Trade Deadline Review: AL East
The 2024 Trade Deadline is over, and the AL East teams took different approaches on what to do with their teams. Some decided to trade pieces of their rotations and lineups away, while others tried to add pieces to help them win a championship. One team sold off a lot of their roster to begin a retooling phase of the roster. Here's a review of how each team did at this year's deadline.
#1: Baltimore Orioles
Additions: SP Zach Eflin SP Trevor Rogers RP Seranthony Dominguez RP Gregory Soto INF Livan Soto OF Austin Slater OF Eloy Jimenez Traded Away: OF Austin Hays (Phillies)
OF Kyle Stowers (Marlins)
Rays #14 Prospect RHP Jackson Baumeister Rays #19 Prospect INF Mac Horvath Rays #29 Prospect OF Matthew Etzel Marlins #5 Prospect INF Connor Norby LHP Trey McGough (White Sox) Phillies #10 Prospect RHP Seth Johnson Phillies #25 Prospect RHP Moises Chance
The Orioles had an aggressive deadline to add to a team they believe can win the World Series. In two trades with the Phillies, they added bullpen help in Seranthony Dominguez and Gregory Soto despite it costing them Austin Hays. They also made trades with the Rays and Marlins to acquire Zach Eflin and Trevor Rogers for their rotation, using top prospects Connor Norby and Jackson Baumeister as the headliners for their packages. They also added Austin Slater and Eloy Jimenez as outfield depth to replace Austin Hays. The Orioles improved the team at the deadline but they'll have to wait and see if it paid off or not.
#2: New York Yankees
Additions: RP Mark Leiter Jr. SP Kelly Austin INF/OF Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Traded Away: RP Caleb Ferguson Marlins #6 Prospect C Agustin Ramirez Marlins #11 Prospect INF Jared Serna Abrahan Ramirez (Marlins) Cubs #20 Prospect RHP Jack Neely Cubs #30 Prospect INF Ben Cowles
The Yankees' deadline was quiet outside of their one blockbuster trade. Jazz Chisholm Jr. was arguably the best player traded at this year's deadline, and the Yankees paid up to get him. Outside of Chisholm, though, they didn't do much. They were in conversations to land starting pitcher Jack Flaherty from the Tigers but backed out due to health concerns. Their lineup is still questionable, even with the addition of Chisholm's electric bat. They most likely are waiting for #1 prospect Jasson Dominguez to come back from injury to complete their outfield, but they didn't make too many moves to give their fanbase more optimism heading into the second half of the season.
#3: Boston Red Sox
Additions: SP James Paxton SP Quinn Priester RP Lucas Sims RP Luis Garcia C Danny Jansen Traded Away: INF Moises Bolivar (Dodgers) Blue Jays #21 Prospect INF Eddinson Paulino Blue Jays #29 Prospect INF Cutter Coffey RHP Gilberto Batista (Blue Jays) Pirates #5 Prospect INF Nick Yorke RHP Ovis Portes (Reds) Angels #11 Prospect OF Matthew Lugo Angels #24 Prospect INF Niko Kavadas RHP Ryan Zeferjahn (Angels) RHP Yeferson Vargas (Angels)
Red Sox GM Craig Breslow said they would either be focused on selling or buying, and with the Red Sox looking to make a playoff push, they chose to buy. Most additions were on the pitching side, as injuries to their staff were decimating the team. They added James Paxton as an MLB starter and Quinn Preister as a developmental piece in Triple AAA. In the bullpen, they added veteran arms Lucas Sims and Luis Garcia. Their biggest move was acquiring Danny Jansen from the Blue Jays as a power-hitting catcher option to replace the newly released Reese McGuire. The Red Sox had a pretty good deadline, all things considered. They gave up very little prospect value and managed to add pieces that could help their team win in the second half.
#4: Tampa Bay Rays
Additions: 3B/DH Christopher Morel OF Dylan Carlson #5 Prospect RHP Dylan Lesko #7 Prospect RHP Brody Hopkins #13 Prospect OF Aidan Smith #14 Prospect RHP Jackson Baumeister #19 Prospect INF Mac Horvath #20 Prospect OF Homer Bush Jr. #25 Prospect INF Gregory Barrios #28 Prospect C J.D. Gonzalez #29 Prospect OF Matthew Etzel RP Hunter Bigge (Cubs) RHP Ty Johnson (Cubs) RHP Michael Flynn (Dodgers) RP Paul Gervase (Mets) PTBNL (Mets) PTBNL (Mariners) Cash Traded Away: SP Aaron Civale SP Zach Eflin RP Phil Maton RP Jason Adam RP Tyler Zuber RP Shawn Armstrong 3B Isaac Paredes OF Randy Arozarena UTL Amed Rosario
This year's trade deadline was a seller's market. If a team was selling, it would be a great deadline for them, and the Rays made the smart decision to deal away veterans and players at their peak. They dealt with almost every valuable member of their core this deadline and got nine prospects that joined their top 30 from it. Their most interesting acquisitions were Christopher Morel and Dylan Carlson, two bats who have struggled this year but have past glory. The Rays are known for reviving once-dead bats into good contributors, and they should be able to do the same for Morel and Carlson. The Rays had a top-two deadline and have set themselves up to be good for a long time.
#5: Toronto Blue Jays
Additions:
OF/1B Joey Loperfido
SP Ryan Yarbrough
Blue Jays #3 Prospect RHP Jake Bloss
Blue Jays #8 Prospect OF Jonatan Clase
Blue Jays #14 Prospect 3B/OF Charles McAdoo
Blue Jays #21 Prospect INF Eddinson Paulino
Blue Jays #22 Prospect INF Will Wagner
Blue Jays #27 Prospect OF Yohendrick Pinango
Blue Jays #29 Prospect INF Cutter Coffey
Blue Jays #30 Prospect OF R.J. Schreck
C Jacob Sharp (Mariners)
RHP Gilberto Batista (Red Sox)
INF Jay Harry (Twins)
Traded Away:
SP Yusei Kikuchi
RP Trevor Richards
RP Yimi Garcia
RP Nate Pearson
C Danny Jansen
INF Justin Turner
INF Isiah Kiner-Falefa
OF Kevin Kiermaier
The Blue Jays are having a disappointing season and opted to sell expiring contracts. They got massive hauls for Yusei Kikuchi and Danny Jansen while getting a good package for Yimi Garcia. They even got something for their struggling players, such as Justin Turner, Nate Pearson, and Trevor Richards. The most interesting piece they got was Charles McAdoo, who has mashed the seams off the ball in the minors this season. Overall, the Blue Jays had a great deadline and are in a prime position to retool this offseason to try and push toward one last playoff berth with Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the team.
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