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2022 MLB trade deadline: Winners and losers from this year’s deadline madness

By Eric Treuden

ATLANTA, GA - JULY 10: Juan Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals bats against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Truist Park on July 10, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Brett Davis/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - JULY 10: Juan Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals bats against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Truist Park on July 10, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Brett Davis/Getty Images) /
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DENVER, COLORADO – MAY 05: Juan Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals celebrates with Josh Bell #19 on his way to the dugout after hitting a solo home run against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning at Coors Field on May 05, 2022 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
DENVER, COLORADO – MAY 05: Juan Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals celebrates with Josh Bell #19 on his way to the dugout after hitting a solo home run against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning at Coors Field on May 05, 2022 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

MLB trade deadline winners

San Diego Padres

I mean, duh. The San Diego Padres pulled off what could be classified as the No. 1 best trade deadline by a single club in MLB history.

Not only did the Padres land Juan Soto, one of the greatest talents of this generation, but they also managed to land Josh Bell, Josh Hader and Brandon Drury, all while unloading Luke Voit and Eric Hosmer’s contracts along the way.

Now of course, the Padres lost a ton of prospect talent in these deals, but as they say, any team acquiring a superstar-level player of Soto’s stature automatically wins the deal, which in this case is 100% accurate.

Soto and Bell will immediately slot into right field and first base for the Friars while Drury is likely to function as an oft-used super utilityman as he has for the Reds throughout his 2022 breakout campaign.

In Hader, the Padres managed to bring aboard the best closer in baseball without giving up any huge prospect capital. This deal ended up being crucial for the club as the prospects it held on to in the Hader trade ended up being flipped to Washington D.C. for Soto and Bell.

New York Yankees

New York Yankees fans are absolutely allowed to say that their team would fit better in the losers category than the winners. The Bronx Bombers had their sights set on nearly every big name available, including Juan Soto, Trey Mancini, Brandon Drury, Luis Castillo and David Peralta, but came away with none of them.

Instead, the Yanks filled nearly every single hole they had on their active roster by making some quietly solid moves. Not only did Brian Cashman and Co. manage to unload Joey Gallo, but he essentially replaced him with Andrew Benintendi in the outfield.

Additionally, Frankie Montas, one of the best available starting pitchers, was brought aboard to join an already stacked rotation. Lou Trivino joined Montas in the deal from Oakland while the Yankees also brought aboard a quietly dominant reliever from the Cubs in submariner Scott Effross.

The significance of these bigger deals New York made is highlighted by the fact that top position player prospects Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe were not lost along the way. Any deal involving Soto would’ve certainly cost the Yankees one or even both of the players, so ultimately the Yankees might’ve done well by choosing to hang on to the pair of young studs in the making.

Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies entered deadline season with a few goals in mind: starting pitching help, bullpen help and center field help. Here we are after all is said and done and the Phills landed Noah Syndergaard, center fielder Brandon Marsh from the Angels and closer David Robertson from the Cubs.

The addition of Syndergaard shores up a rotation that’s endured both injures and subpar performances for the Phillies this year. ‘Thor’ is playing on a one-year ‘prove it’ contract that he signed with the Angels back in this past offseason. In 15 starts for LAA, Syndergaard is 5-8 with a 3.83 ERA and 3.95 FIP. His strikeout numbers are down from his previous marks (7.2 SO/9 rate against 9.2 back in 2019) but he has been effective in limiting the longball and walks this season.

Marsh represents an immediate upgrade in the outfield over the combination of Roman Quinn (who is now a member of the Rays) and Odúbel Herrera (who was designated for assignment in favor of Marsh). The 24-year-old outfielder comes with a ton of team control as he isn’t set to hit free agency until 2028, has considerable speed on the basepaths and in the outfield, and is a very slick fielder.

The acquisition of Robertson could prove to be a huge one for the Phillies, who have desperately needed help in their bullpen. ‘D-Rob’ is playing on a cheap, one-year deal and posted 14 saves for the Cubs in 36 appearances before the deal. He has a 2.23 ERA and has struck out 51 batters in 40 innings on the year. This will be the second go-round for Robertson in a Phillies uniform, as he spent a brief amount of time with the club back in 2019.

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