Let’s get this out of the way: As our Ted Berg wrote Thursday morning, the Houston Astros acquiring Zack Greinke made the best team in the Majors even better.
That means we don’t have to waste more space declaring them winners of Wednesday’s 2019 trade deadline. We know they’re the juggernaut that will be tough to defeat in October, although we’ve seen absolutely stacked teams bow out of the postseason when running into a hot underdog.
But that move and some others — plus deals that weren’t made — made for some winners and losers. Here they are after the dust of the 4 p.m. deadline settled:
Winners
Houston Astros
Okay, fine, I’m mentioning it. Holy cow, what a trade for Greinke! And they still have top prospects like Kyle Tucker and Forrest Whitley!
Atlanta Braves
The NL East leaders needed back-of-bullpen help, so getting Shane Greene and his absurd 1.18 ERA from the Tigers helped. But then they went and got former closer Mark Melancon from the Giants, and grabbed Chris Martin from the Rangers earlier in the week.
Washington Nationals
Speaking of bullpen trades: Daniel Hudson, Roenis Elias and Hunter Strickland will bolster their struggling relief arms.
Chicago Cubs
I think they got Nick Castellanos for cheap despite the fact that he’s not matching last year’s stellar numbers. Defense will still be a problem for the outfielder, but the Cubs have some depth to help with that.
Cleveland Indians
What a return on Trevor Bauer! They got Yasiel Puig AND Franmil Reyes, which will help boost their lineup and clubhouse (and if they get into fights, you know who will have their backs) plus Logan Allen is a good pitching prospect.
Jesus Aguilar
A year after he smacked 35 dingers for the Brewers, he had all of eight this year. I’d say getting a change of scenery with Rays makes him a winner.
MLB fans (after about 4:15 p.m. ET)
It was setting up to be a pretty boring trade deadline … and then the Greinke trade happened!
People who love prospect-for-prospect trades
Zac Gallen for Jazz Chisholm is going to be one of those trades that we’ll be talking about five years from now no matter who ends up on the better end of the Marlins and Diamondbacks high-end prospect swap.
Losers
New York baseball teams
The Yankees needed pitching. The Mets needed to trade one of their pitchers. Seems like a perfect fit! But the Pinstripes didn’t pull off a deal with their cross-borough counterparts or with anyone else for a starting arm. If Luis Severino doesn’t come back at 100 percent, we could see another disappointment in the playoffs. And yes, the Mets are playing better baseball and could be sliding into Wild Card contention. But if they fall short, they might regret their stance (which included acquiring Marcus Stroman) at the deadline.
Los Angeles Dodgers
They’re running away with the NL West and currently have the best record in baseball. I like the Jedd Gyorko trade and Adam Kolarek may end up being a good LOOGY type. But other National League teams got the premium bullpen arms they need.
Boston Red Sox
This whole mix-and-match bullpen thing isn’t working out all that great for the Sox, but maybe their big deadline acquisition was getting Nathan Eovaldi off the injured list.
MLB fans (before 4:15 p.m. ET)
Zzzzzzz …
San Francisco Giants
Maybe I need to make a “not sure” section here. Because they’re two games out of the Wild Card and decided to keep Madison Bumgarner to help them make it to the playoffs. Acquiring Scooter Gennett was a good move, too. But then they dealt a trio of relievers, one of whom was Sam Dyson (2.73 ERA). Okay! I’m putting them here simply because I think that last set of moves might backfire.
