More than five weeks after the MLB trade deadline, the picture is starting to clear. With the regular season down to less than three weeks, the rental bats and arms have already logged enough games to show who has helped, who has flopped, and which front offices made the right kind of bet.
A few of the deadline’s biggest swings are already looking sharp. Tampa Bay’s move for catcher Hicks has paid off in a major way.
The Rays gave up three prospects, including third baseman Brayden Taylor, to pry him away from the Marlins, and the return has been exactly the kind of impact upgrade they were after. Hicks is hitting .310/.402/.494 with a 150 wRC+, four home runs and 17 RBIs, and he’s struck out at just a 9.8% clip.
He’s also been steady defensively and has produced 1.1 fWAR in 28 games. For a 27-year-old under team control through the 2030 season, Tampa Bay got a huge piece without having to wait for the future.
The Dodgers’ gamble on Skubal also belongs near the top of the success list, even if the price was steep. Los Angeles sent Zyhir Hope, River Ryan and Brady Smith to Detroit for the two-time Cy Young winner, a pure rental who can hit free agency after the season.
That kind of move always carries risk, but Skubal has been one of the best deadline additions in baseball. In 48 innings, he’s gone 2-2 with a 2.93 ERA, a 1.12 WHIP, 48 strikeouts and 10 walks.
His 2.54 FIP ranks fourth in baseball among qualified pitchers since the deadline, and his 1.4 fWAR is tied for third. With Shohei Ohtani not pitching again this year, that kind of arm could end up being massive for Los Angeles.
Not every contender got the jolt it wanted. Seattle went out and got Ward from the Orioles to give its lineup another outfield bat, sending reliever Alex Hoppe and minor league pitchers Brock Moore and Harrison Kreiling to Baltimore.
Instead of a spark, the Mariners have gotten a disaster. Ward has hit just .115/.216/.141 with no home runs and five RBIs since arriving.
Among hitters with at least 80 plate appearances since the deadline, his -0.8 fWAR ranks 247th out of 249, and his 13 wRC+ ranks 248th. That’s brutal, especially for a player who doesn’t bring much value with the glove.
The one silver lining for Seattle is that Ward is set to be a free agent after the season.
Chicago’s deadline swing for Castillo has been rough in a different way. The White Sox brought in the veteran three-time All-Star hoping he could stabilize a rotation in pursuit of an AL Central title, and they were banking on a bounce-back.
It hasn’t come close. Castillo has made six starts for Chicago and is 1-2 with a 7.52 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP, while allowing 22 earned runs in 26 1/3 innings.
His 23 strikeouts and eight walks don’t rescue the line, and his numbers since the deadline are near the bottom of the league among pitchers with at least 20 innings. The contract makes it sting even more: Castillo is due $24.15 million next season, and there’s a $25 million vesting option for 2028 if he reaches 180 innings, which looks unlikely.
On the prospect side, Rojas has already made the Mets look good. Chicago dealt the 21-year-old infielder to New York in the Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor trade, and Rojas immediately became the Mets’ top prospect.
He reported to Double A Binghamton and has torn it up there, hitting .283/.341/.602 with nine home runs, 29 RBIs and a 137 wRC+ in 28 games. He was already one of the more interesting names in the deadline prospect class, and he’s only strengthened that reputation since changing organizations.
Signed for $1 million out of the Dominican Republic in 2022, he looks like a player whose ceiling keeps climbing, with a possible MLB debut in ’27.
Taylor’s story has gone the other direction, in the best way for Chicago. He was viewed as a throw-in in the Holmes deal, the kind of piece who might fill a backup outfield role and help defensively down the stretch.
Instead, he’s hit like a middle-of-the-order bat. In 62 at-bats since the deadline, Taylor is slashing .393/.435/.544 with a 175 wRC+, which ranks eighth among all hitters with at least 60 plate appearances in that span.
The 32-year-old had already put up 0.5 fWAR in 67 games with the Mets before the trade, and he’s added 0.9 fWAR in 23 games with the Cubs. What started as a depth move has turned into a real piece for Chicago’s push.
In Other News...
Dodgers Suddenly Face A Massive Tarik Skubal Problem
Tarik Skubal has quickly become one of the bigger names to watch on the pitching market, and for the Dodgers, thats both a good and a complicated thing. The left-hander has fit in well since joining Los Angeles, putting together a 2.93 ERA in seven starts and giving the club another high-end arm in a rotation that always seems to be thinking a step ahead.
Now comes the part that tends to follow elite pitching success in Los Angeles: the bidding war. Skubal is expected to hit free agency this winter, and projections already have his next deal somewhere in the $400 million to $500 million range, which would put him among the highest-paid pitchers in MLB history. The Dodgers are viewed as an early favorite along with the Toronto Blue Jays, and for a team that values star power as much as any in the sport, the question is no longer whether Skubal is worth it so much as how far theyre willing to go to keep him in the fold. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Just Raised The Stakes For Two Fast-Rising Outfield Prospects
The Dodgers used a late-season roster shuffle to give one of their best young outfielders a bigger stage, promoting Josue De Paula to help fill the spot left by Shohei Ohtanis injury. Its the kind of move that serves two purposes at once for a team in October pursuit: patch a big-league need now while also getting a longer look at a player who has climbed quickly through the system.
The ripple effect reached Double-A Tulsa, where Charles Davalan and Eduardo Quintero moved up from advanced Class-A Great Lakes. For Los Angeles, the timing matters as much as the promotions themselves, since the organization gets a chance to see how two fast-rising prospects handle a tougher level before the season turns to the playoffs and the front office starts sorting out who might be closest to helping down the road. [Read more 🡒]
Dave Roberts Gives Miguel Rojas A Meaningful Dodgers Moment
Miguel Rojas may be lining up for one more meaningful turn in a Dodgers uniform on September 13, with Dave Roberts confirming the veteran infielder is expected to start even though his opportunities against right-handed pitching have been limited this season. For a player who has already spent years carving out a role in Los Angeles and won two World Series with the club, it adds a fitting layer to a career that has always been about reliability and timing.
Rojas first made his name with the Miami Marlins from 2015 to 2022 before returning to the Dodgers, and this stretch has the feel of a final chapter coming into view. Roberts giving him the nod is more than a lineup decision, because it frames the day as a chance for one of the teams most trusted veterans to get a meaningful moment in what could be his last game for Los Angeles. [Read more 🡒]