5 MLB GMs who put themselves on the hot seat after trade deadline

While there were no major stars moved on MLB trade deadline day, there was a ton of quantity when it came to deals being made.

While the lack of star power being moved made the deadline mostly underwhelming, the quantity of deals made this one in particular tantalizing to follow.

Now, the final two months of the regular season are set to begin. How the regular and postseason play out could determine not only the future of many organizations, but the future of the executives that run them. These five in particular put themselves squarely on the hot seat. Some of them are on the hot seat for not doing enough while others might've even done too much.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders, and join the discord to get the inside scoop as we near the July 30 MLB trade deadline.

5) A.J. Preller went all-in at the trade deadline and that can cost him

A.J. Preller did what many other organizations don't have the stomach to do. He went all-in. He traded virtually every high-end prospect in the San Diego Padres farm system not named Ethan Salas or Leo De Vries and acquired a pair of relievers.

Thanks to the trades for Tanner Scott and Jason Adam, the Padres might have the best bullpen in baseball. They should be unbeatable late in games with Scott, Adam Robert Suarez, and Jeremiah Estrada all serving as high-end high-leverage options. The question is, though, how good is this team?

Would anyone pick the Padres to overcome a 5.5-game deficit to overtake the Los Angeles Dodgers and win the NL West? I sure wouldn't. Would anyone pick the Padres to beat teams like the Dodgers and Phillies in October? That'd be a really hard sell.

Anything can happen in October and Preller gave his team the best chance to make a run. The problem is he traded a slew of talented prospects for a reliever with just a couple of months of club control and a lesser reliever with 2.5 years of control.

If the Padres win, Preller should be praised to no end. If they fall short again, though, after trading all of this prospect capital for relievers, it'll be difficult to defend Preller. He's one of the longest-tenured executives in the game. Eventually, he's going to run out of chances. By operating as aggressively as he did, Preller gave his team a shot to win now, but he might've put his job on the line simultaneously if they fall short.

4) Derek Falvey had to do more than he did for an underrated Twins team

To be fair, it's better than last year's trade deadline. Instead of making no trades, the Minnesota Twins made one move, acquiring Trevor Richards in a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. That's it. They added Trevor Richards, a reliever with a 4.64 ERA who has been worth -0.4 bWAR this season.

As things stand as of this writing, Minnesota trails the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians by 6.5 games. They're just percentage points ahead of the Kansas City Royals for the second Wild Card spot, and are only 2.0 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox for a postseason spot entirely.

The Guardians went out and acquired Lane Thomas and Alex Cobb to fill a couple of major holes. The Royals acquired Lucas Erceg and Hunter Harvey to add to a struggling bullpen and even upgraded their No. 5 starter spot by trading for Michael Lorenzen. The Red Sox traded for James Paxton and a pair of relievers.

The Twins doing nothing could easily cost them a postseason spot, which is a shame because this roster is very talented when healthy. Ownership reportedly refusing to add much to payroll obviously put the Twins front office in a tough spot, but there's no excuse for coming up with only Trevor Richards.

3) It felt as if Farhan Zaidi didn't have a plan at the trade deadline

Can someone please try and explain what the San Francisco Giants are up to? On one hand, they appeared to be sellers, shedding the contracts of Jorge Soler and Alex Cobb. On the other hand, they acquired Mark Canha at the last minute and didn't sell any major pieces.

If the Giants' plan was simply to shed some salary while mostly standing pat at the deadline, that does not sound like the smartest idea. Standing pat likely won't accomplish much of anything considering their 10.2 percent chance to make the postseason according to FanGraphs.

So many teams in the NL Wild Card race got better. Even teams like the Dodgers, Padres, and Diamondbacks in their own division all got better. The Giants got worse, replacing Soler with Canha and also trading Cobb who is set to return from the IL very soon.

The Giants could've easily traded Blake Snell, and in this seller's market, received a haul in return. Instead, they sold only halfway, even went onto acquire a player, and got worse while the rest of their competition improved. It makes no sense, and could cost Farhan Zaidi his job.

2) Dana Brown's poor trade deadline performance has him on the hot seat

The Houston Astros rebounded from their brutal start to put themselves in a prime position to buy at the trade deadline. Dana Brown made it clear from the jump that he was going to be aggressive in getting Houston the upgrades he felt they needed. The moves Brown wound up making, though, left a lot to be desired.

The big one saw the Astros trade a monster haul to the Toronto Blue Jays for Yusei Kikuchi. Their big all-in move was acquiring Kikuchi, a fine mid-rotation arm at his best who is set to hit free agency at the end of the year. Really?

What makes it worse is that the Astros didn't acquire Kikuchi at his best. He has a 4.75 ERA in 22 starts this season, and has a 6.87 ERA in his last 11 starts. The problem isn't the fact that the Astros made a major move. The problem is that they did it for Kikuchi. They couldn't have gone after Jack Flaherty?

The only other move Houston made saw them acquire Caleb Ferguson, a reliever who struggled with the Yankees this season. Most notably, they did not add a single position player and appear to be content with Jon Singleton as their everyday first baseman.

Again, trading prospects isn't the problem. For what Houston gave up, they needed to acquire more. Kikuchi makes them slightly better, but when Houston is healthy, he's nothing more than a No. 5 starter for them. If the Astros don't win and Kikuchi doesn't make a difference, Brown could easily be the one to blame.

1) Perry Minasian's underwhelming trade deadline could be his final straw

If there was ever a year for the Los Angeles Angels to finally embrace a full rebuild. It was a clear seller's market, and the Angels had a lot to sell.

To their credit, they did trade players like Carlos Estevez and Luis Garcia and received good value in return. With that being said, though, both Estevez and Garcia were rentals. The Angels could have, and should have, done a lot more.

Tyler Anderson has had a tremendous bounce-back year and even made the AL All-Star team. He has another year of club control at just $13 million for 2025. The Angels inexplicably held onto him. They have Luis Rengifo, a strong utility player in the midst of a career year who came back from the IL just in time for the deadline. He has one more year of club control, yet the team did not move him.

The Angels saw Yusei Kikuchi get traded for an absurd haul. They even saw themselves benefit from this seller's market by receiving a ton in return for Estevez in particular, yet they refused to go all-in on selling. Even guys like Kevin Pillar and Hunter Strickland who are both on expiring contracts and have played well this season weren't dealt.

A team like the Miami Marlins completely revamped their lackluster farm system by embracing a full rebuild. Not only do the Angels refuse to do that, but they don't even spend as if they play in a big market. Arte Moreno has undoubtedly played a major role here, and it's unclear as to how much autonomy Perry MInasian has when it comes to trading controllable players, but Minasian feels like a goner with this underwhelming deadline being the final straw.