Biggest Winners From the MLB Trade Deadline
The 2022 MLB trade deadline has passed and, boy, was it a doozy. There were several enormous deals that shift the baseball landscape. Let's dive in and look at the teams that won at this year's deadline.
MLB Trade Deadline Winners
San Diego Padres
The Padres pulled off a stunning deadline that might be the best we've seen in years. They landed Josh Hader, Juan Soto and Josh Bell in less than 24 hours. They added the best bullpen arm, best bat and best first baseman on the market, shoring up a shaky closer situation, getting the best bat that's been available in decades and finding someone to play first base, which has been a hole. Perhaps equally as important, they shipped Eric Hosmer's terrible contract to Boston. Oh, and as another throw-in, they added Brandon Drury for an18-year-old shortstop.
The cost for Soto and Bell was prohibitive, surrendering an army of top prospects and young players, but general manager A.J. Preller has never had a problem restocking his farm system. Also, it's Juan freaking Soto, you give up whatever isn't nailed down for him. Oh, and Bell is coming too, bringing his .877 OPS with him. They got Hader without giving up anything significant, softening a bit of the blow from Soto.
Hader is under team control though 2023 and Soto will be in town until 2024, so this isn't solely a group of rentals. Preller is never boring and he stole the show this year.
New York Yankees
The Yankees added one of the two best starters on the market by landing Frankie Montas and also shored up their outfield with the acquisition of Andrew Benintendi. They did so without surrendering any of their top four prospects, and held on tightly to future shortstop Anthony Volpe. They were also able to get rid of Joey Gallo, shipping him to the Dodgers after what had been a miserable tenure in the Bronx, landed Cubs rookie reliever Scott Effross, and bolstered their outfield defense by landing Harrison Bader from the Cardinals in exchange for Jordan Montgomery just before the deadline.
Benintendi is hitting .311 on the season, and while he doesn't have power, he does boast an on-base percentage of .387. He'll play in left field and add to the conga line of players who can get on base in front of the Yankees' power hitters.
Montas is a big righty with elite stuff when he's on. He boasts a 3.18 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP this season, though he did miss most of July with a shoulder issue. Still, the Yankees now boast a top three of Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes and Montas. Throw in Jameson Taillon's bounce-back season and New York has a truly elite rotation. Effross is a nice piece to add to an already solid bullpen.
It was a huge deadline for Yankees general manager Brian Cashman.
Houston Astros
The Astros didn't need much at the deadline but they made some savvy moves, adding a few players to an already excellent roster.
They added Trey Mancini from the Orioles to bring in a solid veteran bat. He's a luxury considering he's a corner outfielder, first baseman or a DH and Houston already has Yordan Alvarez, Yuri Gurriel, Michael Brantley and Kyle Tucker. Basically, Mancini is insurance and a solid veteran presence. To get him, the Astros gave up on center fielder Jose Siri and sent righty Chayce McDermott as part of a three-team trade that involved the Rays. Certainly not a big price to pay.
Later on Monday, Houston acquired catcher Christian Vazquez from the Red Sox in exchange for Enmanuel Valdez and Wilyer Abreu. Vazquez is a defense-first catcher, but has a better bat than current starter Martin Maldonado. He's a solid stick to add to the back of the lineup and helped Boston win a World Series in 2018.
Lastly, the Astros shipped out surplus starter Jake Odorizzi to the Braves and got reliever Will Smith in return. Smith is a former All-Star who was Atlanta's close during the team's run to a World Series title in 2021. He has struggled this season, with a 4.38 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP, but a change of scenery could help things. His stuff is still there.