Major League Baseball

MLB trade deadline regrets? New World Series favorites? 5 burning questions

Published Aug. 2, 2024 11:30 a.m. ET

There was plenty of movement at the trade deadline, it just didn't involve most of the big names we were expecting. The lack of blockbuster deals also raises questions about which contenders are best prepared for the postseason, and who are the favorites.

All three division leaders in the American League along with three clubs on the fringes of the wild-card hunt fill out the latest FOX Saturday Baseball lineup: Tampa Bay-Houston, Baltimore-Cleveland, San Francisco-Cincinnati — with all three games airing at 7:15 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app.

Accordingly, FOX Sports MLB experts Deesha Thosar and Rowan Kavner tackle these topics and more in this week's roundtable.

1. Which team will regret not doing more to address their starting pitching?

Kavner: Woof, where should I begin? The Guardians, the Padres, the Braves, the Brewers, the Twins, the Yankees, the Mets ... I could keep going. The problem was the market just wasn't there for difference-making starting pitching. If I had to pick one team per league here, I'd choose the first two teams listed above. The Guardians and Padres both helped themselves at the deadline, but I don't think either did enough to quell the rotation concerns.

Cleveland added a wild-card piece in Alex Cobb, who is coming off an All-Star campaign but has yet to debut this season after offseason hip surgery and a shoulder issue. That doesn't seem like enough to fix a rotation that ranks 24th in starters' ERA and is serving up more homers than any group in baseball. San Diego will be able to shorten games with its revamped bullpen, but given the second-half uncertainty surrounding Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish, Martín Pérez doesn't exactly move the needle.

Thosar: The Yankees. It remains surprising Brian Cashman didn't address the rotation at all, which makes me wonder if he thinks last year's Cy Young version of Gerrit Cole will return and dominate the postseason. As things currently stand, the postseason 1-2 punch of Cole and Carlos Rodon just isn't very intimidating. Cole has been giving up too many home runs again, Rodón can be volatile, and beyond those two, it's fair to question how Marcus Stroman, Nestor Cortes and Luis Gil will perform in the playoffs.

Stroman's last postseason appearance was in 2016, Cortes struggled in the Yankees' 2022 playoff run, and Gil has long surpassed his career-high in innings pitched and could very well be shifted to the bullpen by October. Clarke Schmidt is on his way back from the injured list, and that depth will be necessary for the Yankees, but the way that the rotation is currently constructed, I think Cashman failing to trade for Jack Flaherty, at the very least, was a bigger miss than the Yankees are letting on.

2. What were a couple of your favorite under-the-radar trades?

Thosar: Jazz Chisholm (Yankees) and Jason Adam (Padres). As tough as I am on Cashman for failing to land a starter, he deserves credit for, seemingly out of nowhere, trading for Chisholm and trusting that the 26-year-old could handle all the responsibilities the Yankees are placing on his shoulders. Chisholm is now playing third base for the first time in his professional career, hitting home runs like he's been a power slugger all along, and facing the most scrutiny of his career in New York's voracious media market.

Though it seemed like the Yankees were vying for someone like Isaac Paredes to fill their infield void, trading for Chisholm as a long-term fix — he has two more years of team control after this one — was under the radar. A.J. Preller's acquisition of Adam, too, was a sneaky-good pickup that isn't getting enough attention after the Padres also made a huge splash by trading for Tanner Scott. Adam has been lights-out this year, recording a 2.49 ERA in 47 games for the Rays. He's also under club control through 2026, so he'll be a weapon in San Diego's bullpen for these next few years.

Kavner: The prices for relievers were steep, but I like what the Diamondbacks did in adding A.J. Puk and the Royals acquiring Lucas Erceg. Both bullpens needed the help, and the additions offer considerable upside. Puk's 4.02 ERA is misleading, considering most of the damage against him came when the Marlins tried to use him as a starter. As a reliever this year, Puk entered Thursday with a 1.89 ERA, 0.72 WHIP and a .147 opponents' batting average.

Erceg didn't get the headlines of fellow A's bullpen mate Mason Miller, but he also has nasty stuff. He was drafted by the Brewers as a third baseman in 2016, switched to pitching in 2021 and, at 29 years old, throws a 98.5 mph fastball with a slider that opponents have two hits against all year. Lastly, it's always interesting to see two contenders orchestrate big leaguer for big leaguer trades. As the Phillies and Orioles make their postseason runs, it'll be interesting to see what Austin Hays can provide in the Philadelphia outfield and how Seranthony Dominguez and Gregory Soto impact the Baltimore bullpen.

3. Who is your favorite to come out of each league after the deadline? Which contender improved their title chances the most?

Kavner: I'd go with the Phillies and Orioles as the favorites, which would have been my answer before the deadline, too. As sensational as Jazz Chisholm Jr. looks in pinstripes, I don't think any contenders did enough to clearly separate themselves above those two clubs.

In terms of improving title chances, I'd say the Dodgers. They needed to add another impact starter and got him in Jack Flaherty. Their success will still depend on how many of their injured pieces come back healthy, but Flaherty provides insurance, Michael Kopech provides bullpen upside, and I'm interested to see how Tommy Edman fits in when healthy. In the AL, it would be the Mariners, whose rotation is already championship worthy and now get a needed offensive boost with the additions of Randy Arozarena and Justin Turner. Of course, they still have their work cut out for them just to reach the postseason.

Thosar: My NL favorite is still the Phillies, who may have just put the finishing touches on a championship run after trading for top right-handed reliever Carlos Estevez. The Yankees were probably a starting pitcher away from solidifying their standing as the team to beat in the AL, so I think the favorite there is still the Orioles.

It's a toss-up whether the Dodgers, with their huge trade for Jack Flaherty, or the Yankees, with Chisholm and another under-the-radar pickup in reliever Mark Leiter Jr., improved their title chances the most. I think the Mariners did an excellent job trading for Randy Arozarena, and now they have a better chance of edging the Astros for the division title. But it all still needs to come together on the field.

4. Whose pitching staff among the AL division leaders (Orioles, Guardians, Astros) is best built for the postseason?

Thosar: Since Corbin Burnes struggled in his most recent postseason start — giving up four earned runs, including three home runs, in four innings to the Diamondbacks in last year's wild-card outing — I'll go with the Astros, particularly because that pitching staff is battle-tested. The majority of Houston's arms have been to October, conquered the World Series and faced real adversity that should only make them more prepared next time around. Houston also has one of the toughest schedules in the AL this next month, facing the Orioles and Phillies before the calendar flips to September, so its pitching staff has a good opportunity to test how it would fare come October.

Kavner: The Astros. The Guardians' bullpen is incredible, and that will be extremely useful in October, but I don't think it makes up for the issues in the rotation. After Corbin Burnes and Grayson Rodriguez, I'm a little concerned the Orioles' pitching staff is more quantity than quality, much like their trade deadline. Zach Eflin and Trevor Rogers raise the floor there but don't miss bats, and I still feel a bit uneasy about the back end of the bullpen come October.

I put the Astros in my trade deadline losers category, considering how much they surrendered for a rental in Yusei Kikuchi and how little they did to address their holes elsewhere, but if they can get healthy, a rotation comprised of some combination of Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, Ronel Blanco, Hunter Brown and Kikuchi with a bullpen featuring Josh Hader, Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly at the back end offers massive upside. This will still be a team no one wants to see.

5. What did you make of the Giants and Reds both refusing to be full-blown sellers? Which club currently has a brighter outlook for the foreseeable future?

Kavner: It was a yawn of a deadline for the Reds, but I'm not especially shocked. I thought they should've dealt Nick Martinez and Jonathan India, especially considering Matt McLain could be back before year's end. They did trade Frankie Montas, though, and maybe Joey Wiemer reaches his potential in Cincinnati as part of the next good Reds team.

I'm more flummoxed by the Giants. They had real pieces in Blake Snell, Matt Chapman, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Camilo Doval that could've returned a needed jolt to their farm system. Instead, they did not make their club better, nor did they make their future much brighter. They held onto a rental in Michael Conforto, dumped salary by dealing Jorge Soler and added Mark Canha. Simply opening up the DH spot for a younger player doesn't make me think this is an offense ready to compete for anything meaningful.

Given the spending San Francisco did in the offseason, I think the outlook is better there this year than in Cincinnati, but I would probably favor the upside of the youthful Reds group in future seasons. The Giants saw a fork in the road and parked the car.

Thosar: I understand the Giants being reluctant to be full-blown sellers a little more than the Reds, who are increasingly out of the playoff picture and had the opportunity to receive huge returns this trade deadline. I figured second baseman Jonathan India, at the very least, would be moved in a market thin on position players. The Reds could've really set up a strong immediate future by giving up more of their desirable players than just Frankie Montas.

Even going back a decade, there was no better time to be a seller than this summer, as teams like the Blue Jays essentially stole prospects from the Astros for giving upYusei Kikuchi, a back end rotation arm who since June hasn't even been very good. The Giants might be a bit in over their heads if they believe they have the roster to get into the postseason, and if Houston overpaid for Kikuchi, it would've been fascinating to see what kind of return they would've gotten for Blake Snell, who has looked terrific of late. I do think the Giants are better positioned to improve this offseason after freeing up some finances by parting ways with Jorge Soler and Alex Cobb.

Deesha Thosar is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.

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