Yankees general manager Brian Cashman held his annual post-trade deadline press conference on Thursday night. Here's what he said on the team's activity and outlook...

More today than yesterday

The Yankees made nine total trades over the last week, and of the five that transpired before the league's 6 p.m. deadline, three completely reshaped the structure of their bruised-and-battered bullpen.

Over the course of three hours on Thursday afternoon, Cashman acquired a trio of high-leverage, right-handed relievers: David Bednar from the Pirates, Jake Bird from the Rockies, and Camilo Doval from the Giants. Sandwiched in between the bullpen upgrades were deals that saw utilityman Jose Caballero acquired from the Rays and infielder Oswald Peraza shipped to the Angels.

While the Yankees checked off several boxes with a slew of trades, both large and small -- newly-acquired hitters Ryan McMahon, Amed Rosario, and Austin Slater were all on the active roster Wednesday -- bullpen help was their top priority. Fair strategy, considering that the unit entered Thursday with the league's second-worst ERA (6.29) in July.

"We've improved the team, we believe. We tried to address the areas of need," Cashman said. "We added to the bullpen. We improved the position player group as well, giving the manager more choices to play matchups... He's certainly got more arms to mix and match with the new additions as well... We've addressed a lot of areas of need to give us the best shot we can take."

The deals involving Bednar, Bird, and Doval matter beyond 2025 as well. All three relievers are under team-friendly control through the 2026 season, and Cashman viewed this collective contract situation as an obvious "benefit." It wasn't the motive for the moves, as he also inquired about rental relievers in the marketplace.

But what about the rotation?

Despite the flurry of arrivals and departures, the Yankees didn't come away with any new rotation pieces. While they were linked to several starters in league-wide rumors spanning the entire month -- Sandy Alcantara, Edward Cabrera, Mitch Keller, and Merrill Kelly were mainly at the forefront -- nothing materialized, according to Cashman.

When asked if the Yankees seriously pursued a blockbuster deal for Alcantara, Cashman neither confirmed nor denied any involvement.

"We certainly knocked on many doors regarding potential starting pitching, but obviously weren't able to match up in that category," Cashman said. "We had a lot of conversations in a lot of different places. But again, this is what we have to show for those efforts."

The Yankees' inability to deliver rotation depth places immense pressure on a top-heavy staff that's become more volatile due to injuries and inconsistencies. While they have a quality one-two punch of star lefties Max Fried and Carlos Rodón in full-ish command, the back-end combination of Will Warren, Marcus Stroman, and others isn't reassuring by any means.

They can treat injured starter Luis Gil'simminent return to the rotation as a deadline acquisition, but only time will tell how the 2024 AL Rookie of the Year -- fully recovered from a months-long lat strain -- fares with a closely-monitored workload this summer. The Yankees already know that Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt won't see the mound again until sometime in 2026.

Top prospects stick around

As the chaotic week unfolded, expectations of the Yankees making highly-coveted outfielder Spencer Jones the centerpiece of any blockbuster trade package waned. This news came as no surprise, as a torrid start to his first stint in Triple-A exponentially boosted his value and altered his stock.

Cashman was asked if he tried to avoid trades that would've required the Yankees to part ways with Jones, or top infield farmhand George Lombard Jr. He didn't speak to either prospect by name in response, but did acknowledge that some players are "more touchable than others."

"There's a lot of guys that we like, and unfortunately, we parted with guys we like," Cashman said. "Just the nature of the beast. We were trying to stay away from certain guys more than others, but we also recognize that you have to give to get...

"That's where the rubber meets the road. You've got to make a decision on certain things, where you pick the lane, holding on and have that for yourself, or use that to get something that's going to help you in the near term. We had to make those tough decisions..."

A brief state of the union

While the Yankees wrapped up July on a three-game winning streak, several of their warts were exposed throughout the month. They produced a sub-.500 record in July for a third straight season, and saw a red-hot Blue Jays squad leap as many as 6.5 games ahead of them for first place in the AL East.

With a tight 1.5-game lead over the Red Sox for second place in the division, the Yankees will need to play a much cleaner brand of baseball in order to supplant the Blue Jays and avoid the extra round of wild-card postseason games. And all that Cashman can do now is cross his fingers for a roster that's largely underwhelmed.

"I know we have improved ourselves, and that's the nature of the beast at the deadline," Cashman said. "You and your group -- and I've got great people behind me advising me -- you get after it and prepare for whatever comes your way because it's so unpredictable. I thought we were buttoned up and we were prepared.

"We were hopeful to try to execute some things, and now it's time to test the theory of how it plays out with the group of players we currently have. I know we're better. We're better today than we were yesterday, so mission accomplished there... We're looking forward to taking our shot -- that's all we can give it."

It was a busy trade deadline for David Stearns and the rest of the Mets front office, as they tried to shore up holes and prepare the team for the final two months of the season and a potential long playoff run.

Stearns was able to accomplish his number one goal of remaking the bullpen with the acquisitions of Ryan Helsley, Tyler Rogers and Gregory Soto -- days prior -- but also grabbed an outfielder in Cedric Mullins.

And outside of some household names, like Jose Butto and a couple of minor leaguers -- more on them later -- the Mets didn't have to give up a lot to get these players. So, how did Stearns accomplish that?

"The story of this deadline, for us, is really an amateur talent acquisition and player development story," Stearns said over Zoom after the 6 p.m. trade deadline. "Our amateur talent acquisition departments and player development group put us in position to have this type of deadline, where we were to go out and acquire players that would help us in the major league level and not touch some really high-upside players at the top of our system. Enormous credit to them."

Stearns lauded Mullins' athleticism and ability to affect games in ways that won't show up in the box score. He also praised the two-headed monster of Helsley and Rogers that will give manager Carlos Mendoza more options to bridge to star closer Edwin Diaz. But some of the minor league capital -- specifically Drew Gilbert and Blade Tidwell in the Rogers deal -- used to acquire some of these arms were met with raised eyebrows.

The Mets' president of baseball operations understands how good the team's minor leaguers are, but also understands it needed to be done in order to compete this year.

"They’re good players, there’s no question they are good players," Stearns said of Tidwell and Gilbert. "Proximity to the major leagues certainly factors into these types of deals. We believe we’ve traded a number of players who are going to play on TV and continue to play on TV and I hope they do…

"We are rooting for them. We are in a position where we thought these deals made sense, giving good players for good players who can help us in a more concentrated fashion right now. Never easy decisions to make, but it was the right decisions to make right now."

While Stearns got the outfield bat and remade the bullpen, many felt the Mets would be better off trading for a starter to bolster the rotation. The current starters, outside of David Peterson, have not been able to give the team consistent length, and a proven arm could rectify that.

Of course, the Mets did not deal for one at this trade deadline and Stearns explained his thought process.

"As we saw, there were some starting pitchers that were traded but not every pitcher who was rumored to be available was ultimately moved. We were engaged throughout," Stearns said. "There’s multiple ways to build a pitching staff. We focused on the back-end of the pitching staff. We’re really happy with the arms we were able to acquire who are going to pitch out of our pen.

"And we have confidence in the starters not only here who will keep us competitive and help us win games, but also pleased with the development of some of the guys in Triple-A who are progressing. We understand that they could, may not definitely, but they could be part of the mix going forward if needed."

Those Triple-A arms, which include veteran Paul Blackburn, who was not dealt at the deadline, are options. How viable those options are remains to be seen, but Stearns believes the team is good enough to win it all this year and for years to come.

Since being hired after the 2023 season, Stearns has committed to making the Mets a sustainable winner, and this trade deadline is just one part of it. So while many saw the moves for rental relievers as going all-in on a "window," Stearns sees it as just another part of his grand plan.

"I don’t view this as windows. Our responsibility here is to give ourselves a chance to make the playoffs and win a World Series every single year," he said. "That’s what this should be, that’s what we’re aiming for. I don’t view this era of Mets competitiveness as a window.

"I view it as the beginning of a long and sustained competitiveness at a high level. The moves we made help this year without, in a very material way, sacrificing some really high-end talent that could help us in years to come."

Before trade rumors heated up and dream scenarios were briefly envisioned, before the Dodgers were linked to a string of big names who all wound up anywhere but Los Angeles, the team’s front office foreshadowed what proved to be a rather straightforward, unremarkable trade deadline on Thursday afternoon.

“This group is really talented,” general manager Brandon Gomes said last week. “I would argue it’s better than the team that won the World Series last year.”

“It’s really about our internal guys, and the fact that these are veteran guys that have well-established watermarks,” echoed president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, amid a July slump that fueled deadline speculation about what the team would need.

“I think the fact that we see the work they put in, how much they care, just makes it easier to bet on.”

Read more:MLB trade deadline tracker: Live updates, news and every major move

On Thursday, maintaining faith in their current group is exactly what the Dodgers did.

The team did address its two main needs ahead of MLB’s annual midseason trade deadline. In the bullpen, it reunited with right-handed veteran Brock Stewart in a trade with the Minnesota Twins. In the outfield, it added solid-hitting, defensively serviceable 30-year-old Alex Call in a deal with the Washington Nationals.

But compared with the flurry of blockbuster deals that reverberated around them in the National League — from a head-spinning seven-player shopping spree by the San Diego Padres, to a bullpen arms race between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies — the Dodgers’ moves were mild, tame and certainly cost-conscientious.

They didn’t splurge for one of the several established closers that were dealt for sky-high prices throughout the league. They didn’t remake their lineup by landing someone such as Steven Kwan, or any other hitter with anything close to All-Star pedigree.

In fact, the Dodgers hardly gave up much at all, content to round out the margins of their roster while parting with little in the way of prospect capital.

High-A pitchers Eriq Swan and Sean Paul Liñan (the 16th- and 20th-ranked players in their farm system by MLB Pipeline) were shipped to Washington. But otherwise, the only other departures were 40-man roster players unlikely to factor much into the team’s late-season plans: James Outman, who went to Minnesota in exchange for Stewart; Dustin May, who was dealt to the Boston Red Sox for a prospect a few months before entering free agency; and minor league catcher Hunter Feduccia, who was part of a three-team deal late Wednesday night that netted the Dodgers two pitching prospects and a journeyman catcher.

Compared to last year — when the Dodgers added Jack Flaherty (their eventual Game 1 starter in the World Series), Tommy Edman (the eventual National League Championship Series MVP) and Michael Kopech (a key piece in a bullpen that carried the team to a World Series title) — it all felt rather anticlimactic.

Which, as the Dodgers’ top two executives had noted the week before, appeared to be perfectly fine by them.

In Stewart, the team got a lower-cost addition in what was an expensive seller’s reliever market.

The 33-year-old has only two career saves, and is unlikely to fix the Dodgers’ ninth-inning problems. But, he is having a strong statistical season with 14 holds and a 2.38 ERA, 14th-best in the American League among relievers with 30 innings. He will give the Dodgers a stout option against right-handed hitters, who have just a .104 average and .372 OPS against him. And he comes with familiarity in the organization, still thought highly of after starting his career with the Dodgers from 2016-2019 — back before he reinvented himself with a fastball that now sits in the mid-to-upper 90 mph range.

In Call, the Dodgers gave themselves more versatility in the outfield.

Read more:Dodgers begin deadline with minor trade, while still seeking upgrades in bullpen and outfield

The right-handed hitter has appeared in just 277 career games over four MLB seasons with the Nationals and Cleveland Guardians.

But the former third-round draft pick is having a nice 2025 season, highlighted by a .274 batting average, .756 OPS and decent (if unspectacular) defensive grades at all three outfield positions.

While Call’s role wasn’t immediately clear, he could factor into a platoon with recently resurgent left-handed hitting outfielder Michael Conforto. He also gives the Dodgers another option in center field, specifically, which would allow Andy Pages to spend more time in a more naturally suited corner outfield spot.

For those Dodgers, the moves checked off their two big priorities: Adding another dependable right-handed reliever in the bullpen, and improving their defensive options in the outfield.

What was missing from the Dodgers’ deadline, however, was the kind of big splash so many other contenders reeled off this week. The Padres acquired Mason Miller, Ramon Laureano, and Ryan O’Hearn without sacrificing any key big-league pieces. The Mets added Tyler Rogers, Ryan Helsley and Gregory Soto to their already stout bullpen, while the Phillies upgraded theirs with the addition of Jhoan Durán.

Already this year, the rest of the NL was keeping pace with what was billed as a seemingly invincible Dodgers team. Suddenly, the competition looks that much stronger, not only for the club to defend its World Series, but even to preserve the narrow three-game lead it holds over the Padres in the NL West.

The Dodgers, however, see internal improvement as the key to the rest of the season.

Read more:Shohei Ohtani leaves pitching start because of cramping, Dodgers go on to lose to Reds

Already, their pitching staff is getting healthy. Tyler Glasnow, Blake Treinen and (as of this coming Saturday) Blake Snell are all back from extended injuries. Michael Kopech, Brusdar Graterol, Tanner Scott and Roki Sasaki are also scheduled to return over the final two months.

Offensively, the club is confident that slumping stars Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Tesocar Hernández will get back on track, and that Max Muncy will provide a jolt in his return from injury next week. All that — coupled with the MVP-caliber play of Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith — they believe should yield a lineup capable of repeating a run to the World Series.

“It’s always tricky when you’re in the midst of a swoon in team performance, because in those moments you feel like we need everything,” Friedman acknowledged leading into the deadline, with the team enduring a 10-14 slide in July. “So for us, it’s about, all right, let’s look ahead to August, September. Let’s look at what our best-case scenario is. Let’s look at, if we have a few injuries here and there, what areas are we exposed? What areas do we feel like we have depth?”

Apparently, the Dodgers still liked what they already had, rolling the dice on their current group while other contenders stocked up all around them.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Yankees extended their winning streak to three games on Thursday afternoon, as a pair of early-inning homers helped them outlast the Rays in a rain-soaked 7-4 victory at Yankee Stadium.

Here are the takeaways...

-- It didn't take long for the Yankees to inflict damage on Rays starter Ryan Pepiot. After a lucky one-out double to shallow left from Paul Goldschmidt -- the high fly was lost in the sky and found grass between four fielders -- Cody Bellinger continued his torrid pace at the plate with an RBI single to right-center that broke the ice. The swirling Bronx winds didn't impact the ensuing at-bat for Giancarlo Stanton, however, as the veteran slugger bumped the first-inning lead to 3-0 with a mammoth two-run homer to left that traveled 432 feet.

-- The Yankees posted another three-spot off Pepiot in the second. Following back-to-back one-out walks from Ryan McMahon and Anthony Volpe, leadoff man and catcher Ben Rice ripped a cutter to right-center that landed in the bullpen for a three-run blast. The 410-foot shot was No. 16 on the season for Rice, who finished July with just two homers in 56 total at-bats. The Yankees jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the third, when newly-acquired outfielder Austin Slater grounded into a fielder's choice that scored Jazz Chisholm Jr., who sparked the brief rally with a one-out walk of his own.

-- The early and ample run support appeased Marcus Stroman, who managed to hold the Rays hitless through three innings with three strikeouts across 38 pitches. But the groove didn't last for the veteran right-hander, as he gave up a leadoff single to Brandon Lowe in the fourth that snowballed into a five-hit, four-run rally and cut the Yankees' lead to three. Stroman needed 28 pitches to complete the frame, and it marked his first start with four-plus runs allowed since returning from the injured list on June 29.

-- Heavy rain began to fall in the top of the fifth, and Stroman worked quick enough to produce three outs on eight pitches and make the game official. While play resumed after a mid-inning chat between a grounds crew member and umpire, the tarp was rolled out shortly thereafter with runners on the corners for the Yankees and one out. Rather than handing the Yankees a rain-shortened win, the league made both teams sit through a nearly three-hour delay, and the prolonged fifth inning ended with a double-play groundout from Slater.

-- Yerry De Los Santos was tasked with bulk relief duty following the delay, and didn't disappoint the Yankees. He faced the minimum through three innings of work, punching out five across 33 pitches. Jonathan Loaisiga then handled the ninth inning, and worked around a leadoff double to earn his first save of the season. The Yankees' offense produced just a pair of singles after the rain showers.

Game MVP: Ben Rice

Rice's three-run shot in the second inning wound up providing just enough cushion, as the Yankees' seven-run lead was cut down to three by the fourth. It was welcomed power from Rice, who's hitting just .228 over his last 30 games.

Highlights

GIANCARLOOOO pic.twitter.com/v1FmrtgEx2

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) July 31, 2025

Ben Rice with a three-run blast! pic.twitter.com/Cw7NUE4GiT

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) July 31, 2025

Austin Slater with his first RBI as a Yankee pic.twitter.com/8NFlCAsbno

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) July 31, 2025

What's next

The Yankees (60-49) will fly down to South Beach and begin a three-game weekend set with the Marlins on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.

LHP Carlos Rodón (11-7, 3.18 ERA) is slated to take the mound, while the Marlins have yet to name their starter.

The Yankees continued their quest to bolster the bullpen just minutes before the end of the trade deadline.

According to multiple reports, the Yankees have acquired Giants reliever Camilo Doval. The Yankees traded No. 19 prospect Trystan Vrieling, No. 25 prospect Jesus Rodriguez, Parks Harbor, and Carlos De La Rosa.

Doval has had a solid season for the Giants. In 47 appearances, he's pitched to a 3.09 ERA to go along with 50 strikeouts in 46.2 innings pitched. He's also closed 15 games for the Giants.

It's a nice bounce-back year for Doval, who pitched to a 4.88 ERA last season and lost the closer's job. But he's not far removed from his All-Star season in 2023 when he saved 39 games and pitched to a 2.93 ERA.

The Doval trade culminates an active deadline for GM Brian Cashman, as he brought in a total of three relievers to remake the bullpen, including former Pirates closer David Bednar and former Rockies reliever Jake Bird.

Like Bednar and Bird, Doval will be under Yankees control for multiple seasons. Doval is arbitration-eligible for two more seasons before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2028.

The Yankees made a move to add some versatility and speed just before the 6 p.m. trade deadline, acquiring utility man Jose Caballero from the Tampa Bay Rays, per Jack Curry of YES Network.

In exchange, the Yanks are sending Everson Pereira and a player to be named later to Tampa.

Caballero, 28, won’t have to travel far to arrive with this new team, as the Yankees and Rays were still playing each other in the Bronx following a lengthy rain delay.

This season alone, Caballero has played 17 games at second, 27 games at third, 31 games at short, and 35 games in the outfield.

He also brings elite speed to the Yanks' roster, as he's stolen 34 bases in 42 attempts this season. Last season, Caballero was successful on 44 out of 60 stolen base attempts.

The former Ray will likely be a do-it-all player off the bench for the Bombers, taking the spot of Oswald Peraza, who was traded to the Los Angeles Angels earlier in the day.