Power ranking the greatest MLB trade deadline deals of all-time

The MLB trade deadline is a fascinating point in the baseball season. Certain clubs push their chips into the middle of the table, trying to make a deep postseason run. Other teams are looking to restock the farm system in order to improve for the future. We’ll rank the 10 greatest deadline deals, with all statistics being sourced from Baseball Reference.

The Mets sent pitchers Michael Fulmer and Luis Cessa to Detroit for Cespedes’ services. It was an intriguing bet for New York at the time, who had struggled throughout the first half of that season to get anything going on offense. The organization hoped Cespedes’ bat would give them a jolt.

Sports Illustrated called Cespedes’ impact down the stretch of the 2015 campaign “monstrous”. The slugger hit 17 home runs while hitting .287. His production helped lead the Mets all the way to the World Series, where they would eventually fall to the Kansas City Royals. Cespedes’ Mets career took a nosedive shortly after, but it was fun for New York fans while it lasted.

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The Cubs sent Gleyber Torres, Rashad Crawford, Billy McKinney and Adam Warren to the Yankees to get the Cuban fireballer. It was viewed as a steep price to pay for a reliever, but Chicago wanted to go all in to take advantage of a strong young core led by Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant.

Chapman’s contributions out of the bullpen helped the Cubs win the 2016 World Series. He pitched to a sparkling 1.01 ERA down the stretch of the regular season. Fox Sports wrote that Chapman “closed out games, wowed the crowd and got the job done” for Chicago that fall. Torres has been solid in his own right, as a two-time All-Star with the Yankees.

The Astros parted ways with John Buck and Octavio Dotel in a three-team deal that landed Beltran. The free agent to-be was rejuvenated by the pennant race. He hit 23 home runs in 90 games for Houston as the season progressed. However, he would save his best for the impending playoff run.

That’s what the MLB’s website called Beltran’s production during the 2004 playoffs. He hit eight home runs in that postseason, including going deep in five straight games. “There’s some guys who wear a Superman shirt, but he was Superman,” Houston second baseman Craig Biggio said. “It was one of the most incredible hitting experiences I’ve seen in my life…”

Boston sent Heathcliff Slocumb to Seattle in exchange for the pair. It wasn’t viewed as an earth-shattering deal at the time. Slocumb pitched to a 5.79 ERA with Boston during the first half of the 1997 campaign, and things didn’t get much better when he went to the Pacific Northwest.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox obtained two key pieces that would help lead them to the 2004 World Series championship. Yardbarker remembers Varitek’s intangibles during his career, which included him being named team captain. Lowe showed his versatility as a starter and reliever. He led the American League in saves in 2000 with 42.

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The Athletics sent Greg Cadaret, Eric Plunk and Luis Polonia to the Yankees for Henderson. Oakland was already a potent offensive club, bolstered by the power of Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire in the middle of their lineup. Adding a speed demon like Henderson only made them more unstoppable.

CBS Sports said it right, “it was all but over for the rest of the league.” Henderson stole 52 bases in 85 games with Oakland, who served as a catalyst the Athletics didn’t even really need on their run to the title. Ironically, Henderson was traded at the 1993 deadline to the Toronto Blue Jays, where he won another World Series as a second-half contributor.

The Cardinals shipped T.J. Mathews, Blake Stein and Eric Ludwick to Oakland for the bigtime basher. It wasn’t a certainty that McGwire would remain in St. Louis, as his contract was about to expire at season’s end. However, he signed an extension that kept him with the team, and it turned out to be one of the best deals the franchise ever made.

McGwire would be front and center in pursuit of MLB’s home run single season record in 1998, and he would set a new mark that year with 70 bombs. He wouldn’t stop there, as he knocked 65 out of the park in 1999, to record one of the most memorable power stretches the game has ever seen.

The Houston Astros traded Larry Andersen to the Red Sox. This one hurts for Boston, as they looked to upgrade their bullpen in the summer of 1990. Andersen pitched well for them in 15 games, but left to join the San Diego Padres in 1991. The Red Sox were swept in the ALCS by the Athletics.

Meanwhile, it didn’t take long for Bagwell to demonstrate that he would be one of the best hitters in the game for a long time. He won Rookie of the Year in 1991, and would go on to hit 449 home runs in his 15-year career, all spent with Houston (he was in Boston’s minor league system at the time of the trade). The MLB’s website checked into the evolution of Bagwell’s unique, low to the ground, batting stance in 2017.

The Diamondbacks sent Travis Lee, Omar Daal, Vicente Padilla and Nelson Figueroa to Philadelphia in exchange for the right-handed ace. Padilla and Lee turned out to be solid major-leaguers, but Arizona would run, not walk, to make this deal each and every time they had the chance.

Schilling and Randy Johnson would go on to form one of the most lethal 1-2 starting pitching combinations in baseball history. 12 News’ website wonders whether the duo was the greatest of all-time, while Sports Illustrated spoke about the special bond they had that pushed each other to greater heights. Arizona won the 2001 World Series thanks in large part to their heroics.

The Braves sent Doyle Alexander to Detroit in exchange for Smoltz, who was in the minor leagues at the time. This trade gets up as one of the biggest fleeces in baseball history, and it’s understandable why. However, the Tigers’ rotation got a shot in the arm from Alexander, who went 9-0 down the stretch with a 1.53 ERA. He pitched like the player Smoltz would eventually become.

With that said, Atlanta would have Smoltz’s services for 20 seasons, as both a high level starter and an overpowering closer later in his career. The Baseball Hall of Fame’s website reminds fans that Smoltz was the only player on each and every Braves division-winning team from 1991 to 2005, as his presence helped define that successful era.

Perhaps the greatest trade deadline deal is one that very few of us would actually remember. The St. Louis Cardinals sent Ernie Broglio to Chicago in exchange for Brock. It didn’t seem like a particularly noteworthy transaction at the time. “Brock struck out a lot and didn’t know how to run the bases,” said Bill White to ESPN, who played for St. Louis at the time of the trade.

To say that Brock would figure out how to run the bases shortly thereafter is an understatement. He would go on to steal 888 bases during his Cardinals career, leading MLB in that category in eight different campaigns. When he passed away in 2020, St. Louis chairman Bill DeWitt said, “Lou Brock was one of the most revered members of the St. Louis Cardinals organization and one of the very best to ever wear the Birds on the Bat”.

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