Image: Sports Illustrated
Major League Baseball’s trade deadline officially passed on Tuesday, August 1st at 6 PM EDT. The AL Central has been underwhelming this season, with just the Minnesota Twins sitting above .500 at 52-48. While the Cleveland Guardians sit just 4.5 games back from first place, their losing ways have made it difficult to believe they will catch the Twins and secure a Wild Card spot. With the current situation, many AL Central teams became sellers at the deadline, but the question remains … How did your team do?
Minnesota Twins:
As the only team above .500 in the division, the Twins were looked at to add at the deadline to make themselves a stronger playoff contender outside of their lowly division.
Unfortunately for them, that was not the case.
The Twins made all of one move at the deadline, swapping relief pitcher Jorge Lopez for Dylan Floro in a ‘change of scenery’ deal with the Miami Marlins.
Floro, 32, is having a down year compared to his previous three seasons for the Marlins and Dodgers. For Miami this season, Floro was 3-5 with a 4.54 ERA in 43 appearances. He also had a .302 batting average against and a 1.49 WHIP. Many reporters believed that Floro needed a better defensive infield behind him given that he is a sinker ball pitcher, so a change of scenery was necessary for him.
Lopez, 30, was on a very similar path to Floro for the Twins. While he posted a 2.54 ERA last season, that number almost doubled this season for Minnesota where he had a 5.09 ERA in 37 appearances. While his numbers haven’t improved much since joining the Marlins, both he and the team hope the kinks can get worked out ahead of the playoff push.
Aside from the pitcher swap, the Twins did not make any other moves. There were reports of taking calls for impending free-agent starters Kenta Maeda and Sonny Gray, but given their current place in the division being still the favorites to win the AL Central and not many serious offers, no other deals were made. Because of the quiet deadline for a division leader, the overall grade will be docked.
Overall Grade: D
Cleveland Guardians:
The Guardians made many moves at the deadline, but none of them were necessarily to improve the team’s chances of making the playoffs this season. Cleveland started out the deadline by acquiring RHP Noah Syndergaard and cash considerations from the Dodgers for SS Amed Rosario. Cleveland then sent its top pitcher, RHP Aaron Civale, to the Rays for power-hitting first base prospect Kyle Manzardo. The Guardians then offloaded their starting first basemen, Josh Bell, in the next deal, sending him to the Marlins for former first-round pick SS Kahlil Watson and 3B Jean Segura (released).
Let’s dissect them.
Rosario for Syndergaard raised a lot of questions at the start of the deadline, as Rosario was the starting shortstop for Cleveland all year and Syndergaard was a washed-up pitcher. After looking into it a little more, it does make some sense.
Rosario, 27, was in the last year of his deal with Cleveland and the Guardians have many highly touted shortstop prospects in Gabriel Arias, Tyler Freeman, and Brayan Rocchio. It makes sense to want to see what you have in these players and cutting a player in Rosario who was sure not to resign is valid.
Syndergaard, 30, has not been the same pitcher since his injury with the New York Mets. After posting a 3.03 ERA in 2018 and a 4.28 ERA in 2019, his ERA spiked this season up to 7.16 with the Dodgers. More notably, his strikeouts are way down. His K/9 was above 9.00 from when he entered the league in 2015 through 2021, but in the last two seasons, that number has severely decreased to 6.35 in 2022 and 5.72 in 2023. While Cleveland isn’t getting the hard-throwing Thor New York saw just a few years ago, they hope to find his potential again in a new uniform.
It was strange to see Cleveland part with ace Civale, who was under team control until 2025, but the Guardians really lacked young power. Manzardo, 23, was a second-round pick in 2021 out of Washington State. As one of the best pure-hitting prospects in the minors, he hit .349/.440/.605 in rookie ball and .327/.426/.617 last season between A+ and AA. Manzardo came in as the Guardians’ No. 2 prospect in the updated rankings, so he should be the starting first baseman for a long time.
Obviously, with a star potential first basemen coming in, it made sense to depart from Josh Bell. Not only did Bell’s $16.5 million player option for 2024 make good business sense, Cleveland hopes to unlock the potential of one-time top prospect Kahlil Watson and go younger.
Overall Grade: C
Detroit Tigers:
The Tigers made some noise at the deadline, mainly in a deal that never went through. Detroit had arguably the best pitcher on the trade market in RHP Eduardo Rodriguez, but when the Tigers agreed to a deal that would send Rodriguez to the Dodgers, Rodriguez vetoed the trade using his restricted no-trade clause. Instead, the Tigers traded their other top pitcher, Michael Lorenzen, to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for prospect INF Hao-Yu Lee.
Lee, 20, comes in as Detroit’s No. 8 prospect after the updated rankings. He profiles as a high on-base percentage infielder who can play second base, shortstop and third base. For A+ this season, he has a .283 batting average and a .372 on-base percentage. Lee has an average glove and arm, but he will definitely be at the top of the lineup once he makes it to the big leagues in 2025.
Aside from the Lorenzen trade, the Tigers didn’t make any other groundbreaking moves. For a team that was clearly selling at the deadline, it was disappointing to see them not add more prospects to the farm system.
Overall Grade: C
Chicago White Sox:
The White Sox pulled off a master-class at the deadline, acquiring a ton of top prospects and offloading their impending free agents.
Chicago started off the deadline by sending pitchers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López to the Angels for C Edgar Quero and LHP Ky Bush. It next dished pitchers Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly to the Los Angeles Dodgers for OF Trayce Thompson, RHP Nick Nastrini and RHP Jordan Leasure. The White Sox then pulled off a steal, acquiring LHP Jake Eder from the Marlins for 3B Jake Burger. And Chicago traded away RHP Kendall Graveman (Astros) and RHP Keynan Middleton (Yankees) for prospects C Korey Lee and RHP Juan Carela.
Quero, 20, slots in as the White Sox’s No. 3 prospect. He is a switch hitting catcher with more power from the left side of the plate, but he also draws a ton of walks. Defensively, he moves well behind the plate and has a strong arm to throw out runners. Obviously at just 20 years-old, he still has a few years to build a stronger frame and improve his skill set, but the future looks bright for the young catcher.
Bush, 23, is currently the No. 9 prospect in Chicago’s farm system. A second round pick in 2021, Bush throws a low-90s fastball, a mid-80s changeup, and a mid-70s slider. After his last injury in 2022, his ceiling isn’t particularly through the roof, but he is known for his high three-quarters arm slot and throwing strikes.
Nastrini, 23, is a little higher than Bush, sitting at No. 6 in the farm system. Nastrini began the 2021 season for UCLA as one of the best college pitching prospects, but he has lived short of those expectations. He was still drafted in the fourth round in 2021, and he has the potential to be a front-line starter for Chicago. The question remains if he is consistent enough to stay in the high-end role, but with his mid-90s fastball and mid-80s slider, the potential is there.
Eder, 24, is coming off Tommy John surgery this year, and his stats in Double-A this season aren’t yet as impressive as they were two years ago. Nonetheless, if Eder can stay healthy, he has the potential to develop into a No. 2 starter. The No. 5 prospect for Chicago, Eder has a plus fastball and slider and has developed a low 80s changeup. After his elbow is fully healed, the White Sox hope his power and consistency come back. This move is fully looking to the future and improve their rotation for the long term.
Lee, 25, acquired for Kendall Graveman, could slot onto the big-league roster as soon as this season. The No. 18 prospect for Chicago has a big arm and above-average pop, but his approach limits his upside. He is having his best offensive season this year, batting .283 in AAA and a .734 OPS. While he is quick behind the plate, his blocking and receiving need work, but that’s partly because he only became a catcher in 2019. Lee will see the big leagues first as an extra bat as the White Sox continue to develop him behind the plate.
Overall Grade: A
Kansas City Royals:
The Royals didn’t have many big pieces to trade, but for who they gave up, they got a lot of pitching back in their deals.
The Royals acquired LHP Cole Ragans and OF Roni Cabrera from the Rangers for LHP Aroldis Chapman, RHP Henry Williams and RHP Jesus Rios from the Padres for RHP Scott Barlow, INF Devin Mann and INF Derlin Figueroa from the Dodgers for Ryan Yarbrough, OF Nelson Velázquez from the Cubs for RHP Jose Cuas, and LHP Taylor Hearn from the Braves for INF Nicky Lopez.
While none of these prospects or big league returns don’t scream quality, there is some potential for a few of them.
Ragans, 25, was a former first-round pick in 2016 and has recently added more velocity to his fastball by making adjustments with his hips. While he is on the older side of top prospects, he still has some upside. In four starts since joining the Royals, Ragan is 1-1 with a 2.38 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. Ragans is close to getting a big league call up and has the potential to be a middle-rotation starter for a pitching rotation.
Williams, 21, is a little farther away from the big leagues to Ragans, but his potential is through the roof. He is already a top-10 prospect with a plus fastball and slider and a developing changeup. Williams is still young, so he has a few years to develop before he could be in the rotation for a long time.
The Royals did a good job of offloading Chapman, Yarborough, and Lopez, all of whom would be free agents after this season. With a job well done flipping their assets from prospects, the Royals had a modest deadline.
Overall Grade: B-
M-SABR 
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