What a day of trading! We’ll be rolling out trade reviews over the next week or two based on the quantity and quality of deals completed. In order to digest the deals and write reviews, I felt it was best to contextualize how these moves affected each team. To do that, I did some prep work and decided I should just share it with you all. The team summaries below contain the following: 1) the moves each team made on trade deadline day only (have to arbitrarily cut it off somewhere), 2) each teams’ estimated current MLB salary (which includes players on IL), and 3) each teams’ players on contracts of $50+.
This was by far the biggest trade deadline in the league’s six-year history. When I say big, I mean in terms of weight of players moved. There sure was a lot of firepower moved. With it, some big contracts also moved. It will be interesting to see how these high-dollar players affect the balance of the season and the playoffs. I’m even more intrigued by how the offseason will play out. There are four teams, and arguably more, that are now banking on being able to move big player salaries in the offseason. The looming question is whether there are enough teams with 1) prospect and pick capital, 2) budget room, and 3) interest in the players for all these high-dollar players to get moved. At some point, the cost sought by the teams selling them will get them moved. Will it be 80 cents on the dollar? 70? 50? 30? These big acquisitions will certainly play a part in getting somebody a championship, but, for the playoff losers, the double dose of missing the championship and having to take a big loss on what they spent to get players for the championship run will be tough medicine to swallow.
An additional aspect to the looming dump of high-value players in the offseason is, depending on the market, what volume of these players end up in the auction. It will be a fun offseason to see how things play out. That’s enough of burying the lede… we had some huge moves through multiple deals by several teams. Here’s how the day played out and ended:
Beach Bum
No moves made on deadline day
Estimated current MLB cap hit: $521
Players $50 or greater: Gerrit Cole ($88), Christian Yelich ($65), Starling Marte ($53), and Yu Darvish ($51)
Brew Crew
Gave up: Shohei Ohtani
Got: Adolis Garcia, Cole Winn (p), Jasson Dominguez (p), Luis Campusano (p), Bobby Miller (p), Ronny Mauricio (p), 2022 PMP #1, 2022 SS #2
Estimated current MLB cap hit: $521
Players $50 or greater: Gerrit Cole ($88), Christian Yelich ($65), Starling Marte ($53), and Yu Darvish ($51)
Bomb Squad
No moves made on deadline day
Estimated current MLB cap hit: $499
Players $50 or greater: Anthony Rizzo ($95), Francisco Lindor ($72), and Marcus Stroman ($57)
Dozier Huge Boobs
Gave up: JD Martinez, Yusei Kikuchi, Manny Machado, Alex Wood, and $30
Got: Reid Detmers, Justin Foscue (p), DL Hall (p), Nick Pratto (p), Brenton Doyle (p), Kyren Paris (p), Noah Song (p), 2022 EAD #3, and 2022 DHB #4
Estimated current MLB cap hit: $394
Players $50 or greater: Isaiah Kiner-Falefa ($93)
Eastbound and Dowd
Gave up: Giancarlo Stanton, Bryce Harper, and $15
Got: Tyler Glasnow, Anthony Rendon, Mike Soroka, Tyler O’Neill, and $15
Estimated current MLB cap hit: $482
Players $50 or greater: Stephen Strasburg ($75) and Anthony Rendon ($57)
Hustle Loyalty Respect
Gave up: Tyler O’Neill, Adolis Garcia, Oswald Peraza (p), Triston Casas (p), Marco Luciano (p), Cole Winn (p), Jasson Dominguez (p), Luis Campusano (p), Bobby Miller (p), Ronny Mauricio (p), 2022 WYH #1, 2022 PMP #1, 2022 SS #2, 2023 HLR #1, 2023 PMP #2, and $15
Got: George Springer, Carlos Rodon, Giancarlo Stanton, and Shohei Ohtani
Estimated current MLB cap hit: $855
Players $50 or greater: Clayton Kershaw ($125), Shohei Ohtani ($102), Max Scherzer ($100), Giancarlo Stanton ($86), Freddie Freeman ($74), and George Springer ($70)
H-Town Trash Can Punch
Gave up: Brandon Belt, Patrick Sandoval, and $10
Got: Peyton Battenfield (p), Ed Howard (p), Asa Lacy (p), and 2022 PMP #5
Estimated current MLB cap hit: $210
Players $50 or greater: none
Long Ball to LF
No moves made on deadline day
Estimated current MLB cap hit: $584
Players $50 or greater: Paul Goldschmidt ($81), Xander Bogaerts ($76), and Zack Greinke ($67)
Marshall Law
Gave up: Spencer Turnbull, Gunnar Henderson (p), 2023 ML #2, and 2023 ML #4
Got: Jesus Aguilar and Corey Seager
Estimated current MLB cap hit: $705
Players $50 or greater: Corey Seager ($120), Mookie Betts ($86), and Jose Altuve ($75)
Organized Chaos
No moves made on deadline day
Estimated current MLB cap hit: $196
Players $50 or greater: none
Pine Mountain Podstars
No moves made on deadline day
Estimated current MLB cap hit: $570
Players $50 or greater: Carlos Correa ($103), Chris Sale ($86), and Nolan Arenado ($83)
Suplex City
Gave up: Jesus Aguilar, Corey Seager, Noah Song (p), and 2022 DHB #4
Got: Spencer Turnbull, Alex Wood, Gunnar Henderson (p), 2023 ML #2, and 2023 ML #4
Estimated current MLB cap hit: $267
Players $50 or greater: Noah Syndergaard ($104)
Senior Squids
Gave up: George Springer and Carlos Rodon
Got: Oswald Peraza, Triston Casas, Marco Luciano, 2022 WYH #1, 2023 HLR #1, and 2023 PMP #2
Estimated current MLB cap hit: $478
Players $50 or greater: none
TBD
Gave up: Tyler Glasnow, Anthony Rendon, Mike Soroka, Peyton Battenfield (p), Ed Howard (p), Asa Lacy (p), Justin Foscue (p), DL Hall (p), Nick Pratto (p), Brenton Doyle (p), Kyren Paris (p), 2022 EAD #3, and 2022 PMP #5
Got: Bryce Harper, Brandon Belt, Patrick Sandoval, Yusei Kikuchi, Manny Machado, and $35
Estimated current MLB cap hit: $706
Players $50 or greater: Bryce Harper ($117), Manny Machado ($88), Kris Bryant ($84), Jacob DeGrom ($81), and Trea Turner ($56)
We Talk Fantasy Sports
No moves made on deadline day
Estimated current MLB cap hit: $473
Players $50 or greater: Charlie Blackmon ($69) and Madison Bumgarner ($68)
Who’s your Haddy?
Gave up: Reid Detmers
Got: JD Martinez and $20
Estimated current MLB cap hit: $677
Players $50 or greater: Mike Trout ($112), Jose Abreu ($72), and JD Martinez ($67)
Haddy