MLB: 2025 Market Close Analysis, Awards, and Featured Teams.

The 2025 MLB Trade Deadline: A Look at the Most Notable Moves

The 2025 Major League Baseball (MLB) trade deadline, although it didn’t have the most high-profile trades, made up for it with a large number of moves. From the first agreement on July 24th to the last on July 31st, teams made 63 trades, involving 179 players. One team got rid of 10 players from its main squad, while another added seven new faces. Every team made at least one move, reinforcing an undeniable truth: nobody handles a deadline like baseball. In honor of this, we present a unique awards ceremony, highlighting the most interesting elements of the 2025 deadline, starting with the biggest winner, somewhat unusual.

Best Negotiator Award: The Oakland Athletics

On a deadline marked by the movement of key players to contending teams, the Athletics’ acquisition is worthy of analysis. Before the trade season, Leo De Vries, the 18-year-old shortstop, considered a gem in the San Diego Padres’ farm system, seemed untouchable. However, three days before the deadline, Padres’ President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller showed a willingness to negotiate for De Vries, offering Athletics closer Mason Miller and Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan.

The Athletics seized the opportunity, including Miller and left-handed pitcher JP Sears, in exchange for De Vries and three promising right-handed pitchers: Braden Nett, Henry Baez, and Eduarniel Nunez. De Vries is the number 3 prospect in baseball according to Kiley McDaniel’s updated ranking. He has proven his worth in High-A as a teenager and is expected to reach the Major Leagues, possibly as a shortstop or at third base, before turning 21 years old. He would join a lineup that is quickly consolidating as one of the best in baseball, with players like Nick Kurtz, Brent Rooker, Jacob Wilson, Lawrence Butler, Shea Langeliers, Tyler Soderstrom, and Denzel Clarke. “I am very upset that I didn’t get De Vries,” commented an evaluator. Evaluator Anonymous

“They got De Vries in exchange for a guy who pitches one inning at a time,” lamented another.

Anonymous Evaluator

These agreements are uncommon. In a world that values prospects so much, trades involving the top five prospects are events that happen once a decade.

Award “Who Needs Those Young People?”: The San Diego Parents

De Vries and company were not the only Padres prospects who moved. In deals that allowed them to acquire Ryan O’Hearn, Ramon Laureano, Freddy Fermin, Nestor Cortes and Will Wagner, San Diego traded 10 more rookie-eligible players. Nobody is willing to sacrifice the future for the present like Preller.

Although the Athletics’ rating at the deadline matches their nickname, that doesn’t condemn the Padres to an F. On the contrary, there are situations that justify risky decisions, and San Diego exemplifies it. Michael King, Dylan Cease, Robert Suarez, and Luis Arraez are heading to free agency. Manny Machado isn’t getting any younger. The Padres’ window is now. In the franchise’s 56-year history, they’ve reached two World Series and haven’t won any.

The Padres now have the best bullpen in baseball, and O’Hearn, Laureano, and Fermin complete a lineup with Machado, Arraez, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill, Jake Cronenworth, and Xander Bogaerts. There is no weak point in their order or bullpen, and if King recovers, Nick Pivetta keeps pitching, and Cease or Yu Darvish find themselves, they will be as dangerous as anyone in the National League in October. San Diego could end up being the number 6 seed, but so were the Texas Rangers in 2023, and that didn’t stop them from getting their franchise’s first ring.

Joël Robuchon Award for Excellence: The Seattle Mariners

You have to give the Mariners credit. They got the best bat at the deadline in Eugenio Suárez, covered a need at first base with Josh Naylor, reinforced their bullpen with lefty Caleb Ferguson, and did it without sacrificing Colt Emerson, Jonny Farmelo, Ryan Sloan, Jurrangelo Cijntje, Michael Arroyo, Lazaro Montes, Harry Ford, or Felnin Celesten, all top 100 caliber prospects. The new Mariners won three of four against the Rangers, with whom they entered their series tied, over the weekend. Seattle is almost completely healthy, and with Bryce Miller excelling in his rehab assignment with a fastball touching 98 mph and Victor Robles potentially returning in September, the Mariners are two calls away from having the most terrifying team they’ve had since their resurgence began in 2021. There’s no way the Diamondbacks got ripped off for Suárez and Naylor. Arizona needed pitching and got quality arms in both deals, and Tyler Locklear should be the team’s first baseman for the next half-decade. But this deadline was about an organization that has drafted as well as any other in the 2020s, shedding its relative conservatism to go for it in a year where there’s no favorite. That’s worthy of some Robuchon potatoes.

Frustrated Fan Award: The Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox

The Cubs and Red Sox began the trade season looking for the same archetype: a high-level starting pitcher with several years of club control. Both came away with that need unmet. Boston was close. The Red Sox were willing to part with several high-level prospects to sign right-hander Joe Ryan from the Minnesota Twins. But that wasn’t expressed until the deadline approached, and the Twins were so immersed in other conversations to dismantle their roster, that the prospect of moving Ryan had lost appeal. The Cubs signed Michael Soroka from the Washington Nationals the day before the deadline, but the prices for Ryan, Nationals’ left-hander MacKenzie Gore, and right-handers Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera from the Miami Marlins were too high for Chicago’s liking. The balance most offices try to achieve is not easy. They want to win this year, but they also want to win in the future. The most revealing thing is that these are two organizations with enormous expectations, and limitations. When the Red Sox traded Yoan Moncada in 2016, they were consistently a team with a top-five payroll. Accumulating young and affordable players was not nearly the imperative it is now, when for the last three seasons Boston has started Opening Day with a payroll outside the top 10. When the Cubs made the trade for Aroldis Chapman in 2016 and Jose Quintana the following season, they were consistently a team with a top-six payroll. In the last five years, their Opening Day payrolls have ranked 12th, 14th, 11th, 9th, and 12th, respectively.

Could their offices ignore those realities and go bankrupt? Of course. And none of their fans would care. For now. But if they lost in October of this year and one of the prospects they moved exploded, not only would the deals be seen as failures, but, as they would have been made against the advice of the analytical models, they would be the “you should have known” type.

Leading a team is not easy. Leading a team that has cut its payroll for no good reason is a particular challenge. The fact that there is no true favorite for the World Series this year makes the fans’ frustration especially justified, but it is also a reminder that no decision is made in a vacuum. The context with the Red Sox and the Cubs matters.

Award for the Juggling Octopus: The Minnesota Twins

The Twins are for sale. What had a meaning at the beginning of the deadline – the franchise has been on the market since last October – took a completely different one in the last 48 hours of the trade season, when Minnesota got rid of 10 Major League players and completely altered its trajectory. The bloodletting was shocking in its scope. The Twins traded their highest-paid player, shortstop Carlos Correa, to Houston. They traded their closer, Jhoan Duran, to Philadelphia, who later acquired center fielder Harrison Bader from Minnesota. They sent right-hander Chris Paddack to Detroit, shed their bullpen of Brock Stewart (Los Angeles Dodgers), Danny Coulombe (Texas), and Louie Varland (Toronto Blue Jays, along with first baseman Ty France). Super-utilityman Willi Castro went to the Cubs. And finally – and most surprisingly – relief ace Griffin Jax landed in Tampa Bay. Thus, players who were earning around $65 million this year vanished in an instant, replaced by a mix of Major League players (right-hander Taj Bradley and outfielders James Outman and Alan Roden), high-level prospects (catcher Eduardo Tait, right-hander Mick Abel, lefty Kendry Rojas), and lottery tickets. Days later, the industry remains stunned by the scope of the emptying. It’s unclear how much of it is attributable to the team’s book-clearing for sales. But what shouldn’t be lost is that the Twins are still in a reasonable position to compete in the future. Joe Ryan and Pablo López are an excellent 1-2 at the top of the rotation. The daily lineup, with Byron Buxton, Royce Lewis, Matt Wallner, and Ryan Jeffers, will soon be complemented by top prospects like Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Luke Keaschall, and Kaelen Culpepper. They have excellent depth in starting pitching. And suddenly they have a lot of salary flexibility for the winter. Will the new owner use it? That is the key, of course. A liquidation sale is for demolition. A new commitment of resources is a strategy that most teams do not have the audacity to undertake. The course the Twins take will not be clear until next spring.

“You Can Always Come Home” Award: Houston Astros Acquire Carlos Correa

When it was first reported that the Astros were interested in reacquiring Correa, a pillar of Houston’s run to seven consecutive American League Championship Series, the news registered as a shock. Correa’s journey – the free agent market collapsing, signing a short-term deal with the Twins, opting out, having deals with San Francisco and the New York Mets fall apart, returning to Minnesota – seemed to have come to an end.

Particularly when the Astros insisted that the Twins take on more than $50 million of the $104 million owed to Correa through the end of 2028 and throw in a reliever like Jax. Minnesota wasn’t against trading Correa; it was against stupidity. The deal seemed dead in the last 24 hours before the deadline.

It was revived when the Astros dropped the request for additional players and increased their share of covering Correa’s salary to $71 million. The deal was finalized about two hours before the deadline, which helped Houston overcome the season-ending right hamstring tear of third baseman Isaac Paredes, and to strengthen themselves, as Houston’s two closest competitors, the Mariners and the Rangers (who acquired right-hander Merrill Kelly and right-handed reliever Phil Maton along with Coulombe), saw the American League West crown within their reach. To pave the way for the deal, Correa waived his no-trade clause. He never left Houston, maintaining a home there, and when the Astros return from their current nine-game road trip on August 11, the ovation will be deafening. For all the fundamental pieces that have left the Astros, the sight of Correa and Jose Altuve sharing an infield will evoke memories that Houstonians will never forget.

The Best Trade is the One You Don’t Make: Cleveland Guardians Retain Steven Kwan

Despite all the conversations Cleveland had with other teams about left fielder Steven Kwan – and there were many – the Guardians ended up not moving the two-time All-Star despite a series of solid offers. Perhaps no MLB team navigates veteran player trade talks with the discipline and conviction of the Guardians. They set an asking price for Kwan. Nobody met it. So they kept him.

And that’s a good thing for a city like Cleveland, which has never gotten used to its team’s propensity to extract value from contracted players before they reach free agency. There is a specific pride in Cleveland, which has suffered without a championship longer than any other baseball team, and the prospect of kicking the can down the road again invoked painful memories of the departures of CC Sabathia, Francisco Lindor, Cliff Lee, and many others.

Between José Ramírez and Kwan, the Guardians have two of the game’s most consistent players. Building a lineup around them, and also creating a suitable rotation, is the trick with a thin roster. A deal for Kwan could materialize again during the winter, which tends to be when position players get a higher return than at the deadline. Could the bridesmaids of free agent Kyle Tucker see Kwan – a lesser player, but still very good – as a reasonable backup plan? Of course. Everything is part of the Guardians’ life, which is reflectively shuffled as if they were trapped in an endless game of three-card monte. For now, they held back. And perhaps they can use the next three months to craft the kind of contract extension offer that will convince Kwan to remain in a Guardians uniform for a long time.

Award “A Great Movement Can Change Everything”: The Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies wanted – needed – a relief solution for the late innings after last year reminded them of the need for bullpen stability. As good as their relievers were last year during the regular season, the bullpen spectacularly failed during their divisional series loss to the Mets. Add to this the problems of closer Jordan Romano, the loss of José Alvarado for next October due to a previous suspension for performance-enhancing drug use and the fragility of their other relievers, and there was no team that needed a player more than the Phillies needed a fireman. Jhoan Duran enters. The fit was perfect. It cost the Phillies Tait and Abel, a prospect price they were willing to pay because it didn’t include Andrew Painter, Aidan Miller, or Justin Crawford, their top three. And it gave them a lockdown closer with possibly the best pure stuff in baseball. His “splinker” and his curveball are his two best pitches, which is already saying a lot considering Duran throws his fastball at 103 mph and has hit triple digits 161 times this season. Beyond Duran, the Phillies can turn to Orion Kerkering and Matt Strahm and hope they fare better this October than last. David Robertson will arrive soon to bolster the group. Tanner Banks has been good. They aren’t the Padres. They aren’t the Brewers. But with the best starting rotation in the National League, they don’t need to be. Philadelphia’s relievers simply need to be good enough, and after the addition of Duran, they are.

“October is for Relief Pitchers” Award: The New York Mets and Yankees

Around 59% of the innings this year have been thrown by starting pitchers. In recent seasons, that percentage has decreased noticeably in the playoffs. Relievers account for around 50% of the innings pitched in the playoffs. And teams at this deadline acted as if they understood the need for bullpen help. No one added more relief help than the New York teams. The Mets gave up a lot to add Ryan Helsley and Tyler Rogers to a bullpen that already includes Edwin Díaz, Brooks Raley and Reed Garrett, and as much as it cost in prospects, they didn’t have to move any of their three top-tier starting pitchers (Jonah Tong, Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat) or their position standouts (Jett Williams and Carson Benge). The Yankees not only acquired relief arms in former Pirates closer David Bednar, Giants closer Camilo Doval, and Rockies reliever Jake Bird, but they control them for several years. As bleak as Bednar, Doval, and Bird’s debuts with the Yankees were – the sweep at the hands of Miami over the weekend was the nadir of New York’s season – ultimately, they will improve the bullpen.

Is it good enough to get them through the American League? The team that has spent most of the season at the top of the standings, Detroit, thought the bullpen depth was enough to acquire four relief arms at the deadline. The Astros, currently at the top of the West, have the second-best bullpen ERA in the American League, behind the Red Sox, who overtook the Yankees in the standings over the weekend. And the Blue Jays’ relief corps has the second-highest strikeout rate of any bullpen in the Major Leagues. The Mets and Yankees simply did what they had to do to compete.

“Less is More” Award: St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals’ president of baseball operations, John Mozeliak, could have gone out and offered any number of desirable players, from Brendan Donovan to Ivan Herrera or Lars Nootbaar, and found a worthwhile market. Instead, Mozeliak kept things simple, and it was the right thing to do. Leaving his post at the end of the season, ceding to Chaim Bloom, former baseball director of the Red Sox, and by only getting rid of Helsley, Maton and Steven Matz – all imminent free agents – Mozeliak did not overreach and made deals that should be the responsibility of his replacement. Other executives might have let ego get in the way when trying to put a final stamp on a franchise they have run for more than a decade. Mozeliak, instead, recognized that this is Bloom’s team in the future, and figuring out how to pilot a group that is good but not good enough is no longer Mozeliak’s responsibility. There is an urgency for change with the Cardinals; it’s just not the kind of urgency that needed to be satisfied by an outgoing executive. Despite all the disappointment the Cardinals have provided in the last three seasons – attendance has dropped in that time from over 40,000 per game to less than 29,000 – they have plenty of room to expand their roster, a future star at the top of the Major Leagues in JJ Wetherholt, and a wide suite of options for this winter. In a division as competitive as the National League Central will be for the next half-decade, they’re going to need everything they can get.

“Going for the Effort” Award: The Kansas City Royals

Know yourself. It is perhaps the most important characteristic for any front office. Know the quality of your Major League team, know your staff, know your strengths, know your weaknesses, know your purpose. A superficial look at the Royals might have left outsiders wondering what a sub-.500 team was doing at the deadline. And yet, it was the perfect example of the Royals understanding themselves. Even with ace Cole Ragans down and All-Star lefty Kris Bubic out for the season, both with left shoulder injuries, the Royals know their market. They know Kansas City suffered through too many non-competitive seasons to spend the last two months of this season reliving those memories. They know they want to build a new stadium, and the first attempt failed when voters rejected a proposal that would have helped build one. They know they only have a few years of Bobby Witt Jr. before he can opt out of his contract. They know, more than anything, that an American League wild-card spot can be had second-hand, because they watched Detroit, nearly 10 games under at last year’s deadline, do just that. So, yes, if the price isn’t prohibitive, why not try to win? Kansas City got outfielders Mike Yastrzemski and Randal Grichuk.