MLB Trade Deadline’s Biggest Losers: Angels, White Sox, and Everyone Else Who Froze

Before we identify the losers following this year’s Major League Baseball trade deadline, here’s a reminder that the seemingly defeated sometimes end up winning after all.

The 1997 Chicago White Sox were lambasted for being on the fringes of the playoff race and trading Wilson Alvarez, Danny Darwin and Roberto Hernandez to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for six players. But the Giants were swept in the National League Division Series, and a trio of pitchers acquired by Chicago — Lorenzo Barcelo, Keith Foulke and Bob Howry — combined to post a 3.18 ERA in 198 innings of relief for the AL Central-winning White Sox in 2000. They combined for 41 saves, too.

Things worked out much better for the Giants in 2014, when they made just one trade in July — acquiring the slumping Jake Peavy, who was 1-9 with a 4.72 ERA for the Boston Red Sox — and reached the trade deadline with a one-game lead in the wild card race. Peavy went 6-4 with a 2.17 ERA for San Francisco, which won its third championship in five years.

So the short- and long-term news does not have to be all bad for those who seemed to come up short this week. But the very early returns aren’t encouraging for the following teams and players.

Chicago White Sox

The White Sox, going nowhere fast yet again, sold high on surprise ace Adrian Houser but held on to starter Aaron Civale and relievers Steven Wilson and Dan Altavilla in a market starved for low-risk pitchers. They also didn’t trade veterans Mike Tauchman and Michael A. Taylor and kept fellow 30-something outfielder Andrew Benintendi, though his onerous contract and underwhelming production surely didn’t help Chicago’s cause. But not trading outfielder Luis Robert Jr., who is in the last guaranteed year of his contract and is getting no younger nor any more durable, is borderline malpractice.

Los Angeles Angels

As always, nobody can figure out what the Angels are doing. Los Angeles, which enters play Friday 4 1/2 games out of a wild card spot, could have added some depth to a famously thin farm system by dealing impending free agents such as Tyler Anderson, Kyle Hendricks, Kenley Jansen and Yoan Moncada, as well as potential 2026 free agent Taylor Ward. Instead, the Angels acquired relievers Andrew Chafin and Luis Garcia from the Washington Nationals on Wednesday and picked up infielder Oswald Peraza from the New York Yankees, while their division rivals all made blockbuster deals. Poor Mike Trout.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates actually made a few decent deals this week. They got out from Ke’Bryan Hayes’ contract by dealing him to the Cincinnati Reds, acquired three prospects from the Yankees in exchange for closer David Bednar, and swapped Bailey Falter to the Kansas City Royals for two prospects. But why trade Falter, who was under team control through 2028, and not closer candidate Dennis Santana, who is having a career year at age 29 and is due to hit free agency following next season? And why on Earth did they keep impending free agents Andrew Heaney, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Tommy Pham? Because they’re the Pirates.

Atlanta Braves

The Braves have the fourth-worst record in the majors, but to some degree, president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos was stuck in purgatory. Atlanta’s unreal run of bad injury luck — the entire Opening Day rotation is on the shelf — and its locked-up core of position players meant he was always going to try to run it back and hope for better fortune next year. But impending free agent Raisel Iglesias and Pierce Johnson, who is under team control through next season, could have brought something back in a reliever-crazed market. And as limited as Marcell Ozuna is, and for all the baggage he brings, players much better than him have been coaxed into waiving their no-trade clauses.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers spending the GNP of several nations over the winter and then getting criticized for not doing enough at the trade deadline is baseball irony at its best. And all caveats apply about how the Dodgers probably will win it all again if they hit like they did last October. Still, Los Angeles needed to do more to address its pitching issues than adding Brock Stewart to the bullpen and dealing starter Dustin May to the Boston Red Sox. Speaking of the Red Sox…

Boston Red Sox

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow was apparently laughing so hard at the San Francisco Giants falling apart with Rafael Devers — they have the worst record in the majors at 13-24 since the Devers trade and spent the deadline in sell mode — that he forgot to make meaningful additions to his unexpected contender. May and left-hander Steven Matz are decent but aren’t likely to deliver the impact the rival New York Yankees are going to get from their bullpen acquisitions.

Central Division Contenders

The Milwaukee Brewers have the best record in the majors, the Detroit Tigers are tied for the best record in the American League, and the Chicago Cubs are a game behind the Brewers. So all three teams are likely headed for October. But the trio could have done more to prepare for the postseason gauntlet than by making at-the-margin additions to their pitching staffs.

Whomever Is Left With the Minnesota Twins

Well, at least the Twins, who are on the market, went all-in on the total rebuild by trading 11 of their 27 players who recorded at least 0.1 in WAR this season, per Baseball-Reference. Aggressively trading relievers in an extreme seller’s market and shedding the declining Carlos Correa eventually will pay dividends, but the next year or two could be early 1980s or mid-1990s ugly.