joey Loperfido, and 2B Will Wagner from Astros for RHP Yusei Kikuchi

There’s no getting around the fact that it absolutely stinks to see a roster as talented on paper as the Jays were back in March have to sell. Alas, they were the clear worst team in the AL East. Although they had to at least unload the impending free agents, they hung on to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and others with an eye toward a 2025 rebound. More importantly for the Toronto front office, they killed it with their rental deals for Kikuchi, Danny Jansen, Yimi García, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Justin Turner, getting an even better combined barrel of prospects than the Rays did. The Kikuchi move in particular was a helluva haul.

AL Central

Chicago White Sox: D+
Most Important Move: Acquired LF Miguel Vargas, 2B Jeral Perez, and 3B Alexander Albertus in three-team trade with Dodgers and Cardinals for RHP Erick Fedde, OF Tommy Pham, and RHP Michael Kopech

It’s an awful time to be a White Sox fan. They’re the worst team in baseball by a mile, they’ve broken their franchise record for longest losing streak twice this year alone (their current 16-gamer is the new low), and even after all that, they won’t even pick higher than 10th in next year’s draft. So it’s just another poke in the eye that their sales at the Trade Deadline were uninspiring. Congrats to 88-year-old owner Jerry Reinsdorf on dumping the Eloy contract though, I’m sure that he really, really needed the money and will totally reinvest it.

Cleveland Guardians: B-
Most Important Move: Acquired RF Lane Thomas from Nationals for three prospects

Why hear from me when you can hear from future Cleveland Hall of Famer José Ramírez on the Thomas trade?

Never change, José. The reaction was both accepting and nonplussed. Cleveland also got currently-rehabbing righty Alex Cobb from the Giants to add rotation depth. That was it for the AL Central frontrunners. Hurrah. It wasn’t so much a blockbuster as much as it was a mediocre movie that ran for a little while and then got forgotten. Yes Man? Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close? Something like those.

Detroit Tigers: B
Most Important Move: Acquired C Thayron Liranzo and SS Trey Sweeney from Dodgers for RHP Jack Flaherty

There’s a case that Flaherty was the best pitcher on the market at the Trade Deadline, and the fourth-place Tigers did indeed flip him as well as Mark Canha, Andrew Chafin, and Carson Kelly. Liranzo was a nice pickup in particular since he was the Dodgers’ third-best prospect per Baseball America and could be a terrific power-hitting catcher. Aside from him, however, the prospects who joined the organization weren’t knocking anyone’s socks off. It was admittedly not a great crop of dudes to sell since they understandably didn’t want to part with AL Cy Young contender Tarik Skubal, who will be around through 2026. I was going to give Detroit a B-, but since it sounds like Flaherty’s medicals affected the talks, we’ll give Scott Harris’ group a full B.

Kansas City Royals: B
Most Important Move: Acquired RHP Lucas Erceg from A’s for three prospects

The Royals’ front office completed a quartet of trades this month in a bid to return to the postseason for the first time since their championship run in 2015. The No. 1 priority was quality relief pitching since Bobby Witt Jr. tragically can’t polish off ballgames himself. The Royals’ bullpen doesn’t strike anyone out and relatedly is one of MLB’s worst. So while Mason Miller was ultimately unavailable from Oakland, they did pry away the next-best thing in Erceg, who has been terrific for the A’s and is under team control for the remainder of the decade. Although they also added Michael Lorenzen to the rotation, I wish they could’ve done something to boost the offense around Witt and Salvador Perez.

Minnesota Twins: F
Most Important Move: Acquired SS Jay Harry from Blue Jays for RHP Trevor Richards

“Most Important” is doing unnecessary work here because this was literally the only trade that Minnesota made in July that featured an MLB player. It was also mostly pointless. If the season ended today, the Twins would be in the playoffs, and the organization rewarded the effort thus far with no outside help. Boo!

AL West

Houston Astros: D+
Most Important Move: Acquired RHP Yusei Kikuchi from Blue Jays for three prospects

I’m honestly being generous with my grade here because it probably should be lower; I just think that Kikuchi’s a smidge underrated. As noted in the Jays’ section though, Houston gave up three terrific young prospects to get him as a rental. In their defense, this is 100% a win-now team, and the Astros have done quite a bit of winning. Nonetheless, was a half-season of Kikuchi the best play for trading Bloss, Loperfido, and Wagner? I don’t know about that at all. Their front office chain of command is bizarre these days.

Los Angeles Angels: C+
Most Important Move: Acquired RHP George Klassen and LHP Samuel Aldegheri from Phillies for RHP Carlos Estévez

Had it not been for the Astros going buck wild for Kikuchi, the stealth steal of the deadline would arguably be the Halos getting Klassen and Aldegeheri from the Phillies in exchange for a couple months of a closer who was not returning to Anaheim. Don’t be fooled by preseason prospect rankings; both arms have been big risers in 2024, with BA placing them fifth and seventh in the Phils’ system during their midseason update. So why do the Angels still get a C+? Luis Rengifo is still on this team. So are Tyler Anderson and Taylor Ward. Sorry to Arte Moreno (not really), but it is extremely difficult to imagine the Angels suddenly getting good enough to nab a playoff spot down the stretch, or even in 2025. It was time to cash in; instead, they remain stuck in limbo.

Oakland Athletics: C-
Most Important Move: Acquired RHP Mason Barnett, RHP Will Klein, and RF Jared Dickey from Royals for RHP Lucas Erceg

Barnett is a very nice prospect with a wide repertoire, and it would not be out of the realm of possibility to see the 2022 Auburn product in the A’s rotation by season’s end. Klein should be a steady big-league reliever, too. But like the Halos, the A’s had other pieces to deal, and aside from Erceg, the only other trade was Paul Blackburn-for-Kade Morris. Whatever. Brent Rooker is simultaneously a terrific guy in the clubhouse and should no longer be with the A’s. Is the 29-year-old really going to be on the next good A’s team, whenever (and wherever) that might be? Doubtful.

Seattle Mariners: B+
Most Important Move: Acquired LF Randy Arozarena from Rays for RHP Brody Hopkins, OF Aidan Smith, and a player to be named later

The M’s are fighting for their lives to stave off the resurgent Astros at the top of the AL West, so you knew that Trader Jerry Dipoto would be doing anything he could to boost his team. In came the sparkplug Randy. In came Justin Turner and Yimi García from Toronto. In came JT Chargois from Miami. Dipoto didn’t have a very full cupboard to work with, but this is a nice quartet to add.

Texas Rangers: B-
Most Important Move: Acquired C Carson Kelly from Tigers for C Liam Hicks and RHP Tyler Owens

The defending World Series champions are in a strange spot. They’re four games under .500 and not close in the Wild Card race, but the Mariners/Astros rock fight atop the AL West is a mere 4.5-game swing away. It would not be the most remarkable comeback in the history of the sport to see Texas make that up. It feels unlikely that they’ll win it all again, however. So Chris Young and company toed the line, dealing rental starter Michael Lorenzen to KC while adding the catcher Kelly and lefty reliever Andrew Chafin. If everything breaks right and Texas returns to relevance, it will be behind long-injured starters returning from the IL like Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle. Lorenzen won’t be the deciding factor here.

NL East

Atlanta Braves: B-
Most Important Move: Acquired DH/RF Jorge Soler and RHP Luke Jackson from Giants for LHP Tyler Matzek and 3B Sabin Ceballos

Just as in 2021, the Braves have had holes open up due to injuries and other maladies. Just as in 2021, they’ve added Soler and Eddie Rosario to help patch the holes. Will they both win playoff MVP honors again en route to another parade? Eh, no. Rosario is past his prime (and was actually a midseason scrap-heap signing), and Soler’s fit on the roster is odd with Marcell Ozuna entrenched at DH. Soler has not played an inning on defense this year. He will now. The Braves just didn’t have many trade chips, so they picked up the bulk of the three-year contract that Soler just signed with the Giants in February. Also, in another 2021 callback, they brought back solid playoff reliever Jackson, though they bid adieu to his injured bullpenmate, Matzek. It would have been nice to get another starting pitcher given Spencer Strider’s season-ending injury and Max Fried’s current absence.

Miami Marlins: A
Most Important Move: Acquired RHP Adam Mazur, 2B Jay Beshears, LHP Robby Snelling and 3B Graham Pauley from Padres for LHP Tanner Scott and RHP Bryan Hoeing

The Fish began their Trade Deadline back in early May, when they got a jump on things by trading batting champion Luis Arraez for prospect chips after he had been brought in by the previous regime. President of baseball operations Peter Bendix was gung-ho on the rebuild, and the Marlins were happy to deal pretty much anyone. Is it annoying that owner Bruce Sherman chose not to support his team and all but kicked Kim Ng to the curb after they made the playoffs in 2023? Yes, but there’s nothing that can be done about it now. It will be a long while before Bendix can get the Marlins back to the postseason. Prospects like Connor Norby, Agustin Ramirez, Deyvison De Los Santos, and that true haul from San Diego for Scott and Hoeing might make that possible sooner rather than later.

New York Mets: B+
Most Important Move: Acquired LF Jesse Winker for RHP Tyler Stuart

The “Most Important” title is nebulous here since the Mets primarily made several polishing moves on bullpen and deep rotation depth pieces to try to give their semi-surprising contender a shot. Not so long ago, folks wondered if Pete Alonso might be flipped at the deadline, but Grimace (and yes, hitters like Francisco Lindor, J.D. Martinez, and Francisco Alvarez) has personally made them a Wild Card competitor. So the Mets improved parts of their roster without going all-in for a club that isn’t winning the division. Good enough.

Philadelphia Phillies: B
Most Important Move: Acquired RHP Carlos Estévez from Angels for RHP George Klassen and LHP Samuel Aldegheri

Dave Dombrowski is going to have a plaque in Cooperstown one day for winning pennants with four different ballclubs, and he did not build his résumé by sitting back and twiddling his thumbs at deadlines. The Phils have him around to go for it and deal prospects, as he did in a trade that I already described as good for the Angels. But Philly needed bullpen help, so some major leaguers were subtracted (Seranthony Domínguez, Gregory Soto) to make room for Estévez and White Sox lefty Tanner Banks. 2023 All-Star Austin Hays also quietly joined Philly in a trade. Dave did his business; now it’s up to the NL East frontrunners themselves to do theirs.

Washington Nationals: A-
Most Important Move: Acquired LHP Alex Clemmey, SS Rafael Ramirez Jr. and SS José Tena from Guardians for RF Lane Thomas

Back on July 14th, Nats president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo flipped reliever/2022 waiver claim Hunter Harvey to Kansas City just before the MLB draft to pick up the 39th overall pick (a compensation round selection, one of the few that can be dealt) and intriguing third base prospect Cayden Wallace. Rizzo followed that by getting a terrific trio from Cleveland for Lane Thomas, originally acquired in July 2021 as the return for Jon Lester, who you almost certainly forgot ever wore the Curly W. Say what you will about other parts of Rizzo’s management of the Nats, but the man knows his trades.

NL Central

Chicago Cubs: C+
Most Important Move: Acquired 3B Isaac Paredes from Rays for 3B Christopher Morel and two prospects

The Cubbies are an odd vibe. It’d be a stunner to see them in the 2024 playoffs, so why did they add Paredes from the Rays and decline to sell on anyone outside of the bullpen? Jed Hoyer, Craig Counsell, and company are looking at it as a long-term play, since the erstwhile Rays All-Star could be with the team all the way through 2027. They’ve already committed a record $40 million to Counsell so that he can skipper them for several years as well, so even if they’ve soured on 2024, they want to take another shot in ‘25 and beyond, especially with the contributors who are producing and under contract beyond ‘24. Paredes should help there, albeit with perhaps less power than he had while pull-happy at the Trop.

Cincinnati Reds: C+
Milwaukee Brewers: C-
Most Important Move(s): Reds acquired OF Joey Wiemer and RHP Jakob Junis from Brewers for RHP Frankie Montas

Since these two teams’ only real impact moves involved with each other and are conveniently back-to-back here, we’ll take them on together. As much as I believe in the Brewers’ pitching apparatus, I was not a fan of this trade for Milwaukee since Montas has struggled to a 5.62 ERA and 5.12 FIP in 81.2 innings after a good couple starts to open the season. Just getting Montas and reliever Nick Mears was not enough for the Brew Crew, who should be capitalizing on an exciting-yet-somewhat-unexpected run to first place. As for the Reds? They signed Montas to a one-year deal with the hope of riding him to contention, and they could trade him if it didn’t happen. That’s what came to pass and they’re taking a flyer on the still-25, former Top 100 prospect Wiemer. Like the Cubs, they didn’t want to punt on 2025 yet either, so long-rumored chip Jonathan India will stick around.

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Pittsburgh Pirates: C
Most Important Move: Acquired Isiah Kiner-Falefa and from Blue Jays for 2B Charles McAdoo

Yes, believe it! IKF was a difference-making bat at the Trade Deadline! He’s hit .292/.338/.420 with a 115 OPS+ in 82 games for Toronto. Additionally, the Bucs made moves to bring in guys like Bryan De La Cruz, Martín Pérez, Jalen Beeks, and a near-MLB ready Nick Yorke. If that all just feels like a “treading water” deadline, then… yeah, that’s fair. The Pirates are somehow two back of a playoff spot, employ the biggest phenom in the sport, and yet still feel like a 78-win-season simulation when Paul Skenes isn’t pitching. They get bare minimum points for not selling since they do have Skenes and an outside shot at October.

St. Louis Cardinals: B-
Most Important Move: Acquired RHP Erick Fedde and OF Tommy Pham in three-team trade with Dodgers and White Sox for IF/OF Tommy Edman and RHP Oliver Gonzalez

Yes, the NL Central was chock full of middling plays and the Cardinals are honestly emblematic of the league as a whole not getting too daring with moves. Is that strange to say about a club that pulled off of an unusual three-team, eight-player deal? A little, but the Cards are absolutely in “in-between” mode, with enough there to fight for the NL Central and perhaps not much else. Fedde’s a good rotation arm to bring aboard, however, and maybe Pham is already bringing the Devil Magic back to the Midwest.

NL West

Arizona Diamondbacks: D+
Most Important Move: Acquired LHP A.J. Puk from Marlins for 3B Deyvison De Los Santos and SS Andrew Pintar

The D-backs might as well be in the NL Central because they couldn’t decide how exactly they wanted to do this Trade Deadline either. Although Puk had done better since Miami put him back in the bullpen, I’m still not super high on him, and a lefty reliever being the big swing for the defending NL champions is light. Fellow relief arm Dylan Floro is better, albeit only around for the final couple months. Josh Bell is also here from Miami since Christian Walker hurt his oblique at the least opportune time.

Colorado Rockies: F
Most Important Move: Acquired RHP Bradley Blalock and RHP Yujanyer Herrera from Brewers for RHP Nick Mears

With all due respect to the professional endeavors of these gentlemen, I can assure you that this is an utterly unremarkable trade. The Rockies have been atrocious and getting worse almost every year since 2019. They’re not going to magically improve, and yet the organization is either asleep at the wheel or completely apathetic. None of these four elusive Rockies of intrigue mentioned below by MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand were dealt.

To paraphrase Patrick Star, the inner machinations of the Rockies’ collective mind are an enigma.

Los Angeles Dodgers: A-
Most Important Move: Acquired RHP Jack Flaherty from Tigers for C Thayron Liranzo and SS Trey Sweeney

LA is getting more of a fight than they expected back in spring training. They’re still easy favorites to win the NL West, but they recognized that this group would need help down the stretch and in October. It doesn’t really matter that they’re taking on an injury risk in Flaherty; they have the flexibility to roll the dice on him, and he was the top starter to actually move. Add in a good strikeout arm in reliever Michael Kopech and bench depth in both Amed Rosario (again) and the soon-to-retire Kevin Kiemaier, and that’s a nice little deadline for a team that cannot honestly ever be described as little these days.

San Diego Padres: C
Most Important Move: Acquired LHP Tanner Scott and RHP Bryan Hoeing from Marlins for four prospects

Like Dombrowski and Dipoto, the Padres’ A.J. Preller was wheeling and dealing at the Trade Deadline as though his job depended on it. (It might.) All those notable prospects turning into three relievers feels underwhelming. This is not a slam on Scott, Hoeing, or Jason Adam. They could be valued playoff bullpen contributors, teaming up with Robert Suárez to shut down ballgames. It just all feels like a “Lucy holding the football” situation with Preller. Is this entirely fair? No, but the Padres themselves haven’t offered too many reasons for the benefit of the doubt during Preller’s tenure outside of 2022 — when their deadline was much splashier.

San Francisco Giants: D
Most Important Move: Acquired LHP Tyler Matzek and 3B Sabin Ceballos from Braves for DH/RF Jorge Soler and RHP Luke Jackson

It wasn’t so much about the players coming back to the Giants as it was about exiting the Soler contract since they had some buyer’s remorse despite his 116 OPS+ bat. They also wanted to clear room for Marco Luciano. They might regret also not trading Blake Snell and Matt Chapman, who could both opt out. While they’re not in great Wild Card shape, they’re seemingly just holding on. How many years of leeway did the stunning 2021 buy Farhan Zaidi as the Giants’ president of baseball operations? If they miss the playoffs again, we might begin to see him sweat.

Oh, and Mark Canha is now here because… Bob Melvin still likes him a lot? That sounds right. Or maybe Patrick Dubuque of Baseball Prospectus is onto something here.