MLB trade deadline winners and losers

The MLB trade deadline did not disappoint, with last-minute moves that threaten to shake up the American leagues. The headline move: Tarik Skubal going from the Detroit Tigers to the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Other franchise-shaking trades from Monday, such as Adley Rutschman moving from the Orioles to the Boston Red Sox, also promise significant shifts in the pecking order.

It was precisely the Skubal trade on Saturday that shook up the market. Following this move, teams accelerated their preparations, and Sunday saw signings such as Freddy Peralta joining the Tampa Bay Rays and Kevin Gausman joining the Chicago Cubs.

The final day of the trade deadline was busy, including several trades within the same division and a major deal: the Baltimore Orioles sent catcher Adley Rutschman to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for a group of Boston's top prospects, in one of the most surprising moves of this trade deadline. Other notable franchise moves on Monday involved Luis Arraez, Clay Holmes and Luke Weaver, among others.

The Dodgers, the undisputed champions of the trade market

These moves, according to experts, leave one clear winner: the Dodgers. The acquisition of Skubal in exchange for three prospects allows the Los Angeles franchise to gain a powerful option as their ace and provides cover while Shohei Ohtani (knee issue), Blake Snell (rehabbing) and Tyler Glasnow (beginning rehab Tuesday) work their way back. Furthermore, and this is no small matter, the Dodgers also avoid having to face their recent acquisition in the playoffs.

"If everyone is healthy in October, the Dodgers can dream of a rotation for the playoffs consisting of Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Ohtani, and either Snell, Glasnow, or Justin Wrobleski. Hey, is it annoying that they've pulled a move like this again? Of course it is. The World Series favorites just got even better," notes David Schoenfield on ESPN.

The Tigers' inexplicable decision: Left without claws or teeth at a crucial moment

On the other side of the scale are the Detroit Tigers, a team that proved last Wednesday it isn't cut out for greatness after squandering a 7-0 lead against the Orioles with Skubal on the mound. This led the franchise's president of operations, Scott Harris, to trade away his star player in exchange for prospects to rebuild the team.

Fans, however, are not at all convinced by the fact that management traded away their best player when they were just two and a half games away from a wild-card spot. And it's worth remembering that, since MLB expanded the playoffs to six teams in 2022, the 2022 Phillies, the 2023 Diamondbacks, and the 2023 Rangers all reached the World Series as wild cards. In fact, the Rangers ended up winning it.

This wasn't an outlandish possibility, given that the American League exhibits notable weakness and parity among most of the middle-of-the-pack teams, meaning that simply qualifying for the playoffs offers any team a more than reasonable chance of reaching the World Series. In fact, according to FanGraphs, the Tigers had a 20% chance of making the playoffs as of Sunday

The Brewers or the sin of omission

The Milwaukee Brewers don't come out looking good either, though not exactly because they were involved in major trades. In their case, it was due to inaction, since they lost the race to the Dodgers for Skubal, and with it, a great opportunity to become serious contenders for the team's first World Series title. The hypothetical duo of Skubal and Jacob Misiorowski would give any team that had to face them in a best-of-five or best-of-seven series a run for their money.

With their traditional caution, the Milwaukee team is pinning much of its hopes on Misiorowski's strong performance, trusting that he can keep throwing at 100 mph pitch after pitch.