At a Wild Trade Deadline, Every Club Made a Move

It was easily the wildest, most frenetic trade deadline in major league history. Ten players who were All-Stars in mid-July were traded by Friday afternoon. Two recent champions, the Chicago Cubs and the Washington Nationals, scattered pieces of their souls across the baseball landscape. Every team made at least one deal this week, and 27 of the 30 made a move on Friday.

Baseball might have a problem these days with the pace of action on the field. But off the field, it was nonstop action all week.

“It was different in several respects — one was the number of teams actively seeking to improve, and I think that’s a great sign for baseball,” said Mets President Sandy Alderson, who traded with the Cubs for Javier Baez, a star infielder, just ahead of the deadline at 4 p.m. Eastern time.

“In years past, teams maybe had been looking at a wild-card spot — one game, in or out — and not really been motivated to improve, hoping that they could get there but not really investing in the possibility of a wild card. I think some of the races are close enough that there’s been broader motivation among clubs.”

Nearly every team that is at or close to .500 made moves to improve, with only the Colorado Rockies, the Cincinnati Reds and the Seattle Mariners staying quiet on Friday. The Mariners and the Reds made multiple moves earlier in the week, but the rudderless Rockies — operating without a permanent general manager — did almost nothing.

“I’m confused,” Trevor Story, the Rockies’ shortstop who is facing free agency, told The Denver Post, “and I don’t have really anything good to say about the situation and how it unfolded.”

Besides the Rockies’ players, just about everyone who was rumored to be traded was, in fact, moved. The All-Stars who have been dealt since the break include third baseman Kris Bryant (Cubs to Giants); designated hitter Nelson Cruz (Twins to Rays); infielder Eduardo Escobar (Diamondbacks to Brewers); second baseman Adam Frazier (Pirates to Padres); outfielder Joey Gallo (Rangers to Yankees); starter Kyle Gibson (Rangers to Phillies); closer Craig Kimbrel (Cubs to White Sox); starter Max Scherzer (Nationals to Dodgers); outfielder Kyle Schwarber (Nationals to Red Sox) and infielder Trea Turner (Nationals to Dodgers).

The Cubs have not returned to the World Series since winning it in 2016 to end a 108-year drought. They tried to maximize their chances by building around infielders Baez, Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, but now all are gone, with Rizzo shipped to the Yankees on Thursday night and Baez and Bryant leaving on Friday.

“Our core group and the teams over the last six, seven years in Chicago brought a lot of joy to people, not only in Chicago but around the country and parts of the world,” Rizzo said. “We were an easy team to root for, winning that World Series in ’16, playing and having fun. As time goes on, we’ll be able to reflect on it more, but I know those guys are pretty excited too now, to be able to go into contention and play for a World Series ring.”

The Cubs made that pursuit a little easier for their neighbors, sending two relievers — Kimbrel and Ryan Tepera — to the crosstown White Sox, who already have an All-Star closer in Liam Hendriks. The White Sox also got a veteran second baseman, Cesar Hernandez, from Cleveland, which at the deadline was eight games back in the American League Central.

The Cubs had already started breaking apart their lineup by letting Schwarber leave for the Nationals last winter in free agency. Washington won the franchise’s first championship in 2019 and gave it one more try this season, but arrived at the deadline with a 47-55 record that compelled the Nationals to start rebuilding.

Besides Scherzer, Turner and Schwarber, they traded reliever Daniel Hudson to San Diego, catcher Yan Gomes and infielder Josh Harrison to Oakland, closer Brad Hand to Toronto and starter Jon Lester to St. Louis.

“We got everything out of this group that we could have got out, and we reached the highest levels,” General Manager Mike Rizzo said. “For 10 straight years, we competed with the best and brightest in all of baseball and we were as good as anybody in the game. We won four division titles, we’ve been in the playoffs five times, we won a World Series with this group. There’s no shame in having to take a step back, refocus, reboot and start the process again.”

Scherzer, who earned 92 victories and two Cy Young Awards in six and a half seasons with the Nationals, will be a free agent after the season, and he had veto power over any potential trades. In order to extract the best prospect package, the Nationals paired him with Turner, who is under team control for one more year.

That was important for the Dodgers, who could lose shortstop Corey Seager to free agency this winter and who are trying to become the first team to repeat as World Series champions since the Yankees of 1998-2000. The Dodgers needed Scherzer to replace Trevor Bauer, last year’s N.L. Cy Young Award winner, who is under investigation for allegations of sexual assault and seems unlikely to return.

The Dodgers parted with two of their best prospects, catcher Keibert Ruiz and starter Josiah Gray, among the four young players they sent to Washington. The Toronto Blue Jays also dealt two high-profile prospects — infielder Austin Martin and pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson — to get starter Jose Berrios from the Minnesota Twins.

To get Gibson and reliever Ian Kennedy, the Phillies shipped starter Spencer Howard — a top-30 prospect in the game, according to Baseball America’s preseason rankings — to Texas as part of a six-player deal. And the Mets gave up their first-round pick from 2020, outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, in exchange for Baez and starter Trevor Williams.

Alderson said the volume of teams trying to win benefited the smaller group of also-rans.

“From a seller’s standpoint, that’s a good thing; from a buyer’s standpoint, probably not, because the more buyers in the market, the higher the prices,” Alderson said. “I think that’s what surprised me this year, is the amount of talent that was moved for relatively short-term, potential free-agent type assets.”

This was the last, best chance for contenders to fortify their rosters, and for weaker teams to take advantage. Baseball used to have an August trading period, with players needing to clear waivers to be dealt, but eliminated it in 2019. After last year’s pandemic-shortened season, teams acted decisively — even if it meant acknowledging the end of a run.

“It’s hard,” Nationals Manager Dave Martinez said. “I sat with Max yesterday for probably a good 45 minutes. I sat with him this afternoon probably for another good 45 minutes. We reminisced about a lot of different things. We laughed. We were sad. These guys will be a part of me.”