MLB trade deadline rankings, grades: Top 50 deals, from Paul DeJong to Erick Fedde to Jazz Chisholm Jr., with marks for top 10 moves

Jordan Shusterman

July is the time for wheeling and dealing among the 30 MLB teams, and the days leading up to Tuesday’s trade deadline were no different.

With a hard deadline at the end of the month, trade season usually kicks off in earnest following the All-Star Game. Sure, you get the occasional early-season blockbuster, such as San Diego’s deal for Luis Arraez back in early May, but for the most part, nothing gets cooking until after the break. This year, the first big move came when Kansas City acquired reliever Hunter Harvey from Washington on the Saturday before the All-Star break, the inaugural swap of this season’s deadline-related action. Then things really picked up last week, unleashing a steady flow of transactions punctuated by an absolute rush of activity in the hours and minutes leading up to Tuesday’s 6 p.m. ET deadline.

Now that the dust has settled, it’s time to take a deep breath and review what has transpired. While we’re a long way away from knowing exactly how these deals will work out for the teams involved, there’s something to be said for how trades are received and processed in the moment and the response they elicit when initially reported. As such, consider this a ranking of the deals that evoked the strongest reactions from around the baseball industry in the immediate aftermath of their completion, organized into tiers that best describe the genre of the trades. For the top 10 trades, I’ll also assign a letter grade for the teams involved.

Presenting the top 50 trades of the 2024 MLB trade deadline.

Some highly recognizable names were on the move here, though they all project to contribute to their new teams in part-time roles: DeJong as infield depth, Canha and Jimenez as platoon quasi-sluggers vs. LHPs, Kiermaier as a left-handed CF option and Rosario roving around the Dodgers’ thinned out infield.

I’m a bit confused (and amused) by the Kelly and Chafin acquisitions being completely separate trades just two days apart. Why not lump ‘em together? Chafin feels like a reliever who could have helped a ton of teams and instead ends up bolstering a Texas bullpen that needed far more than just one arm. I’m assuming Texas thinks its best chance to make a run is to simply get healthy and ride with the talent already in-house, but it was pretty odd to see the Rangers fail to pick a real lane at the deadline.

Ranked roughly in order of reliever quality and likelihood that these pitchers will be throwing high-leverage innings for their new teams if/when they reach the postseason, this is a fairly standard string of the kind of bullpen deals we’ve grown accustomed to seeing in July. I’m certainly intrigued by some of the returns, but for the most part, these are contending teams in search of reinforcements for the most fickle part of any roster. Ho-hum.

THE PIRATES WERE BUSY … KIND OF

I was eager to see what direction Pittsburgh would go, considering their place in the NL wild-card standings and with Paul Skenes having single-handedly revitalized the team and fan base to the point that a postseason push felt more realistic. GM Ben Cherington certainly didn’t act like a full-blown buyer at this deadline, but he did sacrifice some prospect capital to augment the big-league roster.

That said, while De La Cruz and IKF come with additional years of team control, I’m a bit skeptical that either is the kind of player who will make a meaningful difference for this offensive unit down the stretch or even in years to come. I’m glad the Pirates didn’t go backward, but these half-steps forward still feel like a bit of a letdown.

These four hitters will all be free agents this winter, but they’ll first try to strengthen the lineups of several postseason hopefuls. Bell has been hot lately and will be filling in at first base in Arizona for the injured Christian Walker. Turner brings elite contact skills and a veteran presence to a Mariners lineup in desperate need of a jolt and reliable production. Winker lengthens New York’s already-strong lineup amidst a heated NL wild-card race. Jansen gives Boston a much-needed right-handed bat and real offense at a position that rarely offers as much.

It’s no certainty that any of these arms will start a postseason game for their new team, but injuries have ravaged so many contending teams’ rotations that it was always likely that some back-end-caliber arms would move before the deadline. Cobb is on the way back from a hip injury and should bring some stability for Cleveland as it tries to stave off Kansas City and Minnesota for a division title.

You don’t often see Opening Day starters dealt at the deadline — let alone to a division rival — but Montas is off to Milwaukee to help fortify its rotation after a disappointing stint in Cincinnati. Blackburn finally moved after being on the block for quite some time and will try to backfill some innings vacated by Kodai Senga’s untimely new injury. The Orioles paid a hefty price for Rogers, whose results have been poor recently, but he’s still a young lefty who will now try to rediscover the success he had earlier in his career.

This was the ultra-rare, big-leaguer-for-big-leaguer swap involving two contenders, and thus, it did not fit snugly in any other tier. It looks slightly more favorable for Philadelphia at this point, but we’ll see which of these players makes the biggest difference come October — for better or worse.

We know a bunch of relievers will be traded at every deadline, but there’s a wide range as far as what these pitchers cost, based on their respective contract situations and how comfortable they are pitching in high leverage. These eight relievers run the gamut from the lefties to righties to set-up men to closers to rentals to multiple years of team control, but the common thread is that all of them warranted multiple prospects being sent the other way.

These are deals intended to improve a team’s likelihood of closing out close games down the stretch and in October, and these are also the kinds of deals that can age poorly in a hurry given the volatile nature of relievers. Some of these trades will surely pay massive dividends over the next few months, and some will haunt these teams for years. For now, all we can do is wait and see.

Leave it to the Padres to pay the steepest price for any individual reliever on the market, but I think they picked the right one to go all-in for with Scott, even as a rental. The hard-throwing lefty joins San Diego’s bullpen alongside Adam to form one of the more intimidating relief units in the league, one that already features an elite closer in Robert Suarez and a rising relief star in Jeremiah Estrada.

Amid a deadline relatively bereft of massive, blockbuster deals, I’m glad we can always count on Padres GM A.J. Preller to keep things spicy — and credit to the Marlins for taking advantage of San Diego’s renowned aggressiveness and landing such a strong package in return.

This was a fairly straightforward use of Baltimore’s exceptional farm system depth to acquire a durable, mid-rotation option in Eflin who is also under team control for 2025. Eflin throws six different pitches and a boatload of strikes and is the kind of pitcher you aren’t necessarily ecstatic about handing the ball for Game 3 or 4 of a postseason series, but you aren’t especially stressed about him, either. He’s an upgrade, and the Rays must’ve really liked the return to deal him in the division at a time when they seemingly intend to compete next season.

The best argument for paying such an exorbitant price for Kikuchi from Houston’s perspective is that he provides both upside and insurance for what has proven to be an extremely volatile and rickety rotation as the Astros try to recapture another AL West crown. At his best, Kikuchi brings real swing-and-miss stuff from the left side as a starter — there weren’t many of those on the move at this deadline — but I don’t like his fit at Minute Maid Park, and I don’t like giving up three players who could come back to bite you quickly.

It’s one thing to ship off some promising A-ball prospects for a rental, but all three of Bloss, Loperfido and Wagner have a chance to help Toronto in a real way as soon as next year, when the Jays are trying to contend again. There’s now massive pressure on Kikuchi to perform well in a postseason start — a start he isn’t even guaranteed to get, based on Houston’s precarious position alongside Seattle atop the AL West.

This deal got another layer of intrigue in the hours following the deadline, when Ken Rosenthal reported that the Yankees backed out of an agreed-upon deal for Flaherty over concerns about his medical. That could serve as an ominous backdrop to Flaherty’s tenure in L.A., or he’ll continue to stay healthy and pitch well, and we’ll all forget about it.

Flaherty is a luxury addition for a Dodgers pitching staff that is slowly getting healthier and might not actually need him to start a postseason game, though if Flaherty sustains his first-half form down the stretch, he could force his way into the conversation come October. The Tigers did reasonably well with the return, even if Liranzo’s prospect stock isn’t quite as alluring as it was a year ago.

2021 worked out OK for the Braves, right? Ignoring the hilarious degree of running-it-back that Atlanta appears to be attempting, the simple takeaway here is that a team in need of offense added one of the best hitters who changed threads at this year’s deadline. Soler is no longer as good of a fit on the Braves roster, and we’ll see how he adjusts to playing outfield every day for the first time in a while, but he makes this lineup a lot better no matter how you slice it, and that was no small feat at this deadline in particular.

As for San Francisco, I would’ve been fine if they’d decided to stay put and try to sneak into the NL wild card with the roster in which they’ve invested so heavily, but I do not understand salary-dumping one of your best hitters to clear space for younger players if you still have any intention of competing this year.

Guardians: A-
Nationals: B+

Cleveland fans were getting antsy as the Guardians stayed quiet through the weekend, but the AL Central leaders eventually emerged to swing a really nice deal for Thomas, who immediately slots in as their every-day right fielder. Washington’s insistence on getting significant value for Thomas ultimately worked in their favor, as they matched up with a team with an obvious need in the outfield and a strong farm system that could produce a worthwhile package.

While this was something of a head-scratcher in the moment, considering the Cubs’ place in the standings, it’s hard to deny that Paredes improves the team both now and for 2025, when the Cubs clearly intend to get back in the mix for the NL Central. Few players who moved at this year’s deadline will be more fascinating to watch in the coming years than Morel, whose physical ability has tantalized for years and who now has a new team that will try to help him maximize his skills. In classic Rays fashion, Morel homered in his debut Tuesday and already seems to fit right in.

Yankees: A-
Marlins: B

It hasn’t taken long for Jazz to make a difference in this Yankees lineup, and he hasn’t played a game in front of the Bronx home crowd yet. He’s built for the big stage, and it would hardly be a surprise to see him access a new level of performance in his new, higher-profile surroundings.

Among the never-ending parade of prospects acquired at the deadline by Miami in their flurry of moves, Ramirez is one of the more promising hitters and one that we should see at some point in 2025.

Mariners: A-
Rays: B+

Arguably the best bat to change teams at this deadline and almost certainly the most famous, Arozarena heads west to join a Seattle team needing offensive impact as badly as any contender around. Arozarena’s star power and nearly unparalleled postseason résumé are a bonus on top of the stellar production he is expected to bring to a lineup that severely lacks impact and consistency.

In Smith and Hopkins, Tampa Bay landed two prospects who have quickly ascended prospect lists since being drafted a year ago and will likely continue to blossom as two of the newest members of the Rays’ rejuvenated farm system.

Although this deal doesn’t feature the biggest names moved at the deadline, three-team trades are inherently more fun, and this is a deal primed to be talked about for years to come based on the teams involved. Without an obvious signature splash elsewhere on the market, I’m defaulting to this three-teamer as my top trade of the deadline.

That this was the Dodgers’ co-headlining move alongside Flaherty is a pretty big deal, considering how much that organization has invested in this season, but it’s also seemingly a vote of confidence that Los Angeles’ roster is good enough to win it all once it’s back fully healthy. Any move the Dodgers make (or don’t make) will remain top of mind moving forward, though, and this one will be no different.

As for the Cardinals, they crushed this one, improving their rotation and lineup in one fell swoop without giving up any top prospects or players who were already contributing. That Fedde cost seemingly so little relative to what some other starting pitchers fetched is still a total mystery to me, but credit to St. Louis for making it happen.

And the White Sox. Oh, the White Sox. The team heading for one of the worst records in MLB history somehow turned arguably its three best and most realistic trade chips into only three prospects, none of whom projects to be a star. That’s disappointing at best and confounding at worst. This team needs so much more help, and I’m not convinced they got nearly enough of it with the moves they made this deadline. We’ll see if I feel any differently if/when they deal Garrett Crochet and/or Luis Robert Jr. this winter.

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