For the second time in four years, San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller turned his team into the biggest stars of Major League Baseball’s nonwaiver trade deadline.
In 2022, he snagged slugger Juan Soto by sending shortstop CJ Abrams, left-handed pitcher MacKenzie Gore, outfielder James Wood and three others to the Washington Nationals in an eight-player blockbuster between National League teams.
This week, the aggressive Preller pulled off a slightly less seismic version of that deal, trading shortstop Leo De Vries — the top-rated player in San Diego’s minor league system — to the American League’s Athletics for closer Mason Miller.
Prospects as highly touted as De Vries, ranked No. 3 overall by MLB Pipeline, are rarely dealt anymore. Last year at the deadline, none of Baseball America’s top 100 prospects were traded.
By the time this year’s deadline passed at 6 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, Preller had traded 14 players and acquired eight. Left-handed pitchers Nestor Cortes and JP Sears, first baseman Ryan O’Hearn and outfielder Ramón Laureano were among those the Padres landed in addition to Miller, an MLB All-Star last season whose contract is under team control through 2029.
Here’s a division-by-division look at this year’s deadline, with references to win-loss records and standings through Thursday’s games and two months remaining in the regular season.
AL East
The Toronto Blue Jays (64-46) lead their division by 3 1/2 games and are tied with three other teams for the most wins in the majors to this point in 2025, but they have dropped four of their past five games. They took a gamble, albeit one with some upside, in dealing with the Cleveland Guardians to acquire 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber, who has made several rehab starts as he works toward a return from Tommy John surgery.
The second-place New York Yankees added a pair of former All-Stars to their bullpen in right-handers David Bednar and Camilo Doval, and they acquired some more power in third baseman Ryan McMahon. As for the third-place Boston Red Sox, their deadline activity was less inspiring, unless oft-injured right-hander Dustin May can get hot down the stretch.
The Tampa Bay Rays, who are fourth in the division but just 3 1/2 games out of a wild-card spot in the AL playoffs, added reliever Griffin Jax and starter Adrian Houser, but they also traded away a dependable rotation piece in Zack Littell. The Rays are always unorthodox, though, so it might be best to assume they know what they’re doing and move on.
The Baltimore Orioles have shown they can build a strong farm system of position players, but poor pitching has them in last place in the division. They did add some interesting minor league arms over the past week while selling off more than a half-dozen players.
AL Central
The first-place Detroit Tigers didn’t have a terribly sexy deadline — they added starting pitchers Charlie Morton and Chris Paddack along with a few bullpen arms — but they also probably didn’t need to at 64-46 overall with a nine-game lead in the division.
The second-place Guardians are a half-game ahead of the Kansas City Royals in the standings, and both have about a 13% chance of making the postseason according to FanGraphs, but they went in opposite directions at the deadline. The Royals largely stayed the course, making some under-the-radar additions such as outfielder Mike Yastrzemski and left-hander Bailey Falter, while the Guardians — who are three games out of a playoff spot — dealt away Bieber and reliever Paul Sewald.
Of course, that’s nothing compared to the way the Minnesota Twins tore apart their roster, trading Jax, infielder Carlos Correa, reliever Jhoan Durán and more than a half-dozen others.
The Chicago White Sox held on to outfielder Luis Robert Jr., who has club options for the next two years and potential trade value in the future.
AL West
The second-place Seattle Mariners threw down the gauntlet Wednesday night by acquiring third baseman Eugenio Suárez from the NL West’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Then the first-place Houston Astros answered Thursday by bringing Correa back to the team he played for in his first seven MLB seasons before signing with the Twins in 2022. The difference between these moves is that Correa is under contract through at least 2028, while Suárez can become a free agent this offseason — which the Mariners can worry about later.
The third-place Texas Rangers, who are five games behind the Astros in the division but just a game behind Seattle for the final AL wild card, added Merrill Kelly to their rotation. He may have been the best starting pitcher dealt, but on the mound isn’t where the trouble has been this season for Texas.
The Los Angeles Angels are the worst team in the AL that didn’t make a clear move toward selling, and they didn’t do anything likely to move the needle much as they try to make up ground.
The last-place Athletics are finally making news for reasons other than their nomadic existence as they go from Oakland to Las Vegas by way of a three-year run in West Sacramento, California. By adding De Vries to an organization that already has two of the game’s top rookies in the majors (Nick Kurtz and Jacob Wilson), the future looks a little brighter.
NL East
The New York Mets lead the Philadelphia Phillies by a half-game atop this division, and both teams went big on bullpen help. New York went for quantity with Ryan Helsley, Tyler Rogers and Gregory Soto, while the Phillies made one huge move in adding Duran.
The third-place Miami Marlins — nine games out of first and seven games out of the NL’s final wild-card spot — held on to 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara. Perhaps his value will improve by the offseason, but right now he has a 6.36 ERA in his first season back from Tommy John surgery.
The last-place Nationals sold in fairly predictable fashion, but the Atlanta Braves, despite being 16 games under .500, curiously held on to closer Raisel Iglesias despite no shortage of teams looking for late-inning relievers.
NL Central
The Milwaukee Brewers (64-44) and the Chicago Cubs (63-45), owners of the top two win-loss records in the majors, appear reasonably satisfied with what they have, but both added some bullpen help.
The third-place Cincinnati Reds, whose more likely playoff path is via a wild card, were more aggressive, acquiring Littell from the Rays and former Gold Glove third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Trading Hayes within the division was a gamble by the last-place Pirates, given that he’s under team control through 2030, but he has an on-base plus slugging percentage well under .600 for the second straight year. Pittsburgh is under pressure to improve while second-year ace Paul Skenes is young and cheap.
The fourth-place St. Louis Cardinals looked like buyers a month ago, but losing 17 of 25 games dropped them to .500.
NL West
Second-place San Diego’s flurry of moves didn’t draw a particularly brazen response from the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers (63-46); the reigning World Series champions were actually on the prospect-receiving end of the deal that sent May to Boston.
The San Francisco Giants certainly looked like buyers when they acquired Rafael Devers from Boston earlier this season, but now they’re fading at below .500 and must hope the haul of prospects they received pan out, particularly those they got from the Mets for Rogers and the Yankees for Doval.
The Diamondbacks had two of the best trade chips on the market in Kelly and Suárez, and they cashed in both.
The last-place Colorado Rockies’ assets were less enticing, but they did unload McMahon and his contract.