The 2026 trade deadline came and went Monday evening and dozens of trades were made in the days leading up to the deadline. The biggest trade was, of course, the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers adding two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal. Now that all the deadline activity is in the books, let’s hand out some grades. Come with me, won’t you?
2026 MLB trade deadline winners and losers: Yankees don’t do enough, Giants and Mets enjoy seller’s market
Mike Axisa
Arizona Diamondbacks: D
Lars Nootbaar is a perfectly adequate get, but that was it? Did they really not want to address the rotation? I suppose the return of Michael Soroka will help, while Merrill Kelly and Brandon Pfaadt have been going well behind All-Star Eduardo Rodriguez of late, but it sure seems like they could’ve used an upgrade. — Matt Snyder
(Sacramento) Athletics: D
Granted that losing Shea Langeliers to a torn meniscus took their best trade candidate off the table (and made Jonah Heim a necessity, rather than a luxury, for the rest of the season), the Athletics virtually did nothing at the deadline. Twelve games under .500, fourth place in the division, and your answer is…nothing? That can’t be a plan. — Matt Snyder
Atlanta Braves: C
There was talk about Tarik Skubal and Taylor Ward and instead, the Braves settled for Tyler Mahle and Lane Thomas. They also brought in Brent Suter for middle relief work. The Braves needed offensive help and rotation depth and yeah, they got it, but not in a way that really moved the needle. It was a fine trade deadline at a time when Atlanta had a chance to do more than fine. — Mike Axisa
Baltimore Orioles: D
To be sure, the Orioles secured a massive prospect haul for Adley Rutschman, and they added nice organizational depth in the Taylor Ward and Tyler Wells deals. The O’s went into deadline day only two games behind the third wild-card spot in the loss column, though. They gave Pete Alonso all that money over the winter just so they could throw in the towel and sell because they were two out with two months to play? The individual trades were good to great. There just seems to be zero urgency to, you know, win in Baltimore. — Mike Axisa
Boston Red Sox: A
Yes, they paid a handsome price for Adley Rutschman, but he’s a significant upgrade at the game’s most demanding position this year and next. If you’re going to pay top dollar, you pay it for a switch-hitter catcher with good offense and great defensive chops. I also liked getting lefty reliever Erik Miller, even if it meant turning the page on perpetual prospect Marcelo Mayer. The Curtis Mead trade has quickly become an afterthought because he im-mead-iately got hurt, though that was just bad luck. I like that move too. Great work by the Red Sox landing Rutschman and getting the upgrades they did. — Mike Axisa
Chicago Cubs: A
The Cubs needed to address their battered rotation, and they did that. Leading up to the deadline, the North Siders added to their starting pitcher mix Clay Holmes from the Mets, the still-effective and durable Kevin Gausman from the Blue Jays, and Braxton Garrett from the Marlins. The price was steep in the Garrett swap, but overall, the Cubs did what they needed to do and then some. Holmes in particular will be an excellent fit in front of the Cubs’ sterling infield defense. — Dayn Perry
Chicago White Sox: B
The biggest move was adding Luis Castillo to the rotation, although he looks to be potentially in decline these days. The Sox also fortified the bullpen and the bench as they attempt to remain on top in the AL Central. The move that helped them the most in terms of their division title hopes may be one they had nothing to do with: the Tigers dealing away Tarik Skubal. — Dayn Perry
Cincinnati Reds: C-
There’s really not much to go on, and there being not much to go on informs that low grade above. The Reds added, most notably, a low-minors right-hander for Nathaniel Lowe and an additional $250,000 in international bonus pool money in exchange for a relief arm. Those moves are fine in and of themselves, but a team in the Reds’ position needs to be more resolute in what direction they take at the deadline. — Dayn Perry
Cleveland Guardians: B+
The Guards had a high level of activity by the standards of a team owned by the Dolan family. They added a couple of useful bats with Nathaniel Lowe and Jo Adell. As well, repatriated right-hander Foster Griffin helps solidify the rotation after remaking himself in Japan and proving himself with the Nationals, although the cost in trade was high. — Dayn Perry
Colorado Rockies: B-
The Rockies did some light selling by moving relievers Victor Vodnik and Antonio Senzatela and center fielder Brenton Doyle. Instead of moving Mickey Moniak, they’re extending him, and they never seriously seemed to consider trading All-Star catcher Hunter Goodman. Those latter two maybe could’ve landed some good prospects (Goodman definitely would have) but instead the Rockies decided to provide their fans with a little hope and continuity. That’s not necessarily the worst thing in the world. — Matt Snyder
Detroit Tigers: F
This is the easiest call of all. By trading away back-to-back Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize – their second-best starter this season – the Tigers undertook a teardown despite being within close range of playoff position and having the second-best run differential in the American League. That’s a disservice to their fans and to any notions of competitive integrity. We have plenty of examples of flawed teams that sneaked into the postseason and made a deep run. The Tigers still might do that, given how close they are, but lead decision-maker Scott Harris was derelict in his most basic duties leading up to the deadline. The returns he got in those trades hardly matter. — Dayn Perry
Houston Astros: C
I guess they’re content with the rotation? I like the addition of Daulton Varsho, as he’ll greatly improve that defense and has good power potential, but they were awfully quiet for a team that just surged into first place in a bad division. — Matt Snyder
Kansas City Royals: C
The Royals made multiple moves, but none of them was of the headline-grabbing variety. They fortified the farm system in deals with the Braves and Dodgers, most notably, but the prospects they received leading up to the deadline may wind up being just depth additions. Given the limited supply of alluring vets in KC, the decision not to trade Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo is a bit puzzling. — Dayn Perry
Los Angeles Angels: C
They traded seven MLB players and made them into nine prospects. It’ll take years to figure out if the moves were a net positive, but we already know that selling teams rarely turn firesales into a litany of great players. And now poor Mike Trout is around for a rebuild. — Matt Snyder
Los Angeles Dodgers: A+
They did other stuff, of course, but the move of the deadline was getting the best pitcher in baseball in Tarik Skubal. In and of itself, in light of the Dodgers rotation injuries, it was a great move to add to the team, but keeping him away from every other contending team is just as important. — Matt Snyder
Miami Marlins: B
They shuffled relievers (Lake Bachar out, Victor Vodnik in), turned the oft-injured Braxton Garrett into two prospects, and did nice work cashing in catcher Liam Hicks. One-and-a-half productive years and then a trade for prospects makes Hicks one of the most successful Rule 5 Draft picks of the last decade. There was room to add a starter, even just for innings. Otherwise, it was a solid if unspectacular deadline for the Fish. — Mike Axisa
Milwaukee Brewers: B+
Yes, they missed out on Skubal, but Dustin May‘s strong underlying numbers, increased velocity, and expanded repertoire suggest he can be a canny addition down the stretch. The additions of JoJo Romero and Antonio Senzatela also lengthen the bullpen. There was some cost to the trade with the Cardinals, but the Brewers improved their chances of hoisting the trophy with these moves. — Dayn Perry
Minnesota Twins: B
The Twins were active on the buy side, which is notable for a team that just a year ago was so active on the sell side. The biggest thing Minny needed to do in order to improve its playoff odds was to address the bullpen, and the front office did that. A.J. Minter, Jeff Hoffmann, and Tommy Nance are new to the relief corps, and they should help matters. They also added Dean Kremer to the rotation. — Dayn Perry
New York Mets: B
It was not the deadline the Mets wanted. They wanted to buy, not sell, but circumstances forced them to sell, and they really leaned into a seller’s market. They turned Clay Holmes, Freddy Peralta, Luke Weaver, and others into 11 prospects — 11! — includes a few who now rank among the system’s best. The Mets sold just about everyone they could sell and, by all accounts, did well with the prospect haul. Consider this an A that got knocked down to a B given the circumstances (being so bad and disappointing they had to sell in the first place). — Mike Axisa
New York Yankees: D
The Yankees had three needs going into the deadline: righty-hitting catcher, righty-hitting outfielder, late-inning reliever. They went 1 for 3, only bringing in Heliot Ramos as the righty-hitting outfielder. The Yankees couldn’t upgrade over the inadequate Austin Wells/Ali Sánchez catching tandem, nor could they add bodies to help an overworked bullpen. Luis García Jr., while a good addition who will boost the team’s woeful offense, only exacerbates their overly left-handed problem. Just not a good deadline for the Yankees. The roster was aching for more. — Mike Axisa
Philadelphia Phillies: C
Luis Arraez adds a sorely needed contact element to an offense with baseball’s seventh-highest strikeout rate. It will cause some positional headaches — Arraez to second, Bryson Stott to third, Alec Bohm to first, and Bryce Harper to right might downgrade the defense at four positions — but the bat is a great add. Brooks Raley will help the bullpen as well. The Phillies didn’t get a new fifth starter, though, nor did they bring in a righty bat to elevate an offense that has gotten baseball’s lowest OPS from right-handed hitters. — Mike Axisa
Pittsburgh Pirates: B+
Mission No. 1 was improving the bullpen, and Ben Cherington definitely did that leading up to the deadline. The Luke Weaver addition is made to order for the Pirates‘ needs in terms of high-leverage options, and there’s now also much-needed depth with the additions of Camilo Doval, Ron Marinaccio, Kirby Yates, and Luke Bachar. Did Pittsburgh need a bat in light of the injury to Ryan O’Hearn? That’s all that’s keeping them an A. — Dayn Perry
St. Louis Cardinals: B+
Maybe you slightly ding the Cardinals for selling core contributors while within reasonable range of contention, but this was always the plan under first-year lead executive Chaim Bloom. They did exceptionally well with their return in the trade that sent Dustin May and JoJo Romero to the Brewers, and in the deal that sent Lars Nootbaar to Arizona, they got a pair of strikeout arms who could be in St. Louis sooner rather than later. — Dayn Perry
San Diego Padres: A
Look, A.J. Preller is so over-leveraged here with long-term contracts that aren’t tradeable that he has no other option than to just keep pushing to try and catch lightning in a bottle one of these Octobers. Getting Casey Mize and Robbie Ray for that rotation alongside Michael King and in front of that bullpen was huge. They’ll grab that third wild card and, if the offensive personnel wakes up, they could put a major scare into whichever division winner doesn’t earn a bye. — Matt Snyder
San Francisco Giants: B
They did some selling and did a great job to grab Marcelo Mayer and his upside from the Red Sox. We’ll find out in a few years if the sell job yielded multiple productive players or not, but Mayer has enough upside to get a positive grade. — Matt Snyder
Seattle Mariners: C
They added Taylor Ward and his on-base chops from this season could be a nice boost for the offense. Or maybe he’ll revert to the power hitter who doesn’t walk quite as much? Regardless, that was a decent move for the Mariners, who didn’t do much else other than shed Luis Castillo. They appear to mostly be counting on in-house improvement and it’s not a terrible bet. It was just an underwhelming deadline for a very disappointing team. — Matt Snyder
Tampa Bay Rays: B
The rumors started with Tarik Skubal and Hunter Goodman and the deadline instead brought Liam Hicks, Tyler Wells, and Freddy Peralta. I can’t help but wonder if Wells will be Tampa’s next reliever-to-starter conversion next year. For now, he’s in the late-inning bullpen mix. The Rays did good work patching holes. Hicks, if he sticks around for a few years and performs like he did with the Marlins, might go down as the best catcher in franchise history. (Seriously, it’s been bleak for the Rays behind the plate.) — Mike Axisa
Texas Rangers: D
The Rangers made a minor trade and … that was it. I’m giving the bad grade for two reasons. First off, they’re only a game and a half out of a playoff spot and were in first place just a few weeks ago. And they didn’t aggressively look to improve the ballclub. That’s the first strike against them. Secondly, both Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi reportedly exercised their no-trade clauses. That means the Rangers tried to sell. When 1 ½ games out of a playoff spot. They won the World Series from a wild card just three years ago. This is shameful. — Matt Snyder
Toronto Blue Jays: B
The Blue Jays toed the line nicely between buying (Spencer Arrighetti, José Soriano) and selling (Kevin Gausman, Jeff Hoffman, Daulton Varsho). They could have moved out more players, namely Shane Bieber, but Toronto did very good work bringing in major leaguers to help them contend next year, as well as prospects for the future. I can’t go all the way to an A because I don’t love Arrighetti and the Blue Jays did keep a few potential trade chips, but a B is a pretty good grade too. — Mike Axisa
Washington Nationals: A
Luis García Jr., Foster Griffin, and Curtis Mead were all found money. Foster was a low-cost free-agent signing coming back from Japan, Mead was acquired in a very minor trade at the end of spring training, and García was an afterthought. The Nationals’ new front office helped all three players become the best versions of themselves, then they traded them for seven prospects and two major leaguers (Jake Bird and Connelly Early). Also, they didn’t trade CJ Abrams. Keeping him is a good move in this expert’s opinion. Grade A work for the Nationals at the deadline. — Mike Axisa
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