Historical past is filled with MLB commerce deadline acquisitions who put a staff excessive.
From David Justice to CC Sabathia to Yoenis Cespedes, there are decades-worth of examples of how a mid-summer deal can present the lacking piece for a playoff run or World Collection championship.
There’s equally no scarcity of in-season swings that backfired spectacularly.
With this yr’s July 31 deadline days away, here’s a look at a number of the most consequential pre-deadline trades of all time.
JOHN SMOLTZ, 1987
Maybe essentially the most notable deal to backfire was the Detroit Tigers’ acquisition of 36-year-old Doyle Alexander earlier than the 1989 deadline.
To accumulate the veteran, the Tigers despatched John Smoltz, then a minor-league prospect, to the Atlanta Braves.
Alexander was wonderful for Detroit, going 9-0 with a 1.53 ERA after the commerce, however the Tigers didn’t make the World Collection, and Smoltz went on to have a Corridor of Fame profession as the one pitcher with greater than 200 wins and 150 saves.
RICKEY HENDERSON, 1989
Traditionally, the Yankees have been on the higher ends of their mid-season offers, however sending the speedy Henderson to Oakland in June of 1989 was a pricey exception.
Unable to succeed in an extension with Henderson — who was an impending free agent within the midst of a down yr — the Yankees traded him to the A’s for Eric Plunk, Greg Cadaret, and Luis Polonia.
Henderson batted .294 and with 52 steals in 85 video games after the commerce, then hit .441 with 11 steals within the postseason. Henderson was that yr’s ALCS MVP and led the A’s to what stays the franchise’s most up-to-date title.
Famously, Plunk was additionally a part of the 1984 commerce wherein the Yankees acquired Henderson from the A’s.
JEFF BAGWELL, 1990
In a worthy contender for worst deadline deal ever, the Boston Purple Sox acquired reliever Larry Andersen from the Houston Astros for then-prospect Jeff Bagwell.
Andersen made solely 15 appearances with Boston, then left in free company.
Bagwell spent his whole 15-year Corridor of Fame profession with the Astros, hitting 449 residence runs and profitable Nationwide League MVP in 1994.
MARK MCGWIRE, 1997
The St. Louis Cardinals’ acquisition of the power-hitting sensation from the A’s that July didn’t propel them to the playoffs.
However it started a five-season partnership with McGwire that included him setting the short-lived single-season residence run report with 70 in 1998.
All it value the Playing cards was T.J. Mathews, Eric Ludwick and Blake Stein.
DAVID JUSTICE, 2000
Looking for their fourth championship in 5 years, the Yankees knew they wanted one other bat.
Justice was served.
The Yankees acquired the then-34-year-old Justice for Zach Day, Ricky Ledee and Jake Westbrook. They acquired rapid outcomes, as Justice hit .305 with 20 homers and 60 RBI in 58 video games after the commerce.
Justice was much more essential within the playoffs, hitting a go-ahead three-run residence run in Sport 6 of the ALCS en path to MVP honors for that spherical. The Yankees then beat the Mets within the World Collection to finish a three-peat.
BOSTON RED SOX, 2004
The Purple Sox made a number of strikes in the summertime of 2004 that helped them break the Curse of the Bambino.
The largest was a four-team deal wherein Boston despatched Nomar Garciaparra to the Chicago Cubs and bought again Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mientkiewicz.
However the Purple Sox additionally swung trades for Dave Roberts and Mike Myers, which helped them pull off their unprecedented 2003 ALCS comeback towards the Yankees and finish their 86-year championship drought.
ASTROS RENTALS
After being traded by the Seattle Mariners, Randy Johnson went 10-1 with a 1.28 ERA in 11 begins with the Astros in 1998, however Houston was eradicated within the NLDS.
Houston bought its cash’s value, too, after buying Carlos Beltran from the Kansas Metropolis Royals in 2004, as he tied an MLB report with eight homers that postseason.
The Astros have been eradicated within the NLCS, nonetheless, and Beltran left for the Mets that winter.
CC SABATHIA, 2008
The Milwaukee Brewers went all in.
Chasing their first playoff berth since 1982, the small-market Brew Crew added Sabathia from Cleveland that July for a package deal of Michael Brantley, Matt LaPorta, Zach Jackson, Rob Bryson.
Regardless of his impending free company, Sabathia embraced the function of workhorse, hurling 130.2 innings, together with seven full video games, with a 1.65 ERA over 17 begins, together with the ultimate three on quick relaxation.
The Brewers made the playoffs, and Sabathia parlayed his standout season right into a seven-year, $161 million contract with the Yankees that winter.
MANNY RAMIREZ, 2008
Someway, one other commerce in 2008 rivaled that of Sabathia’s.
Uninterested in their fractured relationship with Ramirez, the Purple Sox traded the slugger to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-team deal that netted them Jason Bay and Josh Wilson.
Ramirez batted .396 with 17 homers and a 1.232 OPS in 53 video games after the commerce, then helped the Dodgers win a playoff collection for the primary time in twenty years.
MARK TEIZEIRA, 2008 & 2009
Two Teixeira trades became franchise cornerstones.
In 2008, the Texas Rangers despatched the primary baseman to the Braves for Elvis Andrus, Matt Harrison and Neftali Feliz, who helped take Texas to back-to-back World Collection berths in 2010 and 2011.
In 2009, the Braves traded Teixeira to the Los Angeles Angels for Casey Kotchman and Stephen Marek.
Whereas that return was far much less spectacular, the Angels acquired a first-round compensation choose when Teixeira left in free company for the Yankees — which they became Mike Trout.
YOENIS CESPEDES, 2015
The Mets’ commerce for Cespedes practically by no means occurred.
They initially agreed to accumulate Carlos Gómez from the Brewers for a package deal that included Wilmer Flores, who was famously moved to tears on the sphere after studying of the deal.
However the Mets failed Gomez’s bodily, then pivoted to a different outfielder in Cespedes.
Cespedes hit 17 homers in 57 video games, then helped lead the Mets to the World Collection.
He signed a number of contracts with the Mets from there, together with a four-year, $110 million deal earlier than the 2017 season that didn’t go as nicely.
PETE CROW-ARMSTRONG, 2021
Conversely, the Mets made a regrettable transfer in 2021 once they traded Crow-Armstrong, then a 19-year-old prospect, to the Cubs for Javier Baez.
Baez performed nicely after the commerce, hitting .299 in 47 video games, however the Mets missed the playoffs, and he left in free company that winter.
Crow-Armstrong, in the meantime, is at the moment in the course of a breakout season and, at age 23, is a authentic NL MVP candidate.
JUAN SOTO, 2022
Any time a participant of Soto’s stature will get traded is notable.
However what makes this deal so notable is what the Washington Nationals acquired in return.
Figuring out they might be unable to increase Soto, the Nats traded him to the San Diego Padres for a five-prospect package deal headlined by James Wooden, MacKenzie Gore and C.J. Abrams.
Abrams was an All-Star in 2024, whereas Wooden and Gore have been each All-Stars this yr. None is older than 26 or eligible at no cost company earlier than 2028.
That is the modern-day customary for a commerce deadline haul.
Initially Printed: July 27, 2025 at 12:12 PM EDT
