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Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo record the latest episode of The Mets Pod live after the MLB Trade Deadline, with full reaction to all the moves made by the Mets leading up to it. 

Connor and Joe break down the deals, and do a full analysis of the prospect return for the Mets in exchange for Clay Holmes, Freddy Peralta, Huascar Brazoban, Luke Weaver, Brooks Raley, A.J. Minter and more. 

The guys also react to comments earlier in the evening from Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, and do an early preview of Joe's all-new Top 30 Mets Prospects List, which looks a lot different with many new names in the mix. 

Be sure to subscribe to The Mets Pod at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

All streaks must eventually come to an end.     Blue Jays 3    Astros 1    For Houston, their 6-game run might be history, but a new chapter has officially begun.     A few hours prior to Monday’s trade deadline, Houston would acquire Daulton Varsho in an effort to shore up their outfield production.    Varsho would seize the moment, paying immediate dividends in the first inning.   In some ways, it was only fitting that Nathan Lukes would start the night flying out to Daulton, and then in his Astros debut at the plate, he’d reach on a single to right field.   

In the top of the second, Alejandro Kirk started the scoring with a solo shot to left field.    That made the score 1-0.    In the fourth, Toronto would increase their lead after a pair of hits from Kazuma Okamoto and George Springer, combined with an error from Taylor Trammell.     That combination of events made things 3-0.   

Houston would have their chances early but failed to capitalize.    In their first and second innings they’d have multiple runners on base, but Christian Walker and Jeremy Pena each struck out swinging, stranding a pair of runners.    

Cristian Javier would provide a quality start.   Javier would go 6 innings and allow just 3 runs while scattering 7 hits.     In the 7th inning, Tatsuya Imai would make his debut out of the bullpen and pitch three scoreless innings, at one point, striking out five in a row for an impressive relief outing. 

In the bottom of the 6th, Houston would load the bases.    They’d score their first and only run on Jeremy Pena’s RBI single which brought in Yanier Diaz.    In the frame, Yordan Alvarez would be intentionally walked for the 23rd time this season.    The Astros all-time record is 27 free passes, which Jeff Bagwell registered back in 1997.     

Tyler Rogers would come on for Toronto to close things out.    

Odds & Ends:

Daulton Varsho is now wearing #18.     He joins some of the great names in team history; Joe Morgan, Art Howe & Moises Alou to name a few.      

Jeremy Pena now has a 15-game hitting streak.

Hayden Wesneski will make his second start since returning from Tommy John’s surgery on Tuesday.    First pitch is once again scheduled for 7:10pm CDT.    

So, watch any good movies lately? I hear The Odyssey is pretty good.

It’s the original hero’s journey, you know? The template on which the most compelling stories humans tell each other are based. We search for that narrative everywhere we go, in every part of our lives. We seek it out in sports, an outlet which allows these tales of great challenges followed by heroic deeds to pour out before our eyes, unmediated by the artifice of the stage or the page.

The Yankees looked as if they had completed the hero’s journey on Monday night in the Bronx. Tumbling to a 6-0 deficit after a clunker of a start from ace Cam Schlittler, the heretofore moribund Yankee offense appeared to rewrite their fate with an inspiring seven-run rally, capped off by a home run in the seventh from new arrival Luis García Jr. A sellout crowd which thought they had bought a ticket to a boring, tepid contest rose to their feet in delirium.

The bullpen did not get a single out in the eighth before all the offense’s accomplishments were but a pile of ash in the dumpster behind the nearby sandwich shop. Home run after home run left the Cardinals’ bats against Angel Chivilli in a seven-run eighth which sealed an ignominious and deeply unsatisfying fate for the Yankees: a 13-7 final score which wound up assuming the shape it had always promised to take, a laugher.

First, the initial deficit. Schlittler had nothing working on the mound tonight, allowing Cardinals to cross the plate in every inning of a meager three-frame performance. He walked five batters, struggled with his mechanics, and forced a heavily-taxed bullpen to try to summon 21 outs. First baseman Alec Burleson provided the first big blow with a first inning home run, the opening volley of what would wind up being a hat trick for him on the night.

In the second, Nathan Church scored on an RBI double from third baseman José Fermín. Close to a scoreless third, Schlittler let another run slip through his fingers as Church picked up a ribbie of his own. He departed having thrown 82 pitches, precious few of which looked dangerous to a Cardinal lineup which entered this series struggling mightily. And with the Yankee offense continuing to scuffle themselves, the 4-0 lead he left with felt nigh-insurmountable.

Well, try 6-0. After Schlittler handed his shovel to the bullpen, Tim Hill wasted little time helping him dig. Burleson’s second two-run homer of the night woke up a sleepy Yankee crowd, if only for long enough to see an absolute clothesline disappear over the right-field wall before they returned to commiserating with their fellow frustrated partisans.

The Yankee offense hasn’t looked particularly intimidating against anyone lately, and for the first four innings they had absolutely nothing cooking against Michael McGreevy. But in the fifth, they knocked the Cardinal starter out of the game thanks to a loud sound from a man with a lot to prove in the second half.

Before the game, GM Brian Cashman was stunningly unable to acquire a catcher ahead of the trade deadline. While the Red Sox acquired Adley Rutschman from the Orioles and the Rays added Liam Hicks from the Marlins, New York failed to make an upgrade behind the plate—meaning it’s up to Austin Wells to try and turn around his abysmal 2026. For what it’s worth, he took the first step on that odyssey of his own with an impressive two-run blast off McGreevy, waking up the crowd for real this time.

The first page of tonight’s heroic journey had been written, and the remainder of the script began to take shape when the next batter, Trent Grisham, greeted reliever Justin Bruihl with a left-on-left home run which whittled the deficit to 6-3. The second of those Burleson homers really loomed large, allowing St. Louis to withstand those two homers with half their lead intact—but at least the Yankees showed some vital signs halfway through the ballgame.

They’d have to scale some continued adveristy to remain in the fight.

Jasson Domínguez’ desire to galvanize the running game and use his speed as a weapon is admirable. He is unfortunately incapable of overcoming the fact that he is Jasson Domínguez. Roughly a week after turning a triple into an out in a scoreless game by comically oversliding third base, he attempted a steal of second in the bottom of the sixth. At first glance he appeared safe, but after the Cardinals challenged it became clear that Domínguez had once again come off the base long enough for Masyn Winn’s tag to stick.

But when your teammates make mistakes, you have to pick them up so they don’t linger. Ryan McMahon and José Caballero understood the assignment leading off the seventh, cracking the second pair of back-to-back homers on the night off longtime foe Ryne Stanek. McMahon’s blast challenged and cleared the right-center wall, while Caballero’s was gone on contact, soaring 400 feet out to left-center and staking the Bombers back to within one.

Grisham kept the belief thrumming with a one-out double, chasing Stanek and forcing a move for George Soriano. Ben Rice got underneath a ball, compelling the newcomer Garcia Jr. to keep the rally moving. I mean, it’s perfect, right? The new guy. The missing piece!

Luis fell behind in the count, then after he fouled off a couple tough pitches, Soriano tried firing a changeup away to retire the side. He yanked it to the inner half of the strike zone, and Garcia was ready to provide the punishment, slashing it on a line to the back of the Yankee bullpen. The 6-0 deficit was gone, and in its place stood an improbable 7-6 lead for New York.

What a climactic, exciting comeback! The heroic journey made manifest in front of a giant crowd of rapt spectators! Ready to see the Yankees toss it in the trash before recording a single out? No? Too bad! Here we go!

Aaron Boone’s first act of hubris came when he tried to steal an extra out with Ryan Yarbrough after a scoreless seventh, and pinch-hitter Blaze Jordan smacked a leadoff triple to punish him. His second act of hubris came when he inserted Angel Chivilli, who had not allowed an earned run since his callup from the minors. Chivilli proceeded to incinerate all his goodwill in one inning. He walked the first man he saw, then served up a batting practice pitch to Church, whose three-run homer decisively destroyed the Yankee lead in a matter of minutes.

In going all out to prevent the tying run from scoring, Chivilli had allowed everything the Yankees had built to that point to scatter into ashes.

Don’t think for a second that we’re done.

Chivilli allowed another single before facing catcher Jimmy Crooks. Crooks entered action with an OPS of .562. He nonetheless took Chivilli to the second deck in right field for another two runs and an 11-7 score.

But I just don’t think that was definitive enough. Can we get a cameo appearance from one of the guys we saw earlier in this story? Well, how about Burleson? He’s already got two two-run homers, so what’s the harm in giving him another?

It really is incredible. In the space of one inning, the Yankees’ methodically-built comeback was torched so thoroughly that by the end of the blaze, it was if their tower never stood. A six-run deficit became a one-run lead, then immediately rubber-banded back to a six-run deficit. Comically, YES had planned to show footage of Ryan Ruocco excitedly calling Garcia’s homer from inside the broadcast booth. By the time they finally got the chance, the Yankees had already completely blown the game away. Sorry, Ryan.

Needless to say, there was no more drama left to squeeze out of this tragicomedy. The Yankees went down quietly in the eighth and ninth. As SB Nation luminary Jon Bois once said, slap some postage on it and ship it to hell.

When your best players have bad days, it’s up to the rest of your team to pick them up so the bad days don’t loom and build into bad weeks, or months. The Yankees appeared to have done that, picking up Schlittler after one of his worst performances as a Big Leaguer by finding their collective power strokes, and flashing the ability to quickly put up runs which had been so prominently absent since Aaron Judge’s rib injury sent him to the IL.

I can’t pretend to know what a capitulation this instantaneous will do to a team’s psyche after it seemed as if they’d turned a corner, but it can’t be good. All they can do is try their best to pretend it never took place and take solace in the fact that the score will be 0-0 at first pitch tomorrow night. Ryan Weathers will throw that first pitch for New York, while we await word on who the Cardinals will start. The game gets underway at 7:05 PM on YES.

Box Score

Blue Jays 3 Astros 1

After Shane Bieber’s last start, we were a little worried about how tonight would go. Well….he gave up 9 hits and 2 walks in just 5.2 innings but only allowed 1 run. The nice thing to say is he made the pitches when he needed to. The less nice thing to say is that he was lucky. But, either way, he came out of it with a win.

Braydon Fisher got the last out of the sixth and the first two outs of the seventh. He gave up a hit and two walks, but didn’t allow anyone to score.

Brendon Little had a terrific night, getting the last out of the seven and pitched a clean eighth. Four outs, and four strikeouts (with a walk, cause it wouldn’t be a Little appearance without a walk). That brought his ERA down to 12.00. Little or someone is going to have to step up and be that seventh inning guy (though he was the eighth inning guy tonight).

And Tyler Rogers pitched a clean ninth, getting his third save of the year.

---

We only had 7 hits, but that was enough. We scored:

• One in the second: Alejandro Kirk homered.
• Two in the fourth: Kazuma Okamoto led off with a single and George Springer also singled. An out later, Jesús Sánchez singled in one. The throw home by left fielder Taylor Trammel was off-line, allowing the runners to move up to second and third. And Ernie Clement hit a sac fly.

Okamoto and Myles Straw had two hits each. Nathan Lukes, Vladimir Guerrero, Clement (with the sac fly) and Andrés Giménez had 0 fors.

Straw made a great catch at the center field wall, had a double, and a stolen base. He was also thrown out at the plate trying to score on a pop fly out. I don’t know what the decision making process was there, but it was just dumb baseball.

We still had troubles with RISP, 1 for 8.

Jays of the Day: Bieber (0.15 WPA), Fisher (0.14), Little (0.13), Sánchez (0.11) and Rogers (0.09). And I’m giving one to Straw (0.08 plus the catch.

Other Award: Vlad (-0.15, 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts).

Tomorrow we have Trey Yesavage (5-5, 3.73) vs. Hayden Wesneski (1-0, 4.76 in his one start so far this season).

Daulton Varsho, who was a Blue Jay this morning, played center for the Astros and went 1 for 4 with a walk. He seemed really had to be leaving the Jays.

When members of his and rival front offices describe David Stearns, they often use the word “disciplined.”

He has his models, and he believes in them. He is circumspect, but not reactionary. He does not want to give up on his own players too quickly. In the best of baseball times, such patience is a virtue.

But these are not the best of times for the Mets, nor for Stearns. His 2026 Mets currently look like one of the more financially inefficient rosters in major league history, so ineffective that owner Steve Cohen spent part of July trying to dispel questions about his president of baseball operations’ job security.

So that Stearns stuck to his plan – a patient, traditional deadline approach centered on trading assets for prospects regardless of major league need – will eventually be viewed as hard-nosed or hard-headed. He did not address any of the Mets’ many 2027 needs – starting pitching, a better offensive and defensive infield, depth -- as he traded away eight major leaguers ahead of Monday’s deadline. But that, he said, was not his goal.

“I think [this] allows us to strengthen the overall quality of talent in our organization, and whether that’s these players directly impact our major league team in the future – which I think many of them will – or also having players that allow you to go out and acquire other players who impact your major league team,” Stearns said. “The players we have acquired, the prospects we have acquired, the young talent we have acquired in totality gives us the chance to do that.”

The Mets focused their deadline efforts on trading expiring contracts, though they also traded two players who were under team control beyond this year, set-up man Luke Weaver and veteran Huascar Brazoban. Brazoban, 36, yielded a 6-foot-9 righty named Gabe Davis who played with Nolan McLean and Carson Benge at Oklahoma State and a righty reliever named Zach Franklin from the Chicago White Sox. Weaver, who might have been the best reliever available at the deadline by 2026 performance, netted the Mets infield prospect Sammy Stafura from the Pittsburgh Pirates, though they had to pay down part of Weaver’s contract to get him.

“Really tough decisions there,” Stearns said of trading players who could have helped his bullpen next year. “Not straightforward. Had a lot of internal discussion and debate. Ultimately, the returns we were able to get we thought made sense, were in the best interest of the organization, recognizing that at this time of year you’re often able to get really good talent back for relief pitching. We understand that we’re going to have to go out and acquire relievers in the offseason in different ways to get our bullpen to where we expect it to be in 2027.”

Given Brazoban’s age and the fact that Weaver struggled so much in 2025 that the Yankees felt they could not rely on him in October, it is not difficult to see why the Mets decided to sell high on both. And while some opposing evaluators were surprised that the Mets had to pay part of Weaver’s 2027 salary to obtain Stafura – ranked No. 9 in the Pirates system by MLB Pipeline – he will vault into the Mets’ top five prospects almost immediately, and Stearns suggested the die-hard Mets fan could have a higher ceiling than others believe.

“He’s got tremendous defensive ability. He’s a very good baserunner. Can impact the game in a variety of different ways, help you win ballgames in a variety of different ways, and clearly has power as well,” Stearns said of Stafura, who grew up in Westchester County. “So when you begin to talk about a power-hitting infielder who we believe can play shortstop at a high level, that’s a player with a pretty high ceiling.”

The highest ceiling in the Mets’ deadline class probably belongs to Jefferson Rojas, who they plucked from the Cubs in exchange for Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor. Rojas, who MLB Pipeline ranked as the Cubs’ second-best prospect prior to the deal, will likely be the Mets’ highest-ranked prospect when the evaluators release their updated rankings. At 21 years old, with an .800 OPS in Double-A, he looks like a staple of Mets infields to come.

But prospects are notoriously fickle, so it will take time to determine whether Stearns’s hunt for the best available talent will help the Mets turn into the annual contenders Cohen hoped they would be by now. Other teams experiencing disappointing years approached their deadlines differently.

The Toronto Blue Jays, for example, managed to sell off expiring contracts of players like Kevin Gausman and Daulton Varsho while also trading for controllable starters Jose Soriano and Spencer Arrighetti of the Angels and Astros, respectively. Toronto maximized its expiring contracts, but they also took advantage of teams willing to trade pitching to bolster their 2026 chances. After jettisoning Holmes, David Peterson, and Freddy Peralta from a rotation that was never deep enough when it included them, Stearns said he considered a similar approach.

“It absolutely did [appeal to us],” he said.  We explored a number of those types of players and ultimately just couldn’t line up on acquisition cost, but it is something that we explored.”

Perhaps another head of baseball operations under similar scrutiny would have operated differently. For example: After years of criticism that he was not aggressive enough in pursuing stars, Red Sox president of baseball operations Craig Breslow tossed several top prospects to the Orioles to beat the Yankees to Adley Rutschman and traded former first-round pick Marcelo Mayer to the San Francisco Giants for top reliever Erik Miller. Maybe it will yield a pennant in what once looked like a lost season. Maybe it won’t.

Either way, Stearns will provide a fascinating counterpoint: Whether stubborn, steadfast, or somewhere in between, only time will tell.

There are a select few of you who have maintained interest in the workings of the Cincinnati Reds despite their poor performance on the field and stuck around all the way until 6:00 PM ET tonight to see what they did at the trade deadline.

You a freedivers, and for that I applaud you. You held your breath for a nearly record-breaking amount of time before Nick Krall and the rest of the front office managed to make a move of any kind, but despite the expected wave of moves not materializing there were a pair of moves that impacted both the present and future of the organization.

What stands out more than anything about this deadline, though, is that so many of the ‘obvious’ players the Reds probably should have traded did not get moved, and that calls into question the strategy as a whole.

Let’s dive in to how these moves look on the surface.

Nathaniel Lowe to the Cleveland Guardians for Alejandro Rivera

Grade: B+

The Reds got Lowe on a minor league deal over the winter, held on to him long enough to promote him, and he ended up serving as a valuable left-handed bat in the strong side of a platoon at 1B/DH during his time with the Reds. He did all that on a salary of a bit less than $2 million, some of which Cleveland is now going to pick up over the rest of the season.

In landing Alejandro Rivera, the Reds get a really, really talented arm – albeit one who, at 19, has made one (1) career appearance in full-season minor league ball. He’s a lottery ticket that’s years away, but that’s precisely what you hope to get when your scratch-off Lowe ticket was purchased for a song months prior.

The only thing keeping this from being more of an A- is that the Reds chose to keep the rest of the rental gang together, and Lowe made the rental gang (and the Reds as a whole) better while being a part of it. If they’re really holding out for a miracle finish, well, subtracting Lowe dents those chances.

Caleb Ferguson to the St. Louis Cardinals for $250K of international bonus pool cash

Grade: A-

International bonus pool cash is awesome! It’s also capped based on an odd formula based on previous year spending and a litany of other things, and having more of it never hurts.

Caleb Ferguson had also been completely average in his role in the Cincinnati bullpen this year, and the remaining ~$1 million or so on his salary is now headed to St. Louis so the Reds can get that future spending cash. Add in that Ferguson was recently caught on camera hurling insults at an umpire, and I’m frankly impressed the Reds got anything for him at all right now.

The only thing keeping this from being an outright A is that the Reds surely hoped when they signed him that he’d be flippable as a bona fide All Star caliber reliever right now, and that simply never materialized. Getting something (and getting his salary off the books) is better than nothing, though.

Not trading any of Brady Singer, Tyler Stephenson, Brock Burke, Eugenio Suarez, or Pierce Johnson

Grade: TBD

You can very much make the case that Suarez had zero trade value given his prorated $15 million salary, and that’s some egg on the face of the front office (even though he had a serious oblique issue that cost him a month and clearly impacted his timing). Pierce Johnson had a forearm problem and has been mid, at best.

In Singer, Stephenson, and Burke, though, you’ve got three proven veterans playing some of their best ball of the year right this very month and none of them got moved. That’s perhaps $10 million in salary savings the Reds chose to eat, and keep that in mind the next time they cry poor in free agency.

Still, Singer will eat a lot of IP for the rest of the season that we can’t say Rhett Lowder, Chase Burns, or Nick Lodolo will be able to chew. That keeps IP off other, younger arms, and that’s got some value.

Stephenson knows the young staff and will help them continue to develop even though there was a larger market for catchers via trade this year than I can recall. Not cashing in on that sure seems like a misstep unless there’s something larger we don’t yet know.

All told, it’s an odd decision to stick with a huge cache of guys who don’t project to be around after the next 50+ games, and it makes you wonder if they simply think there’s a miracle in this group we’ve not yet uncovered. FanDuel seems to think that’s preposterous, though, as their +100000 odds to win the World Series in the wake of these moves (and non-moves) is tied for the lowest in all of Major League Baseball.

The Texas Rangers scored one run but the San Francisco Giants scored five runs.

The Rangers had more hits (7) than the Giants (6) but scored four fewer runs.

The Rangers had just two more hits (7) than they had errors (5).

The Rangers had as many errors (5) as the Giants had runs (5).

The first six batters in the Rangers lineup had as many hits (2) as Jung Hoo Lee had home runs (2).

The two home runs were only one fewer than Lee had hit for the Giants since the beginning of June.

The Rangers have lost six in a row, extending their season-worst skid.

The Rangers are three games below .500, their worst mark in over a month.

Player of the Game: Ezequiel Duran had four of Texas’ seven hits, including a solo home run in the ninth to prevent the shutout.

Also, Nolan Kingham came in for his MLB debut. Congrats, man. Sorry this happened in a game where your team committed the most errors in a game for them this century.

Up Next: LHP MacKenzie Gore is still a Ranger so he will start tomorrow’s game for Texas opposite RHP Blade Tidwell for San Francisco.

The Tuesday evening first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 7:05 pm CDT and the telecast will return to the Rangers Sports Network.

Introduction

The Diamondbacks entered August 3rd, the day of the trade deadline with a 59-53 record, 10 games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West Division, but holding down the 2nd NL wild card slot. While Fanduel gives the Diamondbacks +8000 odds, or just a 1.23% chance of winning the World Series, their playoff odds are much better, at +108 or a 48.08% chance of making the postseason. Fanduel has no odds for the NL West division listed, which really isn’t a surprise considering the significant lead the Dodgers have over the Diamondbacks. However, the Diamondbacks have fairly good odds of making the postseason through the wildcard with the 6th seed at +320 (23.81%), the 5th seed at +460 (17.86%), and the 4th seed at +950 (9.52%).

What were the Diamondbacks needs entering the deadline?

The Diamondbacks had three items on their wishlist for the trade deadline. The team has struggled against RHP, so a left handed bat was probably at the top of the list. The second item on the deadline wishlist was a LHP reliever, which would have allowed the lone lefty in the bullpen, Brandyn Garcia, to move into the closer role. A cost controlled starting pitcher to provide depth to a starting rotation that has struggled with ineffectiveness and injuries was the third and final item on the to-do list.

What Moves Did The D-backs Make at the Deadline?

Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen waited until just before the deadline to make his lone move, acquiring LHB outfielder Lars Nootbar from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for RHP prospect Daniel Eagen, LHP Sandro Santana, and a player to be named later.

While we won’t know who the PTBNL is until later in the year, we can discuss two out of three prospects now. Daniel Eagen entered the 2026 season as the team’s top pitching prospect, but their #5 prospect overall. While he hasn’t exactly dominated AA, putting up a 4.95 ERA, that still works out to an above average ERA- of 84. In addition, Eagen has had impressive strikeout numbers with a 29.3% strikeout percentage. That 4.95 ERA is also a definite improvement over the 5.49 ERA he posted in Amarillo last season. Sandro Santana wasn’t really a ranked prospect entering the season (#32 according to Fangraphs), but he has broken out in 2026, putting up a 2.93 ERA in 30.2 innings in A+ Hillsboro, and a miniscule 0.57 ERA in AA Amarillo in 15.2 innings there. Even excluding the PTBNL I’m not exactly a fan of the deal; if it is any actual prospect, this deal looks even worse for Arizona.

Despite the pessimistic takes on social media amongst D-backs fans, Nootbar can be viewed as an upgrade in a number of areas and is a great fit for the Diamondbacks clubhouse and their brand of baseball. While Nootbar isn’t technically a ‘righty masher’ per se, he has posted strong numbers against RHP this season, which is an area the team looked into to improve entering the deadline. In the 2026 season, Nootbar has put up a .737 OPS and 108 wRC+ against RHP. For his career, Nootbar has had even better numbers against RHP with a .765 OPS and a 114 wRC+. On top of all of that, he’s been better in the second half of the season throughout his career, posting .772 OPS/117 wRC+, compared to just a .713 OPS/101 wRC+ in the first half. While Chase Field isn’t a huge improvement over Busch stadium as far as the HR park factors go, it should be a significant improvement for his ability to hit doubles and triples. Even with the weaker numbers against RHP this season, Nootbar would be the D-backs second or third best hitter against RHP immediately, which probably says more about how bad the team has been in that aspect than it says about Nootbar.

Looking at the defensive side of the game, Nootbar is an above average defender who brings a strong (89th percentile) arm in the outfield, the latter being something the D-backs haven’t had in a very long time. Nootbar should slot in immediately as the team’s starting left fielder against RHP, with Kepler sliding over to the DH slot. If the D-backs make the postseason, Nootbar would also take Kepler’s spot as he’s ineligible for the postseason due to his steroid related suspension.

Taking all that in consideration, I actually like this trade more than I did initially, so I’m giving it a B+. Sure, it may not be the most exciting move, but it does fill a definite need and there’s a lot of upside here. If there’s actually a 2027 season, Nootbar is also under control for that season as well.

Grading the Deadline

Like most of the pundits covering the D-backs, I can’t say I am exactly happy with the results of this deadline. However, unlike most of the fans, I understand that the Diamondbacks for whatever reason just couldn’t make the right deals happen. The fact that the rest of the team’s rivals in the division and the wildcard race got better does makes the lack of moves hurt a lot more than it would otherwise.

I would give Arizona a B- grade for this trade deadline – although that’s more for the moves Hazen didn’t make than any he made. He could have easily traded away a Ryan Waldschmidt or top prospect Demetrio Crisantes, which was a price I definitely wouldn’t be happy with. Even if Eagen and Santana turn out to be a MLB caliber starting pitcher and elite reliever, it was unlikely to happen in Arizona’s farm system due to their struggles developing pitchers in the inflated run environment of Amarillo and Reno. Understanding the complications of the upcoming CBA negotiations, the cost of pitching during this deadline, but more importantly the fact that Gm Mike Hazen did make an honest effort to make some deals happens goes a long way in earning that B- grade from me. Fans may not like it, but that’s the reality that we have to live with.

Conclusion

While it was (understandably) a disappointing deadline for Diamondbacks fans expecting some blockbuster moves for a Tarik Skubal or a Luis Garcia Jr, it’s pretty clear that just wasn’t going to happen. The Diamondbacks just didn’t hold the right cards prospect-wise, nor was GM Mike Hazen willing to trade away pieces from the MLB roster. The one move that he was able to make does improve the roster, even if it isn’t by as much as fans would have liked.

The Dodgers came away from the trade deadline with major wins — a two-time Cy Young Award winner in Tarik Skubal, necessary catching depth with Ben Rortvedt and Hunter Feduccia, and a 2025 All-Star in pitcher Kris Bubic.

All of that momentum, and the staggering amount of talent on the roster, have overshadowed the Dodgers’ recent poor play. A clean slate against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field was a chance to set a new tone after being swept by the Boston Red Sox at home. Instead, they lost 10-5, extending their losing streak to a season-high tying four games.

“This is a playoff-contending team,” manager Dave Roberts said of the Cubs before the game. “We’ve got to play well. Like I said [Sunday], we got outplayed. Outcompeted against. So we need to play better. We’re going to play better this series. I don’t know the results, but we will play with more urgency.”

Read more:‘Dodgers do all the right things.’ Tarik Skubal dismisses the 'ruining baseball' critics

The Dodgers (69-44) essentially played out that prophecy to begin the game. Against left-hander Matthew Boyd, Shohei Ohtani and Andy Pages hit back-to-back singles, and Tommy Edman roped a three-run homer to left.

Then Boyd settled in. He got out of the inning with three straight flyouts — Cubs fans enthusiastically booing Kyle Tucker, who was never expected to re-sign with the team when he hit free agency after one season in Chicago, when he flied out to right field.

Dodgers left-handed All-Star Justin Wrobleski struggled. For the second start in a row, he surrendered four home runs.

“It just seemed like they were on everything,” Roberts said. “Some balls that were executed decently, they still took good swings, and when he made good pitches, they spoiled. And when he did make mistakes, it just seemed like they went out of the ballpark. So we’ve got to dig into it. I know he’s prepared and doing what he can, but it’s just hard to defend the homer.”

When asked if he suspected Wrobleski was tipping his pitches, Roberts said that was something the team would look into.

The first three came with men on base, expediting the damage. And they came from all over the Cubs’ lineup. In the first inning, No. 2 hitter Seiya Suzuki lined a fastball into the stands for two runs. The next inning, it was No. 9 hitter Kevin Alcántara who put the Cubs (64-49) ahead with a two-run blast. In the third, cleanup hitter Carson Kelly jumped on a slider for a two-run shot.

Wrobleski finally threw a hitless fourth, working around a leadoff walk to briefly stymie the Cubs’ offensive push. Then in the fifth, he threw a sinker down the middle to left-handed hitter Michael Busch, who drove it out for a solo homer.

Busch, a former Dodger, coincidentally is part of the Skubal trade tree. The Cubs acquired him and reliever Yency Almonte for pitching prospect Jackson Ferris and outfield prospect Zyhir Hope. Hope was part of the trade package for Skubal.

Roberts pulled Wrobleski after Busch’s home run. The seven earned runs he gave up tied a season high. But this time, he only pitched 4⅓ innings, compared to the 8⅔ innings he threw against the Atlanta Braves on May 10.

“Overall, just didn’t throw the ball well enough today, obviously,” Wrobleski said. “I’ve been pretty frustrated these last two. So just continuing to work on things, get better and hopefully come back out and go on a run here and have a nice little scoreless streak.”

The Dodgers countered with a one-run rally in the fourth, and Teoscar Hernández hit a solo home run onto Waveland Avenue in the sixth inning.

The Cubs, however, squashed thoughts of a potential comeback with a three-run rally in the sixth. Edgardo Henriquez, after recording the last two outs of the previous inning, gave up a hit and issued three walks to open the inning. Tanner Scott replaced him, issued a bases-loaded walk to Carson Kelly and gave up a two-run single to Busch.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Deadline Madness for All…Well Mostly all.

The trade deadline is one of the most hectic days of the entire regular season for all ball clubs, whether you are a fan of a team that is already looking ahead to the next season for how they can improve or a team that is in the middle of a playoff race and hoping to see October baseball, it’s a day where all of us are constantly checking MLBTradeRumors or refreshing our twitter feeds for the next Jeff Passan bomb to grace our timeline.

Coming off a series victory over the Cleveland Guardians where the Dbacks would end up going 10-6 from the start of the 2nd half to the last day before the deadline, there was hope among fans and players on the team that GM Mike Hazen would go ahead and be an aggressive buyer and fill the positional needs this team has shown to be lacking throughout 2026. What we got was…far from the outcome we had been hoping for to say the least.

Invite Lost In The Mail?

With today being the last day for teams to make trades before the deadline at 6 PM EST, the notifications from the top baseball reporters were going off all day. We saw nearly every NL playoff hopeful make some kind of move to strengthen their rosters, especially the teams like the Padres, Phillies, Cubs and even Pirates who are all still jockeying for one of the 3 Wild Card spots. There were some rumors about the Diamondbacks being involved in discussions for players like Casey Mize of the Tigers, or Alec Burleson from the Cardinals, but that’s where it always seemed to end at just a “discussion” and nothing being finalized.

I sat there watching the time tick away thinking “Alright, (Mike) Hazen will get something done before time is up,let him cook” and kept repeating that to myself, but once the final 10 to 15 minutes approached I got nervous that we might not see anything come to fruition, but right as I had that thought, the news finally came through and the Snakes made a move.

NOOT NOOT!

Brandon, Gabe and I planned to have a deadline special episode where we would discuss all the moves that were made for the Diamondbacks and who was dealt for the reinforcements that we were sure were on their way, but like a lot of other online we were quite disappointed to see that the only trade Mike Hazen would be was trading Daniel Eagan (#5 prospect), Sandro Santana (#26 Prospect) and a Player-To-Be-Named-Later (PTBNL) in exchange for Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbar. Noot did miss a good chunk of time to start the season due to injury so his .234/.333/.354 line with 3 HR and 16 RBI might not seem like the most exciting numbers to Dback’s fans, but some of his underlying metrics give fans some more hope that he could be a solid addition for a team that is still well in the wild card race.

Disappointing Deadline

While the addition of Nootbar does at least improve the roster by bringing in a guy who has a solid walk rate and low chase % (also would mean we have a player who can slot in for Kepler should we hold onto that playoff spot), the Diamondbacks biggest needs going into the deadline was more Starting Pitching and an answer to their lackluster production from the first base position, Lars Nootbar’s addition addresses neither of those issues.

Gabe and I in a few episodes before the season even got underway that we would not be surprised if Mike Hazen and the front office use players like Corbin Burnes and Justin Martinez, who would be expected to return sometime around the All-Star Break/Trade Deadline, as reason to not be as aggressive at the deadline because “that’s as good or better than any trade we could make”. Even with us already being prepared for that to be the case, it didn’t make this lack of moves at the deadline any less frustrating from a fans perspective, especially considering the other Wild Card contending teams like the Padres and Cubs made not just one but multiple acquisitions to their clubs.

The fellas and I did agree that getting Burnes, JMart and Puk back are indeed huge additions and potentially better than names that could have been available at the deadline, but the risk of relying players who haven’t pitched in over a year to come in and be the boost/savior to the team can be a decision that could either prove to be the right call, or could blow up in the DBacks face and potentially even cost Mike Hazen his job as the DBacks GM.

Keep On Trucking

This team showed that with their current roster they indeed have the talent to compete with the other playoff caliber teams, they just need to take Mike Hazen’s trust in them and the players returning from the IL and use it to fuel their playoff hunt and hope its enough to get them not just a spot in October but hopefully enough momentum to make a run at a title.

You may never know in Wrigley, but that doesn’t mean you don’t know early on. And here that was the case with the ball flying out of the yard right from the get-go in a 10 to 5 defeat against the Cubs, with the Dodgers outmatched offensively.

The first inning alone saw five runs cross the plate, as Matthew Boyd had to contend with one of a pitcher’s worst nightmares, seeing one mistake turned into a 3-0 game. Tommy Edman hit a home run, driving in Shohei Ohtani and Andy Pages, who had both reached base on soft contacts.

Any idea the Dodgers had of quickly controlling this game went away just as that first-inning lead came. The Cubs immediately countered with a two-run shot from Seiya Suzuki two batters into their offensive performance. And that would be one of three two-run homers in as many innings that Justin Wrobleski would allow, eventually conceding a fourth one as well.

In the second inning, it was Kevin Alcántara helping the Cubs take the 4-3 lead with the first home run of his big league career. From youth to experience, Carson Kelly then managed to isolate the Dodgers number as his favorite victim, knocking a ninth long ball versus LA. Lastly, in Kyle Tucker’s first game with the Cubs, it was a different player facing his former club that did the real damage: Michael Busch’s fifth-inning solo shot knocked Wrobleski out of the game.

In still a short sample, Busch is building up quite the resume versus his former team with nearly an extra-base hit a game against them (15 in 16), including five long balls. A pitcher who had allowed just eight home runs prior to his last start, Wrobleski doubled that mark in the span of two games, with back-to-back appearances allowing four home runs.

Boyd displayed the ability to bounce back from an early blow that seemed to elude Wrobleski in a game in which the ball was flying out of the park, particularly to left field. Boyd didn’t shut the door completely following those three runs in the first; what he managed to do was limit the damage, relying heavily on the Cubs’ outstanding defense, no less and no more than what he needed.

Take the fifth inning, for instance, in which both Andy Pages and Freddie Freeman were denied hits by terrific infield plays from third baseman Pedro Ramírez and second baseman Nico Hoerner, respectively. One inning later, Kyle Tucker was thrown out by Seiya Suzuki on what looked like a standard double with the Cubs right fielder playing it cleanly off the wall. Tucker’s out on the basepaths cost the Dodgers a run as Teoscar Hernández hit the game’s sixth and most impressive homer, out of the park.

Teoscar sent one outside of Wrigley. 😳 pic.twitter.com/zRoBAb8vC6

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 4, 2026

Even with that one fewer run, Hernández’s homer had made it a 7-5 game, but only one team showed up once the bullpens came into play. While Boyd had the stamina and effectiveness to pitch into the seventh inning, the Dodgers’ bullpen had its numbers called early and didn’t respond adequately. Edgardo Henríquez loaded the bases in the sixth, and try as he might, Tanner Scott could not strand them. All three baserunners crossed the plate after a walk and single, leading to that 10-5 score.

Game particulars

• Home runs— Tommy Edman (3), Teoscar Hernández (11), Seiya Suzuki (19), Kevin Alcántara (1), Carson Kelly (7), Michael Busch (14)
• WP—Matthew Boyd (7-1): 6.2 IP, 9 hits, 5 runs, 4 (earned), 1 walk, 3 strikeouts
• LP—Justin Wrobleski (11-3): 4.1 IP, 7 hits, 7 runs, 3 walks

Up next

If you’ve been paying attention at any point over the past few days, you’ll know excitement is through the roof for Tuesday’s matchup with the Cubs, Tarik Skubal’s debut with the Dodgers. It comes at the most opportune of times as the Dodgers try to stop this losing streak, contending with Javier Assad on the other side of this game starting at 5:10 p.m. PT.

The Yankees overturned a six-run deficit with a barrage of home runs, including a go-ahead two-run shot from Luis Garcia Jr. in his Bronx debut, but the bullpen collapsed in the eighth as New York fell 13-7 to the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night.

Cam Schlittler struggled for command and lasted just three innings and it looked like it wouldn’t matter as the Bronx Bombers clobbered five home runs. Unfortunately, the visitors hit five bombs of their own, including three by Alec Burleson, and used a seven-run eighth to land the knock-out blow.  

The Yankees, after a brisk 3:25 game, fell to 63-50 (26-24 at home) and will end the night 3.5 behind Tampa Bay in the AL East. The Cards improved to 56-57 (28-25 on the road).

Here are the takeaways...

- While the Yanks’ starter struggled early, St. Louis’ Michael McGreevy retired the first seven batters he faced on 40 pitches. The home side finally broke through as JoséCaballero worked a walk and Austin Wells lined a basehit up the middle, but the first runners of the night were left stranded.

Down 6-0 with a runner on first in the fifth, Wells got a McGreevy sinker out and over the plate and drilled it into the seats in right for a 394-foot two-run homer to put the Yanks on the board. It was his eighth homer and gives him 16 RBI on the year. He finished 2-for-4 with a strikeout. (He also did well behind the plate, going 4-for-4 on ABS challenges.)

St. Louis went to the bullpen after the Wells homer, but Trent Grisham greeted lefty reliever Justin Bruihl by taking a 1-2 sweeper into the seats in right for back-to-back homers to make it a 6-3 game. His 355-foot homer, which was just 90.9 mph exit velocity, gave him 12 on the year and 43 driven in.

Grisham, who flied out to the wall in the right-center gap his first time up, went 2-for-5 with a strikeout and a hustle double with one down in the seventh.

- Ryan McMahon jumped on the second pitch Ryne Stanek threw for a 410-foot home run to start the seventh, giving him 10 on the season. Two pitches later, Caballero drilled a fastball 400 feet to left to give him 12 on the year and the Yanks back-to-back homers for the second time.

McMahon, who struck out swinging his first time up, dropped a single into right to start the fifth and came around to score on the Wells homer to finish 2-for-3.

Caballero finished 1-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts swinging.

- Garcia hit the ball hard his first time up (102.4 mph off the bat) but got under it for a 351-foot fly out to center. He dropped a single into center to start the fourth for his first hit with the new club. 

But with a runner on second and two down in the seventh, Garcia had what looked to be the signature moment in his debut: golfing a changeup 424 feet into the Yankee bullpen to erase the six-run deficit and put the Yanks ahead with his two-run shot. His 24th homer of the year, on the sixth pitch of a tough battle with George Soriano, was 109 mph and got out on a line.

He finished 2-for-4 and also had a couple nice throws to second on double plays.

- Schlittler didn’t have his normal sharpness, issuing a four-pitch walk to start the game. He paid the price for it as he left a 97 mph fastball over the outside corner toBurleson, who he yanked the 1-2 offering for a 350-foot, two-run shot that just snuck over the short porch in right. After a second walk and a single put two aboard, Schlittler got help from his defense as Jazz Chisholm Jr. started the rare 4-3-6 double-play as the Cardinals ran themselves out of the first inning.

The righty found himself in trouble in the second as another leadoff walk came around to score when José Fermín smoked a ball that got past Jasson Dominguez for an RBI double. Schlittler recovered to get past a one-out walk with three strikeouts.

Schlittler tied his career high with his fifth walk of the game to start the third, but struck out the next two to give him six on the night, but Nathan Church got a fastball up and shot it the other way to left for an RBI single. The night nearly got worse, but Fermín didn't have enough pop in his bat, flying out to the warning track in left on a first-pitch sinker over the plate.

That ended the righty's night: 3.0 innings, four runs on four hits and five walks with six strikeouts on 83 pitches (51 strikes).

- Out of the bullpen, Tim Hill retired the first two men he faced before Jordan Walker dropped a single into right and Burleson struck again, this time driving a sinker on the inside corner (108.3 mph off the bat) for a 365-foot two-run shot to right.

Hill got the first out of the fifth before Kervin Castro took over, getting a strikeout and walk that was erased by a Wells caught stealing to end the fifth. Castro got the first 1-2-3 inning of the night in the sixth. After a Walker infield hit to start the seventh, Garcia was lifted for lefty Ryan Yarbrough, who entered and got a 3-6-3 double-play and a pop out. 

Pitching with a lead for the first time of the night, Yarbrough got stung for a pinch-hit triple to center by pinch-hitter Blaze Jordan to leadoff the eighth. Angel Chivilli, who had been warming in the bullpen before the inning, walked the first man he faced to put runners on the corners and left a changeup over the plate that Church lined 355 feet to right for a go-ahead three-run homer. The Cards weren't done as Fermin singled and Jimmy Crooks clocked a first-pitch fastball 376-feet into the second deck in right for a four-run lead. After JJ Wetherholt singled and Walker flied out, Burleson took a slider on the eighth pitch of the at-bat 418 feet deep into the second deck in right to complete his hat trick of homers. 

Fernando Cruz needed 10 pitches for a 1-2-3 top of the ninth with two strikeouts.

- Domínguez shot a single through the right side against a lefty with one out in the sixth and looked to have stolen second, but after replay review he was called out for having lost contact with the base. He went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts looking.

- Ben Rice flied out the first four times he was up, the second to strand runners on first and second and the fourth with a runner on second in the seventh.

- Spencer Jones went hitless in four times up with two strikeouts.

- Chisholm Jr. was 0-for-4 with a trio of groundouts.

- Ahead of the game, Carlos Rodon threw a 40-pitch live BP at the stadium, which manager Aaron Boone said was encouraging and could see him in line to pitch in a rehab assignment on Saturday. Giancarlo Stanton had another “good week” that saw him hit off Rodon and do some running in the outfield that has the skipper “encouraged about where he’s moving.” Clarke Schmidt is expected to throw around 45 pitches on Tuesday and is “close to being in the mix,” with him eventually heading for a rehab assignment potentially in the near future.

Highlights

Luis García Jr. gets his first hit as a Yankee pic.twitter.com/wdutyjnLSQ

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) August 4, 2026

Austin Wells gets the Yankees on the board with a two-run homer! pic.twitter.com/cTrDFbsPRY

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) August 4, 2026

Now a solo home run from Trent Grisham! pic.twitter.com/40bAX2R79l

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) August 4, 2026

Ryan McMahon with the solo shot! pic.twitter.com/UJcPpcgaY5

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) August 4, 2026

José Caballero makes it a one-run game!! pic.twitter.com/riwivfVNth

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) August 4, 2026

LUIS GARCÍA JR. GIVES THE YANKEES THE LEAD WITH A TWO-RUN SHOT! pic.twitter.com/OUQRrRDT5T

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) August 4, 2026

What's next

The series continues on Tuesday night with a 7:05 p.m. first pitch. 

Ryan Weathers (3.99 ERA, 1.243 WHIP in 115 innings) will make his 2nd start for the home side. The Cardinals have yet to name a starting pitcher.

After a wild afternoon of transactions at the MLB trade deadline, there was a baseball game to play in New York and the Cardinals showed up like they had something to prove as they knocked Cam Schlittler, a Cy Young candidate, out of the game after just a few innings and Alec Burleson was a big reason why. The problem is that baseball games still last 9 innings which means the Cardinals bullpen will almost always become a factor for better or worse. Fortunately, the St. Louis bats would save the day.

When is the last time that we’ve been able to share that the St. Louis Cardinals scored in the first four innings of a game? That happened Monday night and was concurrent with Michael McGreevy having a very positive bounce-back outing (for 4 innings). The result was a Cardinals romp in the Big Apple, but it didn’t look like it would go the St. Louis way for awhile.

It started in the top of the 1st inning when JJ Wetherholt drew a leadoff walk. Two batters later, he was able to leisurely cross the plate after Alec Burleson jumped on a Cam Schlittler 97 mph four-seam fastball and deposited it into the short right-field porch in Yankee Stadium giving the Cardinals an immediate 2-0 lead.

The Cardinals started the top of the 2nd inning the way they started the top of the 1st with a walk by Nathan Church. José Fermín then found a 96 mph four-seam fastball to his liking and hammered it for a RBI double scoring Church and upping the Cardinals lead to 3-0.

The top of the 3rd inning was profitable for St. Louis, as well. Iván Herrera drew a leadoff walk and then stole second. Three batters later, Nathan Church singled to left scoring Herrera giving the Cardinals an unexpected 4-0 lead. Schlittler would only last 3 innings before he was removed from the game by Yankees manager Aaron Boone.

In the top of the 4th inning, Jordan Walker lifted a two-out single into right field. He also was able to take his time rounding the bases as he watched Alec Burleson turn on an 88 mph slider and smack it into the right field stands for a 6-0 Cardinals lead.

That Cardinals lead would start to evaporate in the bottom of the 5th inning when the Yankees lineup started to figure him out. After McMahon singled to right, Wells launched one of Michael McGreevy’s 88 mph sinkers into the right-centerfield stands cutting the Cardinals lead to 6-2. That would end Michael’s night as manager Oli Marmol removed him as his pitch count was in the 90’s and brought in Justin Bruihl. Trent Grisham greeted him with a home run of his own reducing the St. Louis lead to just 6-3.

Bruihl would manage the rest of the 5th inning and all of the 6th inning before Ryne Stanek would take over in the bottom of the 7th inning. He was welcomed to the game by Ryan McMahon who ripped one of his 95 mph sinkers into the right field Yankees bullpen cutting further into the Cardinals lead to 6-4. The very next pitch was launched 400 feet by Caballero into the left field stands making it only 6-5 St. Louis. After Ryne struck out Wells, he gave up a double to Grisham and that ended Stanek’s night.

George Soriano was brought in to try and stop the run hemorrhaging. He was not successful in his efforts. Newly acquired Luis Garcia Jr. who was just obtained by the Yankees in a trade with the Nationals absolutely unloaded on a 90 mph Soriano changeup sending it 424 feet into the right-centerfield stands for a 2-run blast giving the Yankees their first lead of the night 7-6.

Instead of hanging their heads and accepting another game that slipped away because of the bullpen, the St. Louis Cardinals bats rose to the occasion in the top of the 8th inning. It started with a Blaze Jordan “triple” off the left-centerfield wall although the defensive effort by the Yankees was…special. Masyn Winn then walked before Nathan Church decided he’d like to join the right field porch club as he turned a 90 mph changeup into a 3-run go-ahead home run making it 9-7 Cardinals and they were just getting started. After José Fermín singled, Jimmy Crooks unloaded a 2-run bomb into the 2nd deck of right field making it 11-7 Cardinals. Two batters later, JJ Wetherholt singled and then scored when Alec Burleson launched his longest homer of the night 424 feet also into the second deck of Yankee Stadium’s right field stands giving the Cardinals an unbelievable 13-7 lead.

Gordon Graceffo entered the game in the bottom of the 8th inning to keep the Yankees from turning this back into a close game and he was successful. Oli Marmol had him stay in the game to close out the Yankees in the bottom of the 9th inning, too, to lock up the Cardinals victory.

Hunter Dobbins will be the Cardinals starter for Tuesday’s game in the Big Apple. First pitch is again scheduled for 6:05pm central time and the TV broadcast will be available via Cardinals.tv.

The Rays had an extraordinarily busy trade deadline in 2026, and in a pleasant surprise, they were the ones buying and not selling — and better yet, the Rays did so without trading any of their top prospects.

Here’s a recap of the Rays moves, and with all of them happening in August:

• Rays acquire Freddy Peralta from Mets for OF Aidan Smith, INF Emilien Pitre, and RHP Gary Gill Hill
• Rays acquire C/1B Liam Hicks from Marlins for INF Brayden Taylor, SS Adrian Santana, and RHP Jacob Kisting
• Rays acquire RHP Tyler Wells from Orioles for RHP Michael Forret
• Rays acquire OF Jack Suwinski, int’l money from Dodgers for C Hunter Feduccia, RHP Jacob Kmatz

Before we discuss the moves made, there is one specific move the Rays didn’t make, and it’s the place we have to start.

If the Rays had needs heading into the deadline, it’s reasonable to suspect in might have been second base. The platoon of Richie Palacios and Ben Williamson has batted for a sub-90 wRC+ this season, but what’s easy to overlook is the defense they have provided. There were various players on the market that could have done better with the bat, most notable being San Francisco’s Arraez, but what hey might not have inspired was confidence with the glove, and for the Rays that is a significant part of the overall value equation.

Also part of that value equation though? What you didn’t give away in order to add a problematic defender. As we wrote about heading into the deadline, the Rays had a significant problem in that their best trade pieces were not the ones coming up for Rule 5 eligibility. The Rays, undeterred, stayed diamondhands on the likes of OF Theo Gillen and C Caden Bodine, instead threading the needle to find the best fits for the players they were willing to deal.

Accordingly, it’s hard not to applaud the Rays entirely for what they’ve achieved.

Here are the needs the Rays did see fit to address: starting pitcher, starting catcher, reliever, and outfield depth. Each makes sense, as two-time All-Star Peralta allows respected veteran Matz to limit his times through the order by moving to the bullpen, Hicks adds a promising offensive boost to the lineup (perhaps even spelling the need to add offense to the infield) while also allowing the Rays to move forward from Feduccia, Wells adds extra punch setting up Baker, and in return for Feduccia the Rays get another LHH outfielder to slot in behind Mullins, Mesa, and Melton in case there are any injury concerns down the stretch.

These are all respectable, sensible additions that go above and beyond what you might be used to seeing from this Rays team — and all the more notable knowing it was a seller’s market, which is to say slim pickins unless an overpay was the intent.

And it bears repeating — the Rays did not overpay for anything.

Peralta’s deal gave up three respectable pieces, but ones with flaws too. Smith was the prince who was promised in the Arozarena trade, but with an objective lens, he was formerly five tool player missing the all important hit tool. And Pitre, by comparison, was the opposite, offering all the hit tool and not much of the rest. Gill Hill was a former top-100 arm in places but currently not ranked that way anywhere. Combined, the three are all on the outside-looking-in on the Rays top ten prospects, and a far cry from what the Mets dealt to get Peralta in the first place.

Hicks’s trade cost was far more notable; instead of dealing three players trending down, the front office capitalized on three players trending up. Taylor was lost cause just months ago but reinvented his swing, Santana added muscle and recently elevated an elite defense first profile, and Kirsting — although recently acquired — was trending in the right direction under Winston Doom’s program. All three of these players are flashes in the pan, prospects: rightfully finding success at levels they should have always been succeeding at. Neander and company struck when the iron was hot, and got back a long term major league piece better than could have been wished for if I told you none of the top prospects were moving.

Wells’s return was the highest rated prospect we will discuss today, as Forret was easily in the top-ten prospects, but he was also — importantly — a former Baltimore prospect, and goes back to a team that might have some serious regrets about dealing with the Rays when they were in position to demand an overpay from Tampa Bay. Yes, it’s a minor overpay for a set up man, but strong insurance for 2026 in return for an arm that still has question marks the Rays were clearly content to leave unanswered. In this case, you have to trust that if the front office wants to deal him, they might know what they’re doing.

The fourth move is probably a shuffling of deck chairs, but on the whole it’s a helpful move to turn Feduccia into better insurance, and you have to love adding some international pool money along the way.

So what do I grade this deadline?

Unequivocally — this is an A performance from Erik Neander and the front office.

Don’t believe me? Consider the likes of the Boston Red Sox, a front office seemingly grasping for straws and mortgaging the future again and again to add whatever and wherever they could find. In a vacuum I would already take Hicks over Adley Rutschman, or Wells over Erik Miller, and in both cases the Rays gave up far less than what it required of Breslow. And that’s not even mentioning the travesty of Connor Early for one at bat from Curtis Mead.

There’s a devil’s advocate version of appraisal here that faults the Rays from moving on from players like Smith and Taylor and Forret, but that’s a sunk cost fallacy, and ignores the fact that the front office has far more information than any of us do today. The counter aguements are typical. You won’t win every trade, you have to give something to get something, yada yada yada — but let’s be honest: The Rays were clearly aggressively thorough this trade deadline and walk away potentially the biggest winners not named the Dodgers, giving up little to add extraordinarily more than could have been anticipated.

So, how has the outlook changed?

Following the deadline, the FanDuel Sportsbook has the World Series odds at +1500 for the Rays — and that’s a bit insulting. It’s the sixth best, but behind the Yankees (+600) and Red Sox (+1400) for reasons hard to explain, especially when the Rays remain the favorites to take the division (-130).

If you’re considering betting World Series odds, there might not be a better time than now, lest the Sportsbook wise up. Anyway — this deadline get’s an A-grade from me. Let’s go beat up the Rockies.

Go Rays!