Many trades have happened over the last few days, including a blockbuster involving the Cubs! So, tonight’s article following all the weekend games around the league will cover the teams who made bigger trades that might help or change their playoff chances.
Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies were one of the many teams that were busy buying this weekend. Friday, they made a deal to get left fielder Austin Hays from the Baltimore Orioles who is great defensively and also appears to be a nice addition to their already fairly powerful lineup because he has a solid ability to hit lefties and righties with a .711 OPS. Then yesterday, they went out and got Carlos Estévez from the Los Angeles Angels filling their other big hole.
These two moves along with the return of reliever and former Cub Michael Rucker in the last week will absolutely help with their goal of holding their spot at the top of the NL East.
New York Mets
In their attempt to make the playoffs as a Wild Card team the Mets went out and started their buying on Friday trading outfielder Rhylan Thomas to the Seattle Mariners for relief pitcher Ryne Stanek to beef up their bullpen and potentially found their new closer after Stanek showed off his ability to close games earlier this season when Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz was out injured. Then yesterday, they went out and made a deal with the Washington Nationals, their divisional foes, for Jessie Winker to fill their need for a power hitting left handed bat. Winker has a .793 OPS this season with 11 home runs.
The Mets have been sitting in third in the NL East for much of the season after starting out not looking so good. While these moves are both clearly rentals for the Mets both players might be inclined to resign with them in the offseason if the Mets are able to make it into the playoffs as a Wild Card.
Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox finalized a deal on Friday trading Moises Bolivar to the Los Angeles Dodgers reuniting with southpaw starter James Paxton who played in Boston in 2022 and 2023. This filled their need in the rotation. Then yesterday, they traded with the Blue Jays sending minor leaguers SS Eddinson Paulino, 3B Cutter Coffey and RHP Gilberto Batista for catcher Danny Jansen who has been struggling with the bat this season but could be a nice backup catcher for them.
Much like the Mets deals will help the Red Sox stay in contention for a Wild Card spot since they have been sitting in third place most of the season. For the Red Sox these guys are both rental players but it would not surprise me if they tried to resign both guys in the offseason.
Chicago Cubs
At the beginning of the week Cubs President of Baseball Operations told the media he’d likely be standing pat. This made it a surprise yesterday when he clearly made the decision to be a buyer beefing up the Cubs bullpen by making a deal sending two minor leaguers for relief pitcher Nate Pearson.
Shortly after this trade was making headlines rumors began to swirl that third baseman Christopher Moral would be on the move and that the Cubs were looking for a power bat in a deal. For this writer, and Cubs fan, that sounded like Jed Hoyer was going to be a seller until during todays game when news came down that they were making a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays sending Morel and two pitchers from the Iowa Cubs to Tampa for their old friend Isaac Paredes. Paredes and his .792 OPS is a definite upgrade over Morel’s .675 OPS. The Cubs originally signed him back in 2015 as an international free agent so this is a home coming of sorts.
Pearson needed a change of scenery as did Morel. The Cubs needed a power bat to round out their lineup. While Pearson is under team control through 2026 he is likely going to be traded by the time the 2026 season starts. Paredes on the other hand still has three years of control so this trade likely gives the Cubs their third baseman for the foreseeable future allowing them to trade other guys such as Nick Madrigal who has not been able to stay in the majors this season and has had a laundry list of injuries throughout his career.
Here’s the thing folks: The Cubs have been hovering around fourth place and last place in the NL Central for much of the season after they had a horrid May. As I publish this article they are sitting in fourth place with 16 games against divisional foes 12 of which are against the Pirates and Reds who they are sitting directly in the middle of. Do they have a chance to make the playoffs as a Wild Card? Yes. Am I saying these two moves will for sure help them get to the playoffs. Absolutely not, I believe these two moves are Jed Hoyer making a course correction and preparing for moves he will need to make in the off season for the team to be competitive next season.
With that… let’s watch and see what moves are made around the league over the next two days.
If you cannot play with them, then root for them.