The MLB Trade Deadline is a break-up of the normal discourse during an MLB season. Teams decide whether or not they are going to try and contend for the postseason, pack it in for the summer, some combination of the two, or stand pat and do nothing. At the 2/3 mark of the season, the right path is obvious for most teams. The MLB Trade Deadline hasn’t always communicated the sense of finality that it might now.
The Houston Astros 2017 World Series win can be attributed in large part to a trade when they acquired Justin Verlander in a deal with the Detroit Tigers after the official deadline. MLB has taken measures to restrict deals like this from happening in recent years but teams have still found ways of adding talent to their roster after the MLB Trade Deadline. Like last season when the Angels gave up after making acquisitions during July and waived them afterward, paving the way for them to sign with contenders for the final weeks of the regular season and the postseason. How will the moves made at this year’s deadline work out?
Revamping the MLB Trade Deadline
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As this MLB Trade Deadline passes, it’s time to reflect on where MLB teams go from here. Teams were buyers, sellers, both, and neither at this year’s deadline. Some clubs tinkered on both sides of buying and selling such as the Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago Cubs. Whatever teams chose to do, they all have the same path forward. MLB has adapted the rules around transactions that can occur after the end of July stalwart of the regular season.
The league has become more stringent with what can happen after the MLB Trade Deadline. The days of waiver wire trades are over. Fans remember the 2017 trade that sent Justin Verlander to the Houston Astros late in August. After the deadline came and went that year, the Detroit Tigers still had not dealt their ace. However, it was through a provision that the Astros were able to acquire Verlander after the official deadline. The move helped launch Houston to the World Series, where they took down the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Trade Deadline Changes
In years and deadlines since, MLB has cracked down on these types of moves and made the traditional deadline more final. Something that is still in place and available for teams is waivers but not through trades, just signings. The latest example of this was last season when the Los Angeles Angels made a final attempt to make the postseason with Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, only to tank in the standings after buying at the MLB Trade Deadline.
When the team gave up on their chance to reach the postseason, they released many of their deadline acquisitions, making them available for all teams to add before the postseason started. After being traded to and released by the Angels, Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez were claimed by Cleveland. The Guardians were able to add the pair of right-handed pitchers without giving up any capital and do so after the MLB Trade Deadline, despite the new guardrails.
Many teams will find that the moves they made at the deadline don’t pan out or they will be too far out of the race for them to make an impact. There won’t be any Verlander-like deals made from this point on, but don’t be surprised if there is more player movement to come in the 2024 regular season. In a year where so many teams are still in the hunt for a postseason berth, it could be more prevalent than ever.
