MLB trade deadline: Ranking the top 50 trades, from a multitude of relievers to Carlos Correa’s return to Houston

Whew, that was a lot. If that felt like an especially frantic MLB trade deadline, that’s because it was: Major-league teams combined to execute a whopping 63 swaps in the week leading up to the July 31 cut-off, more than at any other deadline this century, and that included 52 trades in the final 48 hours.

With the rare exception of a stunning swap such as the Rafael Devers blockbuster in June, trade activity doesn’t usually pick up around the league until after the All-Star break, and this year was no different. Tend to procrastinate as much as possible, meaning the vast majority of deals don’t actualize until the clock has nearly run out on deadline day. That results in a deluge of deals that can sometimes be difficult to process as the details come out, but it’s also a thrill to follow as rosters are shaken up across baseball.

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Once 6 p.m. ET passes and the trades are all complete, it’s natural to declare winners and losers and assess which teams markedly improved their rosters and which let the opportunity to upgrade pass them by. But rather than judging the deals as means to improve these clubs’ chances to win the World Series (now or in the future), allow me to perform the annual exercise of ranking the deals based on how they’re received throughout the industry and among fans when they go down.

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Some trades pass through the timeline like business as usual (“Oh, look, that playoff team added a solid reliever, cool”), while others set social media ablaze (“they did WHAT?!?!”). Through that lens, here are the top 50 trades from a highly memorable 2025 trade deadline, organized into tiers to best describe the transactional chaos we just witnessed:

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Role players

• 49. Royals acquire OF Mike Yastrzemski from Giants for RHP Yunior Marte

• 48. Reds acquire INF/OF Miguel Andujar from Athletics for RHP Kenya Huggins

• 47. Phillies acquire OF Harrison Bader from Twins for OF Hendry Mendez, RHP Geremy Villoria

• 46. Dodgers acquire OF Alex Call from Nationals for RHP Eriq Swan, RHP Sean Paul Linan

Nothing too complicated here. These are solid position players who fill specific needs on rosters but are unlikely to make a massive impact for their new teams. Call is having a sneaky solid season and stands out as one of the only major leaguers added by the defending World Series champs.

Bullpen help

• 45. Angels acquire RHP Luis Garcia, LHP Andrew Chafin from Nationals for LHP Jake Eder, 1B Sam Brown

• 44. Brewers acquire RHP Shelby Miller, LHP Jordan Montgomery from D-backs for PTBNL or cash

• 42. Cubs acquire RHP Andrew Kittredge from Orioles for SS Wilfri De La Cruz

• 41. Rangers acquire LHP Danny Coulombe from Twins for LHP Garrett Horn

• 40. Tigers acquire RHP Paul Sewald from Guardians for PTBNL or cash

• 39. Tigers acquire RHP Kyle Finnegan from Nationals for RHP Josh Randall, RHP RJ Sales

• 38. Red Sox acquire LHP Steven Matz from Cardinals for 1B Blaze Jordan

• 37. Mariners acquire LHP Caleb Ferguson from Pirates for RHP Jeter Martinez

• 35. Blue Jays acquire RHP Louis Varland, 1B Ty France from Twins for OF Alan Roden, LHP Kendrys Rojas

• 34. Rangers acquire RHP Phil Maton from Cardinals for LHP Mason Molina, RHP Skylar Hales

• 33. Yankees acquire RHP Jake Bird from Rockies for 2B Roc Riggio, LHP Ben Shields

As always, there were a ton of relievers on the move this past week, and this tier of bullpen arms doesn’t include the higher-profile, high-leverage arms who were dealt in more prominent swaps. But these are the kinds of deals that make the deadline ecosystem function; it’s a natural game of musical chairs featuring good relievers on bad teams finding new homes in contenders’ bullpens. They didn’t land any of the premier closers, but I thought the first-place Blue Jays made out especially well here with Dominguez and Varland.

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Yankees appetizer

• 32. Yankees acquire OF Austin Slater from White Sox for RHP Gage Ziehl

Before going big on bullpen arms on deadline day (more on that later), the Yankees executed a series of trades aimed at upgrading their position-player group. They fixed their biggest weak spot at the hot corner with McMahon and added two lefty mashers in Slater and Rosario to give manager Aaron Boone a more diverse array of options to deploy as both starters and bench pieces. Solid.

Rotation help

• 29. Royals acquire LHP Bailey Falter from Pirates for LHP Evan Sisk, 1B Callan Moss

• 28. Tigers acquire RHP Charlie Morton from Orioles for LHP Micah Ashman

• 27. Cubs acquire RHP Michael Soroka from Nationals for OF Christian Franklin, INF Ronny Cruz

• 26. Tigers acquire RHP Chris Paddack, RHP Randy Dobnak from Twins for C Enrique Jimenez

• 25. Red Sox acquire RHP Dustin May from Dodgers for OF James Tibbs III, RHP Zach Ehrhard

Of this bunch, Kelly appears to be the likeliest to get the ball for a playoff start, though a lot of that could depend on how Tyler Mahle looks for Texas once he returns from injury. Either way, Kelly is a solid supporting starter behind co-aces Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi atop the Rangers’ rotation. The rest of this group of starters project more as useful innings-eaters down the stretch, which is not an insignificant role whatsoever but is difficult to get excited about. Perhaps one of these guys breaks out into something more with his new team.

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The Rays are so weird

• 23. Rays acquire INF Jadher Arienamo from Brewers for C Danny Jansen

• 22. Rays acquire C Nick Fortes from Marlins for OF Matthew Etzel

• 21. Rays acquire OF Everson Pereira, PTBNL from Yankees for INF Jose Caballero

• 20. Rays acquire RHP Brian Van Belle, LHP Adam Serwinowski from Reds for RHP Zack Littell

• 19. Rays acquire C Hunter Feduccia from Dodgers for LHP Adam Serwinowski, C Ben Rortvedt, RHP Paul Gervase

• 18. Rays acquire RHP Adrian Houser from White Sox for INF Curtis Mead, RHP Duncan Davitt, RHP Ben Peoples

• 17. Rays acquire RHP Griffin Jax from Twins for RHP Taj Bradley

Without question, no team had a stranger deadline than the Rays, who are known for making creative and unexpected trades but seemed to outdo themselves this year with a bizarre series of transactions. They traded Jansen to Milwaukee and immediately replaced him with another backstop in Fortes. They traded a rental starter in Littell for a prospect in Serwinowski to flip to the Dodgers as part of a package for another catcher in Feduccia, who has been buried on the Dodgers’ depth chart for multiple seasons.

Normally, trading away an expiring contract such as Littell would signal more selling was on the way, but instead, the Rays spent deadline day mostly adding: Houser, a starter who is also scheduled to hit free agency this winter, and then a real stunner in Jax, one of the most coveted relievers on the market with two years of team control after this one — and using an extremely promising young arm in Bradley to get him.

Add trading Caballero to the Yankees while playing the Yankees, and this was a dizzying sequence of events. Did the Rays get better? Did they get worse? Are they trying to win now or later or what? I’m not sure, but as always, I was entertained watching this front office cook.

Helpful hitters

• 15. Astros acquire OF Jesus Sanchez from Marlins for RHP Ryan Gusto, OF Esmil Valencia, INF Chase Jaworsky

• 14. Cubs acquire UTL Willi Castro from Twins for RHP Ryan Gallagher, RHP Sam Armstrong

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This quartet of position players all offer upside with notable red flags attached. Hayes’ glove is spectacular, but his bat has evaporated in recent years. Sanchez is a streaky slugger who should help the ultra-injured Astros lineup but often struggles to reach base consistently. Castro can play anywhere defensively but has struggled with the bat of late and is a free agent at the end of this season. Naylor, too, is an expiring contract whose offensive floor is quite high, but he doesn’t pack as much pop as you might expect, nor has he hit lefties especially well this season.

Bye bye, birdies

• 11. Mets acquire OF Cedric Mullins from Orioles for RHP Raimon Gomez, RHP Anthony Nunez, RHP Chandler Marsh

Although ultimately outdone by the Twins with their epic teardown, Baltimore was plenty busy at this deadline, unloading as many expiring and short-term pieces as possible in search of future assets. The Orioles added a total of 15 prospects in eight trades over the past week, including adding a ton of exciting pitchers excelling in a variety of roles at nearly all levels. This should provide a path for the organization to improve on the mound in a necessary way.

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The Mets and Padres both benefitted greatly from Baltimore’s sell-off, with New York addressing its center-field need with Mullins and adding to its new-look bullpen with Soto. San Diego managed to snag not one but two Orioles bats in O’Hearn and Laureano, bolstering a lineup that needed a boost.

A former Cy Young on the move

• 9. Blue Jays acquire RHP Shane Bieber from Guardians for RHP Khal Stephen

One of the themes of this year’s deadline was a severe lack of impact starting pitching on the move. Despite a ton of rumors surrounding names such as Mitch Keller, Sandy Alcantara, MacKenzie Gore, Zac Gallen, Dylan Cease and Joe Ryan (among others), very few starting pitchers were dealt.

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And then there’s Bieber. Still working his way back from Tommy John surgery, Bieber has yet to pitch in the majors this season but looked sharp in his rehab outing Tuesday and showed enough to warrant significant interest from contenders looking for a possible playoff starter. Toronto swooped in and scooped him up in exchange for a stellar prospect in Stephen, signaling the belief that Bieber could raise the Jays’ ceiling come October. How he fits into their crowded rotation remains to be seen, but this move clearly came with the postseason in mind.

Big Apple bullpen arms

• 8. Yankees acquire RHP Camilo Doval from Giants for INF Jesus Rodriguez, RHP Trystan Vrieling, 3B Parks Harber, LHP Carlos De La Rosa

Both New York teams were tremendously active leading up to the deadline, with each club’s headlining moves a pair of top-tier relievers brought in to fortify the bullpen. The Yankees’ bullpen has struggled across the board recently, while the Mets’ relief corp has been thinned out by injury. All four of these pitchers are capable of being remarkably effective in their own way and should help turn their new teams’ bullpens into legit strengths entering October.

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It’s worth noting that on paper, it seems like the Yankees managed to pay less for two pitchers with multiple years of team control than what the Mets paid for two pitchers who will hit free agency this winter. That likely says more about the ever-evolving nature of these markets than how these clubs operate, but it stands out when comparing the swaps.

Good vibes only

Like the paucity of impact starting pitching on the move, there were also very few middle-of-the-order bats on the market at this year’s deadline, which made Suarez an especially attractive player. Ultimately, it doesn’t seem that his market materialized the way some might’ve envisioned, and the Mariners were able to secure a reunion with the slugging third baseman without surrendering any of their premium prospects — a nifty maneuver by Jerry Dipoto and Co. that suddenly gives Seattle one of the deeper lineups in baseball.

Dave Dombrowski, everybody

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A ton of big-time bullpen arms changed teams over the past few days, but perhaps no reliever filled a more obvious, specific team need than Duran for Philadelphia. It’s a vintage Dombrowski deal, one that whisks away two heralded youngsters in exchange for an impact piece who can make a massive difference right away.

And with Duran under team control for two more years, this isn’t nearly the reckless, short-term gambit that Dombrowski has often been known to execute. This is two-and-half years of one of the best relievers on the planet acquired for two very good prospects, neither of whom Philadelphia is likely to lose sleep over as it chases a championship with its World Series window wide-open. This is an absolute slam-dunk for the Phillies and could pay humongous dividends come October.

Preller gonna Preller

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Once the Guardians traded Bieber on Thursday, there were only two teams that had yet to make a trade in the week leading up to the deadline: the Athletics and the Padres. Turns out these two West Coast clubs were busy cooking up one of the more jaw-dropping blockbusters in recent memory, as the A’s parted with baseball’s hardest thrower and a premier relief ace in Miller for an astonishing package of four minor leaguers headlined by one of the top prospects in baseball in De Vries. It’s the latest stunning trade on Padres president of baseball operations AJ Preller’s lengthy résumé of deals.

The Padres entered the deadline with several clear holes on the roster (left field, DH, catcher, rotation depth), most of which were addressed via other trades (O’Hearn, Laureano, Freddy Fermin, Nestor Cortes Jr.). But one area of the roster that did not appear in need of upgrading was the bullpen, as Padres relievers have combined for the lowest ERA in baseball. Yet here we are, left to marvel at a superb collection of relievers now joined by Miller, supercharging the unit even more emphatically than what Tanner Scott did for them at the deadline a year ago.

The fact that Miller is under team control through 2029 is why the cost was so exorbitant, and it will be fascinating to see if San Diego toys with moving him back to the rotation in the future, in hopes of further maximizing his value after giving up such a gargantuan haul. For now, we’ll enjoy watching Miller throw outrageously hard out of the bullpen for the Padres while monitoring the progress of De Vries and the three promising arms the A’s received in return. No matter what happens, there’s a good chance we’ll be talking about this trade for a long time.

Carlos Correa is an Astro again (?!)

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As the deadline grew closer and it became clearer the Twins would be fairly aggressive sellers, there were whispers about the possibility of Minnesota unloading Correa back to where it all began, but the financial hurdles of the $103 million remaining on his contract seemed too large to overcome, even with Houston’s affinity for its former shortstop. But when news came out that third baseman Isaac Paredes is likely to miss the remainder of the season due to a hamstring tear, Houston’s urgency to add an infielder increased, reopening the possibility of the most unlikely of reunions.

Sure enough, the salary dump heard ‘round the world was completed Thursday, with the Astros assuming nearly 70% of Correa’s contract and in turn giving up only a low-level pitcher in Mikulski to bring back a beloved, homegrown star to fortify their ultra-injured position-player group and play alongside his replacement, Jeremy Peña, who is expected to remain at shortstop while Correa shifts to the hot corner for the first time in his professional career. It took a mind-bending sequence of events for the Twins and Astros to end up at this point, but this deal stands alone atop this year’s deadline ranking and signifies Minnesota’s dramatic sell-off that defined much of the week’s trade activity.