There might not be a more fascinating division in MLB right now than the NL Central. The Milwaukee Brewers are this season's most unexpected underdog, rocketing to the best record in the league despite a threadbare cap sheet. The Chicago Cubs are always a storyline, for better or worse, and there's a ton of pressure to deliver this season with Kyle Tucker on an expiring contract. Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals are still hanging around the Wild Card bubble, although both teams appear to be on opposite trajectories. Then we have the Pittsburgh Pirates, a global laughing stock stringing along the inevitable Cy Young winner.
With the MLB trade deadline in the rearview mirror for about a month now, every front office and fan base is taking stock of their club's successes — and their failures. There were plenty of mistakes and missed opportunities at the trade deadline this season, and a good chunk of them just happen to be concentrated in the NL Central.
As such, let's dive into all five teams to see which fumbles were the costliest.
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Pittsburgh Pirates: Not emptying their stores
The Pirates are a true embarrassment. That city deserves so much better than Bob Nutting, Ben Cherington and the Do Nothing Brigade in that front office. Pittsburgh has essentially failed in every conceivable way. They refuse to pay for sustainable contributors in free agency. They miscalculate seemingly every trade (see: Quinn Priester for Nick Yorke). Their player development system, especially on offense, is an unmitigated disaster. If not for Paul Skenes, it would be hard to get excited about this group at all.
Pittsburgh has a few top prospects coming down the pipeline, so there's something to look forward to. Bubba Chandler picked up a scoreless four-inning save in his MLB debut. Why he's coming out of the bullpen right now is beyond me, but at least he figures to anchor the rotation behind Skenes next season. At least the Pirates can kinda, sorta pitch.
And yet, despite a ghastly record and no clear path to contention, Cherington did very little at the trade deadline. He emptied out much of the bullpen, but left a valuable bullet in the chamber with Dennis Santana. In the lineup, expiring veterans like Tommy Pham, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and even Andrew McCutchen went untouched, despite no ostensible short- or long-term benefits to keeping them.
Pittsburgh mangles value at every turn. It's probably the worst-run organization in baseball, and any time your competition boils down to the Chicago White Sox or Colorado Rockies, it's a bad place to be.
St. Louis Cardinals: Not trading Willson Contreras
The Cardinals are another example of a team that could've done more at the deadline. John Mozeliak, in his last big act as president of baseball operations, mostly tweaked around the margins. He was able to trade expiring relievers like Steven Matz and Ryan Helsley, but St. Louis couldn't unmoor itself from the weighty veteran contracts holding this roster back. Nolan Arenado and Sonny Gray, both equipped with no-trade clauses, were big conversation-starters around the deadline. But what about Willson Contreras?
By virtue of not having a no-trade clause (and also being generally more productive than other sunk costs on the Cardinals roster) he was probably the easiest big-money player to shed at the deadline. But it never felt like St. Louis seriously considered it, as the 33-year-old is under contract through 2027 (with a club option for 2028). Contreras' value is at a relative low point, so he stuck around.
But why? His value isn't going back up. He's a limited defender who has made the (seemingly permanent) switch from catcher to first base. While still solid at the plate — .798 OPS with 19 home runs in 444 at-bats — Contreras is beginning to lose a bit of pop, which won't get better with age. Plenty of teams needed big boppers in the corner infield.
There is also the simple matter of his temperament, which is not befitting of a supposed clubhouse leader. As FanSided's Chris Landers eloquently laid out, the Cardinals need poised veterans who can lead by example. Contreras embarrassed himself Tuesday night when he threw his bat at the ump (it hit his own coach) and then tossed bubble gum onto the field after being ejected and dragged to the dugout by coaches. St. Louis doesn't need that.
Cincinnati Reds: Not adding more infield depth
The Reds are on the come-up with Terry Francona at the commands. This is a younger team with a future MVP candidate in Elly De La Cruz and plenty of secondary talent around him (especially in the rotation). And yet, if the goal was to crack the postseason picture in 2025, Cincy probably needed a louder trade deadline.
It's not like Cincinnati did nothing at the deadline. The Reds added a solid back-end starter in Zack Littell and the soon-to-be 2025 Gold Glove winner at third base in Ke'Bryan Hayes, who has done nothing but stack highlights at the hot corner since arriving in Ohio. But there was a lot more room to improve this lineup, especially in the infield.
With all due respect to Hayes, who brings a ton of value with his glove alone, he's a muted presence at the plate. Matt McLain has also hit a snag in his development this season, while Spencer Steer is producing right around the median offensively at first base. Miguel Andujar, another deadline add, can provide a spark as a multi-positional option with hitting chops, but Cincy missed out on the big boppers — the likes of Eugenio Suárez, who can really change the DNA of a team.
Chicago Cubs: Michael Soroka was the wrong SP to target
The Cubs were finally positioned to make a lot of noise at the trade deadline, but in typical Jed Hoyer fashion, he mostly sat on his hands. Chicago made a couple nice additions along the margins, such as utility man Willi Castro and lefty reliever Taylor Rogers, but what the Cubs really needed was another ace to anchor the postseason rotation alongside Shōta Imanaga and Justin Steele. Instead, Chicago went for a middling fifth starter type in Michael Soroka, who immediately got hurt.
Hoyer isn't in the business of predicting injuries, but even before that setback, Soroka clearly was not the needle-mover Chicago so badly needed. This is still a passable rotation, but postseason baseball is often a game of inches. The best teams load up at the trade deadline and plug as many holes as possible in the roster. At best, Soroka will be solid in long relief for Chicago once October rolls around, deployed almost exclusively in low-leverage situations.
The starting pitching market didn't quite take off like folks expected, but there were a few marquee names moved around. Arizona sent Merrill Kelly to Texas and was actively listening on Zac Gallen. The Padres kept Dylan Cease in the end, but he was very publicly made available for the right price. Same for Sandy Alcántara and Edward Cabrera in Miami.
Chicago is a distant second-place behind Milwaukee right now and the offense has hit a real lull after the All-Star break. With Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong both in a period of regression, Chicago will need to pitch lights out in order to advance deep into the playoffs. This roster might not be up to the task.
Milwaukee Brewers: A quiet deadline
The Brewers are the best team in the National League right now, but it's hard to tell if enough has changed from years past. Milwaukee is a very unusual contender in that the lineup doesn't produce much pop. The Brewers dink and dunk their way to runs; it's death by a thousand cuts. That is a strategy that does not always translate to the postseason stage, when the quality of competition skyrockets and the pressure ratchets up.
Milwaukee primarily focused on the margins at the trade deadline, adding a backup catcher in Danny Jensen and a middling outfield depth piece in Brandon Lockridge. Their biggest addition — righty Shelby Miller in the bullpen — made a strength stronger, but he doesn't necessarily move the needle in the way Brewers fans hoped.
This offense would've benefitted from more slugging. Suárez was always liable to get ice-cold at a certain point, as the Mariners learned well, but pumping 40-plus home run power into the Brewers lineup would've felt seismic. If the Brewers didn't want to pay the price for Suárez, outfield sluggers like Ramón Laureano and Ryan O'Hearn (who went from Baltimore to San Diego) or even Jesús Sánchez (who went from Miami to Houston) could've been worthwhile. What about Josh Naylor at first base? It's unclear how much Milwaukee can trust Andrew Vaughn, whose Linsanity run feels destined to end at some point — and probably not with a World Series ring.
The Brewers are a very good team as is. But is this a great team built to withstand the rigors of postseason baseball? That remains to be seen.