MLB Trade Deadline 2022: Live Grades for All the Biggest Trades
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AP Photo/Frank Franklin II
Buckle up, everyone. Major League Baseball’s trade deadline is finally here.
If you’re looking for live grades on all the big deals, keep it here and hit “refresh” as needed.
Beginning with a handful of trades that happened in the days leading up to Tuesday’s 6 p.m. ET deadline, we’ll be sizing up trades based on the merits for all the teams involved. The basic question: Did teams buy or sell players at an appropriate price?
Please note that not every trade will be discussed here. Deals made for roster and/or payroll reasons just aren’t very interesting to talk about.
Otherwise, the list will proceed in chronological order from newest to oldest.
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Justin Berl/Getty Images
Date: Aug. 1
St. Louis Cardinals get: LHP Jose Quintana, RHP Chris Stratton
The Cardinals have gotten plenty out of Adam Wainwright and Miles Mikolas throughout the season, but the performance of their starting rotation has otherwise been marred by injuries and disappointing performances.
Quintana, 33, is a nice stabilizer. Though his productivity was all over the map between 2017 and 2021, he’s rediscovered some of his previous All-Star form in pitching to a 3.50 ERA while averaging 5.2 innings per start this season.
The 31-year-old Stratton may have a 5.09 ERA in relief, yet he’s still getting superb spin on his fastball and curveball and drawing frequent swings outside the strike zone. And whereas Quintana is a rental, Stratton is under team control through 2023.
One minor complaint is that in order to make this trade, the Cardinals sent two promising players to an NL Central rival that could be a player in the division in the near future.
Grade: B
Pittsburgh Pirates get: RHP Johan Oviedo, 3B/1B Malcom Nunez
According to MLB.com, the Pirates got one of St. Louis’ 10 best prospects in the person of Nunez. The 17 home runs he’s hit at the Double-A level are symbolic of the power he has packed into his 5’11”, 205-pound frame.
Oviedo, meanwhile, had put up a 3.20 ERA with 26 strikeouts over 25.1 innings for the Cardinals. He posseses a fastball that’s topped out at 98 mph, and it may play faster than that thanks to the reach afforded by his 6’5″, 245-pound frame.
As Oviedo is 24 and Nunez is 21, the Pirates got two players who could be significant contributors for years to come.
Grade: A
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Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images
Date: Monday
Houston Astros Get: C Christian Vazquez
What’s the appeal of this trade for the Astros? That’s an easy one. Here’s how Vazquez’s 2022 season compares to that of incumbent backstop Martin Maldonado:
- Vazquez: 84 G, 318 PA, .759 OPS, 1.8 rWAR
- Maldonado: 77 G, 262 PA, .581 OPS, minus-0.3 rWAR
The catch, as it were, is that it’s never easy for a catcher to join a new team and get up to speed with a new group of pitchers on the fly. Yet it might help that Vazquez is plenty familiar with the Astros, having faced them in the playoffs in 2017, 2018 and 2021.
To be fair, the 31-year-old Vazquez doesn’t have the same All-Star profile as Chicago Cubs trade chip Willson Contreras. But between his $7 million salary and the modest price the Astros paid to get him, Vazquez nonetheless looks like a good bargain buy.
Grade: B
Boston Red Sox Get: INF Enmanuel Valdez, OF Wilyer Abreu
Valdez and Abreu were real prospects for the Astros, ranking at Nos. 28 and 29 in the organization for MLB.com.
The obligatory caveat is that the Houston farm system was one of the worst in the majors even before Valdez and Abreu were sent to Boston, yet both players are putting up numbers in the minors this season. Valdez has a 1.016 OPS and 21 home runs over 82 games at Double-A and Triple-A, while Abreu has an .858 OPS and 15 homers in 89 games for the former.
Those figures allow for optimism that both players have more helium than their MLB.com ranks indicate—and that the Red Sox thus got a reasonable return for someone who had been a mainstay behind the plate since 2016.
Grade: B
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Dustin Satloff/Getty Images
Date: Monday
New York Yankees Get: RHP Frankie Montas, RHP Lou Trivino
The 3.37 ERA that the Yankees have gotten out of their starters ranks behind only two other teams in all of MLB. More recently, though, things have been shaky outside of All-Star aces Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes.
Now along comes Montas, who’s at least a No. 3 starter in the Yankees rotation. The 29-year-old splitter specialist has had some injury scares this season, but he’s otherwise continued to build on an excellent run of pitching that’s seen him rack up a 3.30 ERA since the start of 2021.
The 30-year-old Trivino has a less attractive 6.47 ERA this season, yet he still has mid-90s heat and has also been featuring a new slider that’s been effective for him. In other words, he offers upside for the Yankees to mine.
The price the Yankees paid to get these two looks steep, but not to such a degree that it looks like an overpay. It helps that neither pitcher is a rental, as Montas is controlled through 2023 and Trivino is controlled through 2024.
Grade: A
Oakland Athletics Get: LHP Ken Waldichuk, RHP Luis Medina, LHP JP Sears, 2B Cooper Bowman
For those scoring at home, these four players were the Yankees’ No. 5, No. 10, No. 20 and No. 21 prospects, per MLB.com. Waldichuk, who has a 2.71 ERA in the high minors this season, also checks in at No. 70 overall in the top 100.
It’s hard not to compare this four-player package to the one that the Cincinnati Reds got for Luis Castillo. That notably featured not one but two top-100 players: shortstops Noelvi Marte (No. 17) and Edwin Arroyo (No. 92).
By this standard, Oakland’s return feels a little light. Montas seemed to have similar value to Castillo just on his own, and the Reds didn’t even include a controllable reliever in the deal that they made with the Seattle Mariners.
With that said, it’s not a bad return for the A’s. They basically went for quantity over quality, which is certainly of use to a farm system that had lacked depth.
Grade: B
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Julio Aguilar/Getty Images
Date: Monday
Houston Astros Get: 1B/DH Trey Mancini, RHP Jayden Murray
With Yuli Gurriel struggling and Michael Brantley out with a shoulder injury, the Astros needed to find a boost for an offense that isn’t quite as dangerous as usual.
Mancini, who only has a .751 OPS for the season, might look like a modest upgrade. Yet the 30-year-old hit 35 home runs back in 2019, and he stands to benefit from taking aim at the Crawford Boxes in lieu of Camden Yards’ newly cavernous left field.
Seeing as he was open about wanting to stay, leaving Baltimore won’t be easy for Mancini. Yet he also seemed realistic about the likelihood of being traded with free agency looming, and one assumes he’ll be comforted to play for a World Series contender.
The 25-year-old Murray is a nice bonus out of the Rays system. He likely doesn’t have top-of-the-rotation upside, but his excellent control could sustain him as a back-end innings-eater.
Grade: A
Baltimore Orioles Get: RHP Seth Johnson, RHP Chayce McDermott
This isn’t likely to go over well with Orioles fans, and understandably so. Mancini was the team’s most beloved player, not to mention an important one amid a year in which the O’s have a legit shot at their first postseason since 2016.
So, is this trade at least worth it for Baltimore?
MLB.com ranked Johnson as the Rays’ No. 6 prospect and had McDermott as. the Astros’ No. 12 talent. The trade looks good from that perspective, but Johnson reportedly needs Tommy John surgery, while McDermott has a 5.50 ERA at High-A this season.
Grade: D
Tampa Bay Rays Get: OF Jose Siri
Leave it to the Rays to nudge their way into trade talks between two other teams and come away with an actually useful player.
Siri, 27, isn’t much of a hitter, but he can defend the heck out of center field. He’s played 315 innings out there this season and racked up eight defensive runs saved. That gives him a share of the center field lead alongside Cleveland’s Myles Straw and Kansas City’s Michael A. Taylor.
Basically, the newest Ray is just the player they need to fill in for Kevin Kiermaier while he sits for the rest of the season after hip surgery.
Grade: A
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Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Date: Monday
San Diego Padres Get: LHP Josh Hader
Setting aside that this is a rare impact trade between two playoff contenders, it’s a rare instance when a first-place team trades an All-Star:
Sarah Langs @SlangsOnSports
The Brewers are in 1st place. Josh Hader was an All-Star this year.<br><br>The last time a first-place team traded a player who had been an All-Star for them that year was 2014, when the 1st-place A’s traded All-Star Yoenis Céspedes to the Red Sox, for Jon Lester<br><br>h/t <a href=”https://twitter.com/EliasSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@EliasSports</a>
Hader, 28, has a league-leading 29 saves in 2022 and the most rWAR of any reliever dating back to his rookie season in 2017. Though he did cough up 13 runs over just 9.1 innings in July, that his velocity held strong indicates it had nothing to do with an underlying health issue.
Padres relievers only rank 17th in strikeouts-per-nine, so Hader has bonus appeal in San Diego by way of his rate of 15.6 strikeouts per nine innings. And because he’s under club control through 2023, he could be part of two playoff runs with the Padres.
Grade: A
Milwaukee Brewers Get: LHP Taylor Rogers, RHP Dinelson Lamet, LHP Robert Gasser, OF Esteury Ruiz
Why would the Brewers trade a closer as accomplished as Hader? It’s fair to wonder if his July slump had something to do with it, but there are other explanations as well.
For one, the Brewers have saved some money by moving the remainder of Hader’s $11 million salary. For two, Devin Williams’ ongoing dominance in support of Hader made the lefty more expendable than your standard relief ace.
As the 31-year-old Rogers is an All-Star reliever in his own right, the Brewers also got a good player to fill Williams’ shoes in the eighth inning. Otherwise, Lamet is a worthwhile upside play, and Gasser and Ruiz both ranked among San Diego’s top 30 prospects for MLB.com.
While this trade is undeniably a gamble for Milwaukee, it looks like a surprisingly safe one.
Grade: A
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Rich Schultz/Getty Images
Date: Monday
New York Yankees Get: RHP Scott Effross
The last time the Yankees made a pre-deadline deal for a seemingly obscure reliever, it was for Clay Holmes in 2021. Just as that trade has been mighty good for them, Monday’s deal for Effross could be as well.
The 28-year-old doesn’t have a bowling-ball sinker that he can run up around 100 mph, but his side-winding arm action puts tons of movement on the sinker and slider he does have. As he has a 2.21 xERA, his actual 2.66 ERA undersells how effective these two weapons are.
Given how much the depth underneath Holmes has been thinned out by injuries, the Yankees badly need Effross in their bullpen. Yet he’s no rental, as he only debuted last year and is under team control through 2027.
Grade: A
Chicago Cubs Get: RHP Hayden Wesneski
Just as he was the No. 7 prospect in the Yankees system, Wesneski has been planted among the Cubs’ top 10 prospects at No. 8 by MLB.com.
The 24-year-old is sturdily built at 6’3″, 210 pounds, and he’s been getting his fastball into the upper 90s. That and his plus slider have served him well as he’s put together a 3.51 ERA over 89.2 innings at Triple-A in 2022.
Perhaps a return like this for a reliever as talented as Effross doesn’t constitute a steal for the Cubs, but it’s still a good deal for them. If Wesneski continues to develop into an effective starter, he’ll do more to return the Cubs to contention than Effross ever could have.
Grade: B
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Rich Schultz/Getty Images
Date: Saturday
Los Angeles Dodgers Get: RHP Chris Martin
As dominant as the Dodgers have been this season, their bullpen hasn’t been as reliable as its 3.30 ERA suggests. Craig Kimbrel has been shaky in the ninth inning, and injuries have taken their toll on the depth underneath him.
Enter Martin. He’s allowed more hits (243) than he has innings pitched (226.1) throughout his career, and he’s more of a middle reliever than a late-innings type. All the same, he’s such a good strike-thrower that his strikeout-to-walk ratio is a sparkling 6.9 for his career.
The Dodgers gave up a part they didn’t really need for Martin, and the 36-year-old likewise isn’t going to be a heavy burden on their payroll. He’s earning only $2.5 million this season.
Grade: B
Chicago Cubs Get: INF/OF Zach McKinstry
McKinstry had been a bit player for the Dodgers over the last three seasons, getting into 75 games and posting a .665 OPS while mostly playing at right field and second base.
The plusses with McKinstry are that he’s only 27 years old and is under club control through 2027. At the least, he’ll be nice utility player for the Cubs to have around in seasons to come.
As for whether there’s any untapped upside here, McKinstry’s .323/.401/.550 slash line for his career at the Triple-A level does hint at some. In the best-case scenario, he becomes something like the 2021 version of Adam Frazier.
Grade: B
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Scott Kane/Getty Images
Date: Saturday
Philadelphia Phillies Get: SS Edmundo Sosa
Shortstop has been a weakness for the Phillies in 2022. Paced mostly by veteran Didi Gregorius, the position ranks 29th with an output of minus-0.1 rWAR.
A big reason for that? Poor defense. Phillies shortstop have accounted for minus-nine defensive runs saved, with Gregorius, Bryson Stott and Johan Camargo all landing below zero on an individual level.
Even if it’ll probably be mostly in a late-inning replacement capacity, this is where Sosa can help. He has 13 DRS for his career at shortstop over 737.2 innings. Since he’s 26 and under team control through 2026, he’ll also be sticking around for a while.
Grade: C
St. Louis Cardinals Get: LHP JoJo Romero
The question with Sosa is whether he’ll ever hit enough to ever be more than a defensive specialist. If not, he’ll be a player with a low ceiling and a relatively low floor to boot.
Because he’s posted a 7.89 ERA in parts of three major league seasons, the same might seem to be true of the 25-year-old Romero. Yet Baseball America rated him as the Phillies’ No. 5 prospect as recently as 2019, with kudos to his mid-90s heat and solid changeup.
While Romero lacks the control to be a viable starting pitcher, those two weapons make him a worthwhile upside play as a left-handed reliever.
Grade: B
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Denis Poroy/Getty Images
Date: Saturday
Tampa Bay Rays Get: OF David Peralta
No thanks to the injury bug, the Rays offense has had a rough go of things lately. It produced only 13 home runs and 3.8 runs per game from July 12 to the end of the month.
To this end, Peralta isn’t the same player who hit .293 and clubbed 30 home runs in 2018. Yet the .777 OPS that he put up for Arizona this season wasn’t hard on the eyes, and he remains especially effective against righties, to the tune of an .821 OPS.
Even by Rays standards, the $7.5 million that Peralta is making this year qualifies as affordable. And while they did give up an interesting player to get him, he was far from one of their best prospects.
Grade: A
Arizona Diamondbacks Get: C Christian Cerda
The Diamondbacks were able to hang around .500 for a while there, but a trade of Peralta seemed more and more inevitable as the losses piled up in June and July.
In Cerda, they’re getting a 19-year-old catcher with a .982 OPS and a 30 percent caught-stealing rate in the minors this season. Those numbers look great…but that was over just 20 games at the rookie-level Florida Complex League.
In other words, Cerda remains more of a project than a proper prospect. That isn’t a knock against him, but one does wonder if the Snakes could have done better for the best rental among their inventory of trade chips.
Grade: C
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Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Date: Friday
Seattle Mariners Get: RHP Luis Castillo
Simply put, the Mariners got the best starting pitcher on the market in this trade.
Castillo, 29, is a two-time All-Star whose 2.86 ERA for this season doesn’t capture how hot he’s been lately. He’ll begin his tenure in Seattle on a five-start run in which he’s allowed only six runs and struck out 41 over 34 innings.
Starting pitching hasn’t necessarily been a weakness for the Mariners, but they did need a top-of-the-rotation type and insurance for the event that youngsters Logan Gilbert and George Kirby get burned out by their workloads. What’s more, Castillo has another year of arbitration eligibility in 2023.
Grade: A
Cincinnati Reds Get: SS Noelvi Marte, SS Edwin Arroyo, RHP Levi Stoudt, RHP Andrew Moore
Though the Mariners did well to get Castillo from the Reds, they didn’t exactly steal him.
In Marte, Arroyo and Stoudt, Seattle served up its No. 1, No. 3 and No. 5 prospects to pry Castillo loose, per MLB.com. Marte is especially highly thought of, checking in at No. 17 overall in MLB.com’s rankings.
There’s also some volatility in this package, starting with Marte’s less-than-advanced approach and the strong possibility that he’ll have to move off shortstop. But even knowing that, to get this much upside for a year-and-a-half of one player makes the Reds’ end of this deal look good in its own right.
Grade: A
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AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee
Date: Thursday
New York Mets Get: OF Tyler Naquin, LHP Phillip Diehl
After hitting a career-high 19 home runs for the Reds in 2021, Naquin sunk back down to earth in posting a .749 OPS and hitting seven homers through 56 games for them this year.
Naquin does boast an .801 OPS against right-handed pitching, however. The Mets are staffed to take proper advantage of that platoon split, as he figures to spell Mark Canha in left field a few times per week.
Whereas the 31-year-old Naquin is signed only through this season, the 28-year-old Diehl is under team control through 2027. He can’t be described as overpowering, but his fastball-slider combination could make him an effective lefty specialist.
Grade: B
Cincinnati Reds Get: RHP Jose Acuna, OF Hector Rodriguez
Though MLB.com ranked neither Acuna nor Rodriguez among the Mets’ top 30 prospects, both have been showing some promise in the low levels of the minors in 2022.
Acuna, 19, has put up a 2.67 ERA with 48 strikeouts over 33.2 innings at Rookie ball and Single-A. Rodriguez, 18, has played in 28 games at the same levels and produced a .910 OPS.
They thus look like a pair of lottery tickets, which isn’t a bad return for a platoon outfielder and a lefty reliever who isn’t even on New York’s 40-man roster right now.
Grade: B
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Adam Hunger/Getty Images
Date: Wednesday
New York Yankees Get: OF Andrew Benintendi
The Yankees have gotten 7.6 rWAR out of their outfield this season, but 78 percent of that has come courtesy of 42-homer slugger Aaron Judge.
Benintendi is thus aboard to give said outfield more depth, not to mention another excuse to trade struggling slugger Joey Gallo. He doesn’t have the kind of power you expect from a Yankees regular, but his Gold Glove defense and .314 average compensate for that.
The 28-year-old says he’s he’s “open-minded” about getting vaccinated against COVID-19 so he can travel to Canada to play the Toronto Blue Jays. If so, he stands to help his new team in the short term and perhaps expand his market in free agency this winter.
Grade: A
Kansas City Royals Get: RHP Beck Way, LHP T.J. Sikkema, RHP Chandler Champlain
Coming out of the MLB draft, only one of the five of the Royals’ five best prospects was a pitcher. They needed some top-shelf arms in their system, and they got three in this trade.
According to MLB.com, Way, Sikkema and Champlain already rank among the top 30 prospects in the Royals system. Way ranks the highest at No. 12, a distinction he earns mainly on the strength of a plus fastball.
In all, a pretty good return for a rental outfielder who doesn’t offer much beyond his defense and bat-to-ball skills.
Grade: A
Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.
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