MLB Trade Deadline: Top 25 midseason deals of all-time

10. Dodgers acquire Manny Ramirez, July 31, 2008

During the 20th Anniversary season of the club’s last World Series title, the Los Angeles Dodgers made a headline-grabbing move to secure the services of one of the best pure hitters in MLB history, Manny Ramirez, in 2008.

Just one game above .500 and two games back in the NL West heading into the final day before the trade deadline, the Dodgers, Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates orchestrated a three-team trade that sent the 36-year-old Ramirez from Boston to Los Angeles, with Pirates slugger Jason Bay heading to Boston.

In 53 games, Ramirez hit .396/.489/.743 with 16 home runs and 53 RBI. He pushed his season totals to 37 homers and 121 RBI, scored 102 runs and posted a .332/.430/.601 slash. An All-Star as an American Leaguer, Ramirez finished fourth in the National League MVP vote for his performance with Los Angeles.

Without Ramirez, it’s very possible the Dodgers would have missed the postseason. After sinking to 65-70 on August 29 after an eight-game losing streak, the club caught fire over the last month of the season and finished 84-78, winning the division by two games.

Ramirez carried his good work at the plate over into the postseason as well, hitting .500/.643/1.100 with two home runs in a three-game sweep of the Cubs in the NLDS. Though Ramirez hit .533/.682/1.067 with two homers and seven RBI in a against the Phillies in the NLCS, Los Angeles failed to reach its first World Series since 1988, losing the series in five games.