Non-Blockbusters Worth Mentioning
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In hindsight, sometimes the biggest trades end up being ones that barely registered on the Richter Scale amid the deadline chaos. The following six trades were not rated as top 10 swaps by MLB.com a year ago, but they clearly made an impact.
Arizona Diamondbacks send 1B Josh Naylor to Seattle Mariners for RHP Ashton Izzi and LHP Brandyn Garcia
Naylor has struggled mightily in the first season of his five-year, $92.5M re-signing with the M’s, but he was massive in Seattle’s run to the AL’s No. 2 seed last year, providing nine home runs, 19 stolen bases and an .831 OPS down the stretch—not to mention a .340 batting average in the postseason. But Garcia has become a major part of Arizona’s bullpen this season, and Izzi is one of their better pitching prospects. Updated Grades: A for both teams.
Los Angeles Dodgers send RHP Dustin May to Boston Red Sox for OF/1B James Tibbs III and OF Zach Ehrhard
Boston went 1-5 in May’s six appearances with a 5.40 ERA before he got hurt, and it gave up two pretty good prospects to get him. Both Tibbs (who went to Boston in the Rafael Devers trade) and Ehrhard have been thriving this season at Triple-A Oklahoma City and would maybe be in the majors right now in just about any other organization. Updated Grades: A+ for Los Angeles, F for Boston.
Minnesota Twins send RHP Griffin Jax to Tampa Bay Rays for RHP Taj Bradley
Bradley has come back to earth a bit since his remarkable start to the year, but he has been Minnesota’s second-best starter behind Joe Ryan. Meanwhile, in Jax’s first 14 starts with the Rays, he had a 2.80 ERA. WAR suggests he has been a replacement-level pitcher, but he has gone five solid innings more often than not since joining the rotation, playing a huge role for a short-handed pitching staff that might end up with the AL’s No. 1 seed. Updated Grades: A+ for both teams.
San Francisco Giants send RHP Camilo Doval to New York Yankees for UTIL Jesús Rodríguez, LHP Carlos De Rosa, UTIL Parks Harber and RHP Trystan Vrieling
New York gave up a platter of lottery tickets to get 2.5 years of Doval, but he has been almost unusable for the Yankees, posting a 4.85 ERA and negative-1.1 bWAR across his first 63 appearances—after recording more than 100 saves with the Giants. Harber, meanwhile, has blossomed into a solid prospect, recently advancing to Triple-A, and Rodríguez made his MLB debut earlier this season. If either amounts to anything, that’s a big win for the Giants. Updated Grades: B+ for San Francisco, D for New York.
Washington Nationals send RHP Michael Soroka to Chicago Cubs for IF Ronny Cruz and OF Christian Franklin
It’s quite unfortunate that Soroka got hurt two innings into his first appearance with the Cubs, but including the postseason, he allowed eight runs in his 10.0 innings pitched after that trade. Meanwhile, the 19-year-old Cruz has become one of Washington’s better prospects, and Franklin might be the next man up if one of their outfielders lands on the IL. Hard to argue with that return for a rental in a 96-loss season. Updated Grades: A for Washington, F for Chicago.
Minnesota Twins send RHP Louis Varland and 1B Ty France to Toronto Blue Jays for LHP Kendry Rojas and OF Alan Roden
Rojas needs to get his walks under control and Roden needs to figure out how to get his Triple-A bat (.915 OPS) to translate to the majors (.551 OPS). If either of those happens, maybe this trade evens out in a big way. But 2026 All-Star Varland has been sensational as Toronto’s closer, this after he set an MLB record with 15 appearances in the 2025 postseason. If the Blue Jays ultimately claw back to make the playoffs this year, this trade will be a major reason why it happens. And he is under team control through 2030. Updated Grades: A+ for Toronto, C+ for Minnesota
