The 2025 Trade Deadline Deals I Didn't Get

 I acknowledge, in doing these posts where I talk about trade deadline deals that baffled me, that I'm not a GM, and that I don't have history as a GM. I'm just a fan who sees baseball from one perspective. But sometimes even from where I'm sitting, the moves a GM has made, especially from how well-informed most GMs are, don't make sense to me at all. And a lot of times they just feel like a team is making a trade just to make a trade, which is never a good thing to me. 

I checked back at the last few posts of these, and occasionally you do find a move that has aged well, like Trevor Rogers going to Baltimore last year [in exchange for Kyle Stowers, which I still think was a mistake] or Josh Bell going to Miami in 2023. But...a lot of them are just fueled by complacency and have ramifications on everything else. And that's what I fear about some of these ones.

In order from somewhat understandable to completely baffling, here are some trade deadline deals I really don't understand. 

-Amed Rosario to the Yankees, Clayton Beeter and an additional prospect to the Nationals

In the wake of deals for Ryan McMahon, Jose Caballero and Austin Slater, I don't really get this one as much. I get the idea of fattening the bench, giving the Yanks more depth options and giving the infield more possibilities. And I like that. But I don't know about Amed Rosario because he hasn't really been too impressive anywhere. He was barely that impressive with the Nats, he was a slightly-above average bench guy with subpar fielding. I don't know if he was worth Clayton Beeter, who, at the very least, still had some promise. Maybe I'm wrong and Rosario's a clutch guy, but I just felt like this one was gratuitous. 

-Danny Jansen to the Brewers, prospects to the Rays; Nick Fortes to the Rays, prospect to the Marlins

These are two separate trades but they basically act as one motion for the Rays, who decided they wanted to swap their perfectly fine, consistent everyday catcher for a slightly more controllable one. It feels like a 'was this trip really necessary' move, because I *think* the Rays are still trying to compete, seeing as they got Adrian Houser and all, and...this is still a catching downgrade. Getting Fortes out of Miami I get, because between Agustin Ramirez and Liam Hicks he was now a third-stringer, but I don't see why the Rays had to trade their main catcher to a fellow competitor to justify landing him. This does work in a Rays-style 'big brain' move to avoid having to pay Jansen, but...it's still not a good baseball move, at least not from where I'm standing. 

-Michael Soroka to the Cubs, two prospects to the Nationals

The Cubs really made a run at Mitch Keller, but ultimately it just wasn't going to happen, so they're left with their biggest rotation addition being Michael Soroka, a guy who was 3-8 with a 4.87 ERA with the Nats. Soroka, literally since coming up, has constantly been in 'don't overthrow in case of injury' mode constantly, and while he's actually been rather consistent this year, he still feels like a 'what could have been' guy more than actually being anything. And so if the Cubs are trying to upgrade their rotation, I really don't understand going for this guy rather than getting someone better. Like Matz to Boston, it just feels like a consolation, but not enough of one. 

-Mike Yastrzemski to the Royals, prospect to the Giants

This one in particular felt cruel, unnecessary and avoidable. The Giants are down but could theoretically still compete. The Royals are up but are still in the AL Central scrum. Neither are committing much at all. And yet the Giants still felt it necessary to deal Yaz, one of their longest-tenured stars, for practically nothing because a team that's literally in the same deal they're in asked. Yaz is beloved in San Francisco, and has given them so month, and it felt like he was handed over for nothing. This is gonna look even worse if the Giants bounce back and still compete. And yes, Yaz is already hitting homers in KC.

-Nestor Cortes to the Padres, Brandon Lockridge to the Brewers

Similarly cruel, the Nasty Nestor era in Milwaukee lasted just two games before an injury plopped him onto the IL, and because the postseason rotation is once again set without him [sound familiar???] he probably just asked to be dealt. This actually works out for the Brewers because Lockridge has plugged right into Chourio's spot, and is kind of a steal for them. I'm not sure when Cortes will be back, and if the Padres use him in the playoffs I reckon they'll be very careful with him, especially if they play LA. Mostly this move just feels like pouring salt on a wound, and I mostly just feel bad for Nestor. 

Similarly,

-Shelby Miller, Jordan Montgomery to the Brewers, cash/APTBNL to the Diamondbacks

It's a salary dump. I understand that. And Miller is actually very helpful for this team's bullpen plan going forward. But I really don't understand trading for a guy who isn't even gonna play for your team at all. Montgomery's contract ends this year, and he's out til mid-next year. There's a chance that Montgomery somehow decides to re-up with Milwaukee and has a comeback year, but like...we're not at that point yet, we're rounding out the contract that's basically useless because he overthrew 2 years ago. Unless the Brewers know something I don't, they're just hanging onto an injured guy for the hell of it. 

-Kyle Finnegan to the Tigers, 2 prospects to the Nationals.

Now this one I do pretty much get. Finnegan's a proven closing option, the Tigers need bullpen help, I'm with ya there. Except the Tigers actually have two guys who are decent closers this year. Will Vest and Tommy Kahnle. They've both been fine. So now you're getting a third guy that can close games. Plus, Finnegan is 33 and as good as he's been, he's had moments of frustrating inconsistency. And both Finnegan and Montero are additions that would have made more sense about 3 years ago. The Tigers made a bunch of pitching additions that were all on the older side, which stands out when you're talking so much about being a young team. And furthermore,

-Charlie Morton to the Tigers, prospect to the Orioles.

You have to replace Reese Olson, a strong young starter who's out the rest of the year, and you go with a frigging 41-year-old who began the year with an 8 ERA??? Like, we're all glad Morton's come around since mid-May and has become excellent again, but you understand why a 41-year-old is a liability, right? The Braves figured this out last year. Obviously Mike Elias didn't figure this out, but we've established that he's not exactly a sudoku expert. Morton is a fine pitcher, and will fill innings, but in a year where the Tigers could have added another big arm, they went with serviceable ones. Because that's all that seemed available. 

And on that point,

-Dustin May to the Red Sox, 2 prospects to the Dodgers

Neither of these teams made a good decision here. The Sox were trying for Dylan Cease and other starters of that caliber, and kept striking out. So they accepted an offer from the Dodgers. Dustin May has been healthy this year for the first time in a while, and has been one of the few consistent starters the Dodgers have had this year, and despite the fact that they're STILL losing people to injuries on a frequent rate, they still felt they could lose a pitcher. That is the overconfidence of the Dodgers right there. Yeah, give one away to the Red Sox, they seem desperate. You HOPE that Glasnow and Snell hold up, and you hope that Ohtani was just having a rough outing, but if they all go down and you're stuck with Ben Casparius and Justin Wrobleski because you were too overconfident to resist dealing a starter to another competitor, you have no one to blame for yourself. May will probably be fine in Boston, but the Dodgers did this haphazardly and cruelly. 

And here's the one I think was the most baffling:

-Carlos Correa to the Astros, prospect to the Twins

The narrative of this season was that the Astros were trying to move on. They lost Bregman and Tucker, so they moved Altuve to left, and attempted to reestablish themselves as a Rays-style juggler of replacement-level talent. It didn't work. And then suddenly it did. The Astros built a new identity thanks to the still-strong rotation, a new ace in Hunter Brown, excellent starts from Jeremy Pena and Isaac Paredes and a star-making rookie year from Cam Smith. Then Pena and Paredes got hurt, the team downturned and Seattle got two surefire lineup weapons. And then this rumor came out about the Astros trying to bring back Carlos Correa.

So, Thursday Correa gets traded back to Houston, it's billed as a return to the glory of the 2017-era teams. Then Jeremy Pena is reinstated from the IL, and it's confirmed that Correa is going to play third, which he's never played before. And it sounds to me like, once again, the Astros are using nostalgia for the 2017 team to cover for bad baseball moves. It happened with moving Altuve to left, and now it's happening here. Come see the hero shortstop, now playing third base for some reason. And yes, there's this belief that Isaac Paredes is gone for the rest of the season, but...what if he isn't? What if he comes back, and you now have nowhere to play Carlos Correa? And now you have to admit that he's a glorified utility guy with reduced contact ability. What then?? 

It really feels like the Astros didn't think this through. They wanted it to still be 2017 so badly that they forgot that 8 years have passed, Correa isn't that guy anymore and this team was trying to move on. It's a frantic backpedal that could ruin the momentum and lead someone else to win the West. Or...it could work, and the Astros fumes alone could get this team back to glory.

Who knows? Maybe they're geniuses. But right now they certainly don't look like it.