This trade deadline was as unique as any I’ve covered. It went from quiet, quiet, quiet to absolutely hectic on the last day, with a whopping 53 trades made in July and August.
Some teams got a lot better. Some teams sold off and took advantage of a sellers’ market. Others stood pat despite having obvious trade chips (hello, Cincinnati Reds). But there were five deals that stood out to me that I really liked, for various reasons. Let’s dive into them.
Luis Arraez to the Philadelphia Phillies
This was my favorite trade of the deadline. After I reported that the Phillies were interested in Arraez, I received a few phone calls and texts from folks curious where Arraez would factor defensively in Philly. The educated guess was second base. But the real answer was that the Phillies wanted his bat. Badly.
We’ve seen Arraez’s impact in Philadelphia already. He's hitting .333/.333/.778 with a 1.111 OPS, one home run and three RBI in his first two games. The fanbase has loved him and the energy he provides. He’s a perfect fit in Philadelphia.
This was also a good trade for the Giants. Ramon Marquez, who was the Phillies’ No. 4 prospect, was the headliner back to San Francisco in the trade, and word is the Giants are ecstatic about landing him. A shoutout to the Phillies’ international scouting department, who signed Marquez for a mere $10,000 in 2025.
Tarik Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers
I have to put this trade in here because it’s the best pitcher on the planet going to the best team in baseball. It gives the Dodgers insurance in case Shohei Ohtani isn’t able to pitch again this season. It also makes the Dodgers, already the World Series favorites, much more likely to three-peat by adding Skubal to a rotation that is headlined by Yoshinobu Yamamoto and to a roster that resembles an All-Star team.
All the pressure is on the Dodgers to win it all, and every team is going to give them their best shot. It’s going to make for fantastic baseball down the stretch.
Luke Weaver to the Pittsburgh Pirates
This was an incredible job by the Pittsburgh Pirates. At various points, people throughout baseball thought that Weaver might be headed to the Milwaukee Brewers. But it was Ben Cherington and the front office who ultimately landed the best reliever on the market.
Having the Pirates add at the deadline is a really, really good thing. They also got the Mets to pay Weaver’s salary down to the minimum this year, while the Mets are taking on $6 million in salary for next year. The price, prospect Sammy Stafura, was light, according to rival executives, and gives the Pirates a high-end reliever to build around while also adding Kirby Yates, Lake Bachar and Camilo Doval. This was a great trade by Cherington.
The Angels selling
When the Angels went into deadline day having hardly made any moves, the first thought was: “Uh oh, here we go again.”
But then Jose Soriano went to the Toronto Blue Jays, Jo Adell went to the Cleveland Guardians, and the floodgates eventually opened. It was the most definitive proof yet that John Mozeliak was indeed given the green light by Arte Moreno to do as he pleased, and it’s exactly what the organization needed. Now, Zach Neto and Reid Detmers both stayed in Anaheim, and props to Mozeliak and Co. for not forcing a deal here.
The Angels, however, can listen on both Neto and Detmers again in the offseason and that should allow more teams to enter the fray. This was not the last we’ll hear about trade rumors surrounding the two.
Logan O’Hoppe to the Texas Rangers
I started with a few pretty obvious trades, so let’s finish with one of the first trades of the deadline.
O’Hoppe has ability. He was a former top prospect, the player who was supposed to be The Guy behind the plate in Anaheim, and it didn’t work out. That ability did not suddenly just go away. A change of scenery here was beyond needed and word immediately after the trade was this: the Rangers have a plan for O’Hoppe.
There have been teams — contending teams — who have attempted to trade for O’Hoppe in the past and were unsuccessful. The Rangers got him and reliever Chase Silseth for a lottery ticket. I have a feeling a bunch of teams look back on this one and wonder, “Why didn’t we do that?”
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