MLB Power Rankings: Which teams made the right moves at the trade deadline?
By Kevin Henry
15) MLB Power Rankings: Miami Marlins
Miami made three trades, and two of them seem to be moves where the Marlins are rolling the dice. Can Josh Bell rediscover his slugging ways as the Marlins fight for a postseason spot? Will Ryan Weathers be able to stick and make an impact in the rotation, something he couldn’t do while in San Diego? The acquisition of Jake Burger from the Chicago White Sox was a nice move, but the other two are gambles.
14) MLB Power Rankings: Tampa Bay Rays
The trade with Cleveland for Aaron Civale could prove to be a good one for the Rays, but three other minor deals did little to move the needle for the Rays. It was a trade deadline that fit the Rays’ personality of staying simple and sticking with the plan. The Rays didn’t necessarily improve by a great measure, but this is a team that believes it has enough in house to be a problem in October. We’ll see if they’re right.
13) MLB Power Rankings: Chicago White Sox
It may seem strange to have the White Sox listed so high after what was a very confusing set of messages during the heart of the trade deadline, but Chicago did get the fourth-ranked prospect from Miami in exchange for Jake Burger and Korey Lee could be part of the catching future after coming over from the Houston Astros. Nick Nastrini is an interesting pitching prospect who was acquired as part of the Joe Kelly-Lance Lynn deal with the Dodgers. All in all, not a bad showing on the South Side.
12) MLB Power Rankings: Baltimore Orioles
Getting Jack Flaherty from the St. Louis Cardinals will be the move that everyone will point to as to how far the Orioles rotation can carry the team moving forward. Will Baltimore being a true buyer for the first time since the 2018 season pay dividends in Charm City? Flaherty has performed well in July, posting a 3.03 ERA over five outings. Shintaro Fujinami has been serviceable in the bullpen since coming over from the Oakland A’s, but his deal pales in comparison to the Flaherty move.
11) MLB Power Rankings: Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh needed to sell assets at the trade deadline and they did just that, making a flurry of deals to bring in prospects and hopefully build for the future. Perhaps most interesting of all of the returns is left-hander Jackson Wolf, brought over from the San Diego Padres in a five-player deal in the hours just before the trade deadline hit. He and Alfonso Rivas, also brought over in that deal, already have MLB experience and could make an immediate impact in Pittsburgh.