The 2026 MLB trade deadline is in the books; there were a lot of deals and a handful of winners and losers
Aug 3, 2026
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9:03 pm ET
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7 min read
MLB’s 2026 trade deadline came and went at 6 p.m. ET on Monday and dozens of deals were made in the days leading up to the deadline . The biggest blockbuster, of course, saw reigning two-time AL Cy Young Tarik Skubal join the defending two-time World Series champion Dodgers . Now that the trade deadline is in the books, let’s name some winners and losers, shall we? We shall.
Winner: The Dodgers and Tarik Skubal Baseball’s rich got richer (again) at the trade deadline Technically the Brewers went into deadline day with the best record in baseball, but the Dodgers were only a half-game back, plus they are the two-time defending World Series champs. I’m comfortable calling them the best team in baseball, in which case the best team in baseball added one of the best pitchers in baseball. Tarik Skubal is a necessity more than a luxury. Shohei Ohtani (knee, biceps) is shut down from pitching. Blake Snell (elbow) and Tyler Glasnow (back) are on the injured list. Justin Wrobleski has already set a new career high in innings.
Emmet Sheehan has a 5.39 ERA with poor underlying numbers, and was sent to Triple-A on Monday. Roki Sasaki is an enigma. The Dodgers needed rotation help, not so much to get to the postseason but for the postseason, so they went out and got the best available starter. That makes them a clear winner. Skubal is a winner here too. He goes from a team fighting for its postseason life to a team trying to three-peat. Skubal gets to pitch for a World Series contender and prove himself on the biggest stage ahead of free agency.
It’s a win-win for the Dodgers and a Skubal, and a loss for the rest of the league. Loser: The Brewers The Brewers’ deadline was fine, but it could have been great We have no idea how hard the Brewers pushed for Tarik Skubal, but they were definitely in the mix.
Did they not push hard enough? Were they outbid? We may never know. What we do know is Milwaukee’s best chance to beat the Dodgers in the postseason was starting Skubal and Jacob Misiorowski four times in a short series, and not only can they not do that now, they might have to face Skubal in October. The Brewers could beat Skubal and the Dodgers in the postseason anyway!
But it’ll be much more difficult against Skubal than with Skubal. The Dodgers aren’t the biggest villains in the Tarik Skubal trade — the cowardly teams who let it happen are
Matt Snyder
Milwaukee’s deadline haul (Codi Heuer, Dustin May, Bo Naylor, JoJo Romero, Antonio Senzatela) was good. All perfectly sensible moves in a vacuum. It’s not a vacuum, though. The Brewers are in the most prosperous era in franchise history and, as an outsider, it’s frustrating to watch them be mostly satisfied with the status quo. The point of the whole thing is to win the World Series, you know? The Brewers took baby steps toward that goal when great big leaps were available.
Cool farm system, though. Winner: The Red Sox Boston got bold and went after Adley Rutschman The Adley Rutschman trade is a stunner, as was the top prospect package the Red Sox surrendered.
We often hear a team has to be bowled over to consider moving a player, and it feels like that’s what happened here. The Orioles set a sky-high asking price and the Red Sox said OK, we’ll do it. Rutschman is on the injured list with a wrist issue, but he has begun baseball activities, and isn’t too far away.
Adley Rutschman trade grades: Red Sox get A for upgrade with AL East bonus; Orioles staring down ugly truth
Dayn Perry
He improves the Red Sox defensively and lengthens and diversifies their lineup. I’m sure they were disappointed to not get a shortstop, but Rutschman was arguably the best position player traded at the deadline.
A genuine shocker, this was. Loser: The Yankees New York did not do nearly enough at the deadline The Yankees went into the deadline with three obvious needs: righty-hitting catcher, righty-hitting outfielder, and bullpen help.
They got just one of those things (Heliot Ramos, a righty-hitting outfielder). The Yankees did also bring in slugger Luis García Jr., who will help their slumbering offense, but he only exacerbates their lefty heaviness issue. The bar at catcher was “better than Ali Sánchez” and they were unable to clear that even though their top two division rivals, the Red Sox (Adley Rutschman) and Rays (Liam Hicks), added catchers. Their overworked bullpen received no help.
If anything, the Yankees subtracted bullpen depth by including righties Jake Bird and Yovanny Cruz in the García trade. These are the Yankees. The goal is supposed to be the World Series. Increasingly, it looks like the goal is to be good enough to get to the postseason, and hope they run into a title one of these years. Winner: The Cubs The Cubs needed arms, and they got arms Sinker specialist Clay Holmes in front of that infield defense will be a thing of beauty. I love that fit.
It’s my favorite of the deadline. I also love the Kevin Gausman pickup (not so much Braxton Garrett). Holmes and Gausman give the Cubs sorely needed rotation help and they’re both big market and postseason battle-tested veterans. They’re exactly the kind of starters the Cubbies needed. Reliever Ryan Zeferjahn is a project with major control issues, but also loud stuff.
There’s a chance that, from now through the final day of the regular season, he’s the most effective reliever traded at the deadline. Mostly though, I love the Holmes and Gausman trades.
Those two align with Chicago’s needs perfectly. Loser: Orioles and Tigers Despite being in the wild-card hunt, these AL teams sold two star players What is the point of the third wild card spot if a team sells off its best players when they’re only two games back in the loss column?
The Tigers were two back when they traded Tarik Skubal, then they traded Casey Mize on top of that. The Orioles came into deadline day two back in the loss column and they subtracted Adley Rutschman, Taylor Ward, Tyler Wells, and Dean Kremer.
MLB’s competitive balance problem is not the Dodgers buying up all the best players.
It’s the teams fighting for a postseason berth deciding to play for next year, again and again. The Tigers had a terrible offseason, one in which they did nothing to improve (if not actively hurt) the bullpen and offense, which led to the Skubal trade.
Instead of talking about Detroit’s failures, we’re talking about the Dodgers being the boogeyman again. The O’s went through that rebuild/tanking era from 2017-21, took Rutschman with the No. 1 pick in 2019, then traded him in 2026 without so much as winning a single postseason game. Losers with a capital-L, both of these teams. Winner: The Giants and Mets The two could-have-been contenders enjoyed the seller’s market In a seller’s market, the Giants and Mets leaned hard into selling, and reaped the rewards.
The Giants turned Luis Arraez, Caleb Kilian, Heliot Ramos, Robbie Ray, Tyler Mahle, and Erik Miller into six prospects and post-hype youngster Marcelo Mayer. The Mets turned Clay Holmes, Freddy Peralta, Luke Weaver, Huascar Brazobán, A.J. Minter, Brooks Raley, and Tyrone Taylor into 11 (!) prospects. In Weaver’s case, the Mets paid a big chunk of his contract to get the prospect they wanted (shortstop Sammy Stafura). This season is not going the way the Giants and Mets expected. Not even close. Both did a nice job salvaging things with their trade deadline haul.
Now they just need the prospects to work out, and turn his negative season into a positive. Loser: Mike Trout The future Hall of Famer is sticking around as the Angels rebuild (again) Or maybe he’s a winner? Like the Giants and Mets, the Angels sold hard at the trade deadline. They turned José Soriano, Jo Adell, Brent Suter, Ryan Zeferjahn, Kirby Yates, Chase Silseth, and Logan O’Hoppe into nine prospects, including the highly regarded Arjun Nimmala. It was about time the Angels sold at the deadline. That said, it’s clear a rebuild is starting.
Is that what Mike Trout, who turns 35 later this week, wants at this point in his career? Maybe it is.
He’s stuck with the Angels this long. Perhaps the deadline activity is what pushes him over the edge and makes him rethink his no-trade clause, though. That’s a question for the offseason. For now, Trout is stuck on a team that is now even worse than the 43-69 roster that got them to this point.
