2025 MLB Trade Deadline: Winners, Losers, Most Improved and Most Disappointing originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The 2025 MLB trade deadline has come and gone, with a flurry of moves after 5:30 which came as a massive surprise.
Speaking of surprises, the Marlins appeared to be all talk, choosing to not deal Sandy Alcantara or Edward Cabrera at the deadline despite no shortage of bidders. The White Sox must’ve not been thrilled by their offers for Luis Robert Jr, as they held onto the outfielder for the second straight deadline.
The Astros appeared close at times to a trade for Dylan Cease, but couldn’t get it done, while the Red Sox seemed to be Joe Ryan’s next team for a solid five minutes before that post on X (formerly Twitter) was deleted.
Let’s break down the three main winners of this deadline, along with teams that either flat out lost or turned in a disappointing lack of moves.
Winners: New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres
The Yankees are the clear-cut winner of this deadline; they patched up the bullpen, their biggest weakness, with the acquisitions of Pirates closer David Bednar, Giants closer Camilo Doval and Rockies reliever Jake Bird.
Additionally, the Yankees organized a dugout-swap for Rays speedster Jose Caballero, who leads the MLB in stolen bases, shored up their third base problem with Ryan McMahon, and added depth in Amed Rosario and Austin Slater while Aaron Judge is on the injured list.
In doing so, they kept their top prospects, including Spencer Jones, Cam Schlittler and Carlos Lagrange, and resisted massive overpays for guys like Alcantara or Cabrera.
The Padres, in typical AJ Preller fashion, went all in, acquiring Mason Miller and JP Sears for a package headlined by shortstop Leo de Vries (MLB No. 3). The rest of the package, pitchers Braden Nett, Henry Baez and Eduarniel Nunez, slotted in as the Athletics’ No. 5, No. 9 and No. 17 prospects respectively.
Preller continued to push his chips in, trading for Ramon Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn from Baltimore to shore up their lack of depth in left field and their need for a true first baseman not named Luis Arraez, who will likely become their everyday designated hitter.
In addition, Preller’s squad supplemented with moves for Brewers lefty Nestor Cortes, Blue Jays infielder Will Wagner and Royals catcher Freddy Fermin in what was generally a very savvy deadline.
The Twins were the main sellers of this deadline, and took advantage of the seller’s market. Minnesota did trade star reliever Jhoan Duran, but acquired catcher Eduardo Tait and righty starter Mick Abel, baseball’s No. 56 and No. 91 prospects respectively.
Additionally, the trade of outfielder Harrison Bader, also to the Phillies, was a smart move that netted Minnesota outfielder Hendry Mendez, who comes with a strong .290/.374/.434 slash line in AA this year and registered an elite 43.1% hard-hit percentage, according to MLB Pipeline.
Bader’s contract had a mutual option, and in exchange, the Twins improved their future stock and cleared a path for Walker Jenkins and/or Emmanuel Rodriguez to get everyday play in 2026.
Losers: Miami Marlins, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers
The Marlins were the top pick for a team that would likely fire-sale by today, dangling names like aforementioned 2022 Cy Young Sandy Alcantara, along with strong starter Edward Cabrera, reliever Anthony Bender and outfielder Jesus Sanchez.
Instead, Sanchez was the only name that was dealt, as the team’s high demands for Alcantara and Cabrera were ultimately not met. Yes, the likely rationale is that the Marlins, with young players Kyle Stowers, Xavier Edwards and Agustin Ramirez, have been playing solid, and fun baseball for a while, and are only seven games out of the NL’s final wild card game.
However, Stowers and Ramirez were only in a position to make this team better based on some of the savvy selling moves that the Marlins made last July, with trades of Trevor Rogers and Jazz Chisholm Jr netting them that reward. Their hard-nosed approach on Alcantara and Cabrera caused them to lose out on some really solid prospect returns that would make the 2026 squad even better than this one.
The Cubs, despite their savvy trade for super-utilityman Willi Castro, didn’t fill their gaping hole in the rotation in a satisfying manner. The main rotation move they made was for Nationals starter Michael Soroka, who is three sub-87 ERA+ seasons removed from his young Braves stardom, and seems to be more of a redemption act than a legitimate bid at contention.
Jed Hoyer smartly kept his chips close, but one can only wonder what the first-place NL Central contenders could have accomplished had Hoyer put all his chips in the middle. A Mitch Keller trade would have been ideal, but reports suggest the Pirates were not quick to trade the controllable starter.
The Dodgers, usually the kings of the trade deadline, were suspiciously quiet, with their main trade deadline move being for Nationals outfielder Alex Call, on top of their acquisiton of standout reliever Brock Stewart from the Twins.
Aside from that, the Dodgers failed to make any head-turning moves like the Yankees or Padres, and opted to keep their prospects close instead of going for Mason Miller or any of the other top closers like reports had suggested.
Instead, they acquired catcher Ben Rortvedt and pitchers Adam Serwinowski and Paul Gervase in a three team trade with the Reds and Rays that included righty Zack Littell.
The Dodgers stayed pat, understanding that the imminent return of Blake Snell and later returns of Roki Sasaki and Michael Kopech could be akin to deadline additions of their own.
However, one can express disappointment for the lack of marquee moves from the Dodgers, who are usually aggressive and all-in at the trade deadline.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 31, 2025, where it first appeared.
