MLB Power Rankings: How the trade deadline changed everything
By Tim Boyle
4) MLB Power Rankings: San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres made the biggest trade of all at this year’s MLB trade deadline. By acquiring Juan Soto and Josh Bell from the Washington Nationals, they fixed the biggest problem with their roster. Scoring runs consistently has been a weakness of theirs. No longer should be. Already somewhat forgotten as well, they also added Josh Hader to the bullpen.
The Padres make a huge leap into the number four spot after what they did at the MLB trade deadline. Although we still need to see Soto and Bell actually suit up for the club, it’s hard to see them not fielding a competitive club in October.
Chances are San Diego will settle for a wild card spot. However, with a stellar starting rotation and now two productive bats added to the lineup, they are a better-rounded club ready to do some damage.
3) MLB Power Rankings: Houston Astros
This was a different kind of Houston Astros trade deadline. Trey Mancini and Christian Vazquez were nice additions to the roster but compared to a few other clubs in the top ten, it doesn’t do them any favors in the MLB Power Rankings.
One could argue the Astros already had a championship-caliber roster. They didn’t need to make quite as many big changes as some other teams.
Houston did what they had to do and will now move forward and see if they can possibly finish with the number one seed in the American League. This is a club with a ton of playoff experience and more World Series losses than wins in recent years. They’ll hope to have a different result if they are able to get back to the World Series yet again in 2022.