Looking back at MLB’s 2023 trade season: What deals made an impact, then and now?

Baseball’s trade deadline tends to burn red-hot for a few days, but its impact doesn’t always linger.

In the 10 days leading up to last year’s deadline, more than 100 players changed teams across 51 separate trades. Some were massive names (Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer), and some were seriously impactful deals (Jordan Montgomery, Paul Sewald). The results of others were fleeting (Jordan Hicks pitched well for the Blue Jays, but became a free agent after a quick playoff exit) while some barely registered even in the moment (the Giants made one trade for two veterans who got a total of 16 at-bats).

With this year’s trade season getting underway, it’s worth looking back with hindsight to better assess all that happened at last year’s deadline and see where it fits today.

The cost of going to the World Series

Last year’s eventual pennant winners made three deadline moves apiece. The Rangers significantly addressed their need for starting pitching (and wound up with, basically, a two-month ace) while the Diamondbacks landed a much-needed right-handed bat, some defensive versatility, and a set closer.

Rangers acquired: RHP Max Scherzer, LHP Jordan Montgomery, RHP Chris Stratton, C Austin Hedges
Rangers gave up: SS/CF Luisangel Acuña (to the Mets); SS Thomas Saggese, RHP Tekoah Roby, LHP John King (to the Cardinals); international bonus pool money (to the Pirates)

The biggest name was Scherzer, but the biggest impact came from Montgomery who had a 2.79 ERA in 11 regular-season starts down the stretch, then dominated in his Wild-Card Game start, pitched three times in a terrific ALCS, and finished with a World Series ring. To get Montgomery and Stratton, the Rangers gave up two players ranked as top 100 prospects by various outlets (Saggese and Roby) plus King, a left-handed reliever who was good for the Cardinals last year and has been even better this year. Acuña, the younger brother of Braves superstar Ronald, is considered a top 100 prospect, but hasn’t hit much in Triple A this year.

Diamondbacks acquired: OF Tommy Pham, INF Jace Peterson, RHP Paul Sewald
Diamondbacks gave up: INF Jeremy Rodriguez (to the Mets); RHP Chad Patrick (to the A’s); 3B Josh Rojas, OF Dominic Canzone, 2B/SS Ryan Bliss (to the Mariners)

Sewald and Pham were especially important to the Diamondbacks’ surprise World Series run, but Peterson provided value and was on their playoff roster, too. Sewald continues to pitch well for the Diamondbacks this year, but to get him, the team gave up three guys who are on the Mariners’ current big league roster: Rojas is their regular third baseman, Canzone is a left-handed bat off the bench, and Bliss was recently called up from Triple A to play some second base.

The Angels’ aggressive blunder

Lucas Giolito was among many underperformers for the Angels last summer, and he was soon gone. (Dale Zanine / USA Today)

On the morning of July 17, the Angels were a fourth-place team, two games below .500. But they won a walk-off that night, starting a streak in which they won eight of nine to pull within six games of the division lead. They decided to go for it.

July 26: Acquired RHP Lucas Giolito and RHP Reynaldo López from the White Sox for LHP Ky Bush and C Edgar Quero
July 30: Acquired 1B CJ Cron and OF Randal Grichuk from the Rockies for RHP Jake Madden and LHP Mason Albright
August 1: Acquired RHP Dominic Leone from the Mets for INF Jeremiah Jackson

The only addition that worked was López, who pitched well out of the bullpen. Mostly, the sequence of events became a folly almost immediately. Giolito made six starts with a 6.89 ERA and was placed on waivers by the end of August (so was López; both were claimed by the Guardians). Cron had a .519 OPS with one home run in 50 at-bats and got hurt. Grichuk had a .677 OPS that was almost 200 points lower than what he had with the Rockies. (Both hitters became free agents at the end of the year). Leone pitched 11 times, walked a bunch of guys, gave up a bunch of hits, and he, too, was put on waivers.

Now, the Angels are one of the worst teams in baseball while Bush is putting up terrific numbers out of the White Sox’s Double-A rotation, Quero is a top 100 prospect, Albright is a Double-A starter, Madden is an A-ball reliever, and Jackson is a struggling Double-A utility man. The cost of the Giolito/López trade alone is enough to feel regret.

The Marlins’ short-lived success

Despite a negative run differential, the Marlins did make the playoffs last season, and they were very active at the deadline to make it happen.

July 26: Acquired RHP Jorge López from the Twins for RHP Dylan Floro
July 28: Acquired RHP David Robertson from the Mets for INF Marco Vargas and C Ronald Hernández
August 1: Acquired 1B Josh Bell from the Guardians for INF Jean Segura and SS/OF Kahlil Watson
August 1: Acquired 3B Jake Burger from the White Sox for LHP Jake Eder
August 1: Acquired LHP Ryan Weathers from the Padres for 1B Garrett Cooper and SHP Sean Reynolds

Robertson and López were unusually bad for the Marlins, but Bell hit 11 homers, Burger slugged .505, and Weathers pitched a Game 162 gem (which the Marlins lost, but still). Most of the moves worked pretty well in the short term and got the Marlins where they wanted to go (before they were knocked out in the wild-card round).

This season, the return looks a lot different — Weathers has been terrific, but Burger in particular has struggled — but the cost doesn’t seem to have been all that significant. None of the prospects the Marlins surrendered is especially highly touted or having a particularly great season. Eder and Watson were the biggest names, and Eder has been good-not-great out of the White Sox’s Double-A rotation, while Watson has begun playing more outfield than shortstop without hitting much for the Guardians’ Double-A affiliate.

The White Sox make an initial attempt to rebuild

The biggest Angels and Marlins trades involved the White Sox, who made five trades at the deadline to fuel an ongoing rebuilding process. In addition to the Giolito and Burger trades, the White Sox made these three moves:

July 28: Traded RHPs Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly to the Dodgers for OF Trayce Thompson and RHPs Nick Nastrini and Jordan Leasure
July 28: Traded RHP Kendall Graveman to the Astros for C Korey Lee
August 1: Traded RHP Keynan Middleton to the Yankees for RHP Juan Carela

Of the eight players the White Sox acquired — seven prospects and one veteran (Thompson) — three have played for their big league team this season. Leasure has been one of their best relievers, Lee has been their regular catcher (with the best pop time in the majors) and Nastrini has made six starts (albeit with an 8.39 ERA). Bush has been excellent and Eder decent out of the Double-A rotation, Carela has pitched pretty well in A ball, and Quero already has 10 home runs while ranking as the White Sox’s second-best prospect. All in all, not a bad haul considering how little lingering impact has been felt by the other teams involved.

The Astros bring back the one that got away

Justin Verlander’s time with the Mets didn’t turn out the way anyone planned, and he was soon back with the Astros. (Michael Reaves / Getty Images)

Only about a dozen trades from last year’s deadline have had any impact at the big league level this season. Scherzer and Graveman are still with their acquiring teams, but both have been on the IL all year. Hicks, Jack Flaherty and Michael Lorenzen have been excellent starting pitchers this season, but not for the teams that acquired them last year. Jeimer Candelario, Carlos Santana, Mark Canha and Paul DeJong are having decent seasons at the plate, but they too moved on via free agency in the offseason. The most notable lingering impact from last year’s deadline is surely this one:

Astros acquire: RHP Justin Verlander
Mets acquire: OF Drew Gilbert, 1B/OF Ryan Clifford

Eight months after leaving the Astros to sign with the Mets, Verlander was right back in Houston with another year left on his deal. He pitched well down the stretch last season, made three starts in the postseason — his worst one was an Astros win — and came off the IL this April in time to give the Astros a little bit of a boost back to relevance. The trade was definitely a win for Verlander, who’s 41 and a free agent at the end of the year. He’s got a better shot at one more playoff run with the Astros than with the Mets.

Gilbert, 23, was the top prospect in the deal. He opened the season in Triple A but went on the IL with a strained hamstring after just seven games. The former first-round pick is expected back around the end of June. Clifford, 20, was promoted to Double A in May but hasn’t hit much since getting there.

The surprising impact in Pittsburgh

Aside from Verlander, and a few of the guys in the White Sox and Marlins trades, most of the lingering 2023 Trade Deadline impact is happening in various bullpens around the league: Sewald with the Diamondbacks, Ryan Yarbrough with the Dodgers, Sam Moll with the Reds, Pierce Johnson with the Braves, Victor Vodnik with the Rockies (Vodnik and Johnson were traded for one another). Then there’s this impactful trade that flew under the radar at the time:

Phillies acquire: INF Rodolfo Castro
Pirates acquire: LHP Bailey Falter

Falter was having a bad season when the Phillies swapped him for some infield depth, acquiring Castro, who hit just .100 in extremely limited duty and then failed to make the team out of spring training this year. Falter, meanwhile, has emerged in Pittsburgh. Despite low strikeout totals, he’s pitched to a 3.86 ERA through 13 starts as a key piece of a surprisingly good Pirates rotation. He won’t reach arbitration until 2026 and won’t be a free agent until 2029.

A trade that seemed at the time more likely to positively impact a 2024 rotation was the Tampa Bay Rays’ swap of first base prospect Kyle Manzardo to the Guardians for 28-year-old Aaron Civale. But despite the Rays’ history of pitching development, Civale’s numbers have plummeted since the deal (3.77 career ERA in Cleveland; 5.26 since joining Tampa Bay). Manzardo made his big league debut in May but has yet to hit much for the Guardians.

The trades that begat more trades

Turns out, some of the impact from last year’s trade deadline has been the other trades it helped facilitate.

July 25: The Red Sox acquired young reliever Nick Robertson from the Dodgers (for Kiké Hernández) then traded him to the Cardinals for outfielder Tyler O’Neill (who’s had a resurgent season).
July 30: The Braves acquired light-hitting utility man Nicky Lopez from the Royals, then included him in the package to get reliever Aaron Bummer from the White Sox.
August 1: The Padres acquired setup man Scott Barlow from the Royals, then traded Barlow this offseason to the Guardians for Enyel De Los Santos (an even cheaper setup man).

The rest of the current major league impact from last year’s deadline has been relatively small. Joe Boyle (acquired in the Sam Moll trade) has been an up-and-down starter for the A’s, Nelson Velazquez (acquired for relief pitcher Jose Cuas) is getting regular at-bats with the Royals, and DJ Herz (acquired for Jeimer Candelario) has made a couple of starts for the Nationals. The Cardinals, Royals and Brewers added some guys who could be call-up options at some point this season, but most of the prospect impact from last year’s deadline remains to be seen.

(Top photo of Montgomery: Ron Jenkins / Getty Images)