Major League Baseball

Deadline trades are playing a big role in the MLB playoff chase

Updated Aug. 31, 2021 12:30 p.m. ET

By Ben Verlander
FOX Sports MLB Writer

One month ago, many teams across the major leagues looked quite different than they do today.

At the July 30 trade deadline, some teams sold, some teams bought, and some teams stood pat.

Now here we are, with one month to go in the season, and some teams are seeing their additions pay off, while others are kicking themselves for doing nothing at all.

One thing became apparent to me at the deadline: Sometimes it’s not about making the "right" move; it’s about just making a move.

The New York Yankees are a prime example.

On July 30, the Yankees were 54-48, third in the AL East and neck-and-neck with the fourth-place Toronto Blue Jays. At the time, the Yankees sported a -4 run differential. They were in trouble. They weren’t scoring runs despite a daunting lineup, and their pitching was blowing games left and right.

At the deadline, the Yankees acquired Anthony Rizzo from the Chicago Cubs and Joey Gallo from the Texas Rangers, two of the biggest offensive pieces available.

What they didn’t do, however, was address their pitching needs. I thought that was a big blunder on their part.

Since that day, the Yankees have gone 22-7 to lift their record to 76-55, good for second in the division. They own the longest winning streak in baseball this year, at 13 games, and they have improved their run differential from -4 to +51 in one month.

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In the same division, the Boston Red Sox, who were in first place at the deadline, decided to not do much at all. They added OF/DH Kyle Schwarber — who was injured at the time — and that was it.

On July 30, the Red Sox were 63-42. One month later, after watching every team around them add multiple pieces, the Red Sox are 75-58 and sitting in third place — a whopping nine games out of first.

The importance of the trade deadline can’t be overstated. It’s about adding that missing piece to put your team over the top. It’s about giving your already talented roster a shot in the arm and saying: "Let’s go. We believe in you."

Nobody should understand that more than the Red Sox. In 2018, they added Nathan Eovaldi at the deadline, and he went on to post a 1.61 ERA in six postseason appearances, most notably pitching six brilliant innings in Game 3 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, saving Boston's bullpen the rest of the way.

Many on the team said that without that performance, the Red Sox might not have won the World Series — without that performance and without that trade deadline acquisition, that is.

Another deadline deal that comes to mind happened in 2017, when my brother (that's Justin Verlander) was traded from the Detroit Tigers to the Houston Astros. The Astros went on to win the World Series that year, in large part due to that acquisition.

I met several Astros that year, and almost every single one mentioned how thankful he was for Justin and how much that pickup meant to the team.

"The second we heard that trade was final, we knew it was our year," I was told by quite a few guys after the season ended.

That goes to show the kind of difference a trade-deadline addition can make — on the field, in the clubhouse, in the stands, everywhere.

The 2021 Atlanta Braves are another great example.

Atlanta was a popular preseason pick to win the World Series. Unfortunately, through the first half, the team wasn’t playing great and was without some of its best players.

The Braves sat under .500 at the deadline, and many wondered whether they would be buyers or sellers. They decided to buy and totally revamped their outfield, adding Jorge Soler, Joc Pederson, Adam Duvall and Eddie Rosario. They also added a coveted bullpen piece in Richard Rodriguez from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Even with the odds against them, they went for it.

On the day of the deadline, the Braves were 51-53 and in third in the NL East. Today, they're 70-60 and in first by 3.5 games.

What's more, the impact of adding pieces at the deadline is just as important in the clubhouse as it is in the box score.

Although I never reached the major leagues, the impact of the deadline was felt every year in the minors.

I remember in 2015, there was a big trade between Detroit and Toronto. Daniel Norris, Matthew Boyd and Jairo Labourt headed to our organization in exchange for David Price.

Labourt, a left-handed pitcher, was assigned to the Lakeland Flying Tigers — the team I was on. He walked into the clubhouse with his Toronto Blue Jays bag and royal blue cleats.

After that, there was a different vibe in the clubhouse. He brought some new energy, and sometimes, that is all that’s needed.

Another division affected by the deadline in both directions this year is the NL West.

On July 30, the division was a three-team race with the San Francisco Giants leading the charge.

The big deadline-deal story was Max Scherzer. The Washington Nationals' ace had stated that he wanted to be traded to an NL West team and that he would be open to any of the top three: the Giants, Dodgers or San Diego Padres.

Reports had Scherzer heading to the Padres, and what a move that would’ve been. The Padres are an extremely talented team, but adding a star pitcher such as Scherzer could’ve done wonders for them.

Instead, we got a move that nobody saw coming. Scherzer, of course, was traded to the Dodgers along with superstar shortstop Trea Turner.

How would the spurned Padres respond? Rumors swirled about what big-name pitcher they were going to add.

The answer: nobody.

On the day of the deadline, the Padres were 60-46, 5.5 games back of first place, with a firm grasp on a wild-card spot. Just one month later, they are 70-62, 14.5 games behind the first-place Giants and on the outside looking in at the playoffs.

In that same span, the Dodgers are 21-6. Scherzer has gone 4-0 with a 1.55 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 29 innings for L.A.

The trade deadline can, and often does, shape how the rest of the season plays out. But too often, I think, we over-analyze the exact moves instead of looking at the deadline from a simpler perspective: Is a team going for it or not?

Many teams this year are great examples of how powerful a trade-deadline boost (or lack thereof) can be.

For those in the clubhouse, knowing that upper management believes in you and your team, that they're willing to gamble to win right now, is sometimes all it takes.

Ben Verlander is an MLB Analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the "Flippin' Bats" podcast. Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Verlander was an All-American at Old Dominion University before he joined his brother, Justin, in Detroit as a 14th-round pick of the Tigers in 2013. He spent five years in the Tigers organization. Follow him on Twitter @Verly32.