Re-Grading 2023 MLB Trade Deadline's Biggest Deals 1 Month Later

The passing of MLB's trade deadline simultaneously feels like just yesterday yet also forever ago. That kind of paradox is only possible when a lot has happened in a short order.

If nothing else, it's a good time for fresh grades for the summer's biggest trades.

It's hard to quantify what makes a trade "big," but the upcoming list consists of 10 deals that felt like the biggest at the time. In any case, please note this is not about the most impactful deals based on the returns so far.

Indeed, the early returns of the deals at hand are all over the map. And while there's more to say about what the buyers did or didn't gain, the seller in each deal likewise got a fresh assessment.

Let's start with some honorable mentions and then count 'em down.

Note: All prospect ranks are according to MLB.com.

The Marlins' Josh Bell, Jake Burger and David Robertson Trades

Bell and Burger have been terrific additions for the Marlins, combining for an .864 OPS and 13 home runs. Alas, Robertson has been shelled for a 7.50 ERA, and the effort has generally been for naught. Miami has lost 17 out of 30 since the deadline.

The Rangers' Aroldis Chapman Trade

Here's where the term "mixed bag" comes to mind. Chapman's Rangers tenure began with a 1.69 ERA through 16 appearances, but he's coughed up seven runs across his last six appearances. It's part of the story of Texas' 4-13 skid since Aug. 16.

The Orioles' Jack Flaherty Trade

It was a letdown that the Orioles didn't go bigger in their quest for a starter at the deadline, and Flaherty hasn't exactly beaten expectations. He's coughed up a 6.66 ERA in five outings, three of which have resulted in Ls for Baltimore.

The Blue Jays' Jordan Hicks Trade

Hicks' time with the Blue Jays has been...fine. It's nice that he's cut his walk rate in half while pitching to a 3.46 ERA, but his strikeout rate is down and his home run rate is up. The team itself, meanwhile, is stuck in neutral.

The Padres' Rich Hill, Ji-Man Choi and Garrett Cooper Trades

Cooper has given the Padres a solid .762 OPS, but Hill has been crushed for a 10.71 ERA, and Choi has been out with a ribcage strain since Aug. 12. It all smacks of too little, too late for a team that was in trouble even before the deadline.

Date: July 31

The Trade: Arizona Diamondbacks get RHP Paul Sewald; Seattle Mariners get INF Josh Rojas, OF Dominic Canzone and INF Ryan Bliss

For the Diamondbacks: A

This trade felt underrated at the time, if for no other reason than Sewald himself was (and still is) underrated. His time with the Mariners saw him post a 2.88 ERA and 4.3 times as many strikeouts as walks over 172 appearances.

It's hard to tell from his 4.63 ERA, but the 33-year-old has mostly kept up the good work with 10 scoreless appearances and nine saves in 11 tries for the Diamondbacks. He's part of the reason their playoffs hopes are still very much alive.

For the Mariners: A

The Mariners' return for Sewald seemed light at the time, but Rojas (.267 AVG) and Canzone (4 HR) have both been productive players amid a 22-8 run since Aug. 2. And both will remain under club control well after 2023.

For his part, Bliss has just a .699 OPS at Triple-A Tacoma and his ceiling may only be that of a utility infielder. All the same, he ranks as the No. 14 prospect in the Mariners' system.

Date: July 30

The Trade: Los Angeles Angels get OF Randal Grichuk and 1B C.J. Cron; Colorado Rockies get LHP Mason Albright and RHP Jake Madden

For the Angels: F

At the time the Angels made this trade, Grichuk was hitting .308 and Cron had begun July with a .982 OPS and five home runs. Both seemed like two more good gets after L.A. had made an even bigger trade (more on that later) several days earlier.

Well, the Angels have since seen Grichuk hit .179 and gotten all of one home run from Cron, who hasn't played since Aug. 15 because of back inflammation. There are many other reasons they're 8-23 since the deadline, but this is certainly one of them.

For the Rockies: B

Neither Albright nor Madden is a blue-chip type, but both are real prospects who rank as the No. 22 and No. 23 talents, respectively, in Colorado's system. Especially considering what's befallen Grichuk and Cron (both pending free agents) in Anaheim, it feels like a good return.

And that much more so where Albright is concerned. The Rockies quickly bumped him from Single-A Fresno to High-A Spokane and have been rewarded with a 1.80 ERA over four starts.

Date: August 1

The Trade: Philadelphia Phillies get RHP Michael Lorenzen; Detroit Tigers get 2B Hao-Yu Lee

For the Phillies: A

The Phillies' trade for Lorenzen kinda-sorta felt unnecessary. They didn't really need another starting pitcher, and he only seemed to have downside despite the All-Star credentials and 3.58 ERA he was bringing with him from Detroit.

It turns out the Phillies knew what they were doing. Lorenzen began his Philadelphia tenure with eight two-run innings in his first outing and then a no-hitter in his debut at Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies won both games, as well as Lorenzen's fifth start for them on Aug. 29.

For the Tigers: B

Lorenzen is only signed for this season, so there's no faulting the Tigers for trading him. And in Lee, they got back a prospect who now ranks as the eighth-best talent in their system.

Now, if only Lee's time in said system had gotten off to a better start. He hit just .214 in eight games for High-A West Michigan and has been on the injured list since Aug. 15.

Date: July 28

The Trade: Los Angeles Dodgers get RHP Lance Lynn and RHP Joe Kelly; Chicago White Sox get OF Trayce Thompson, RHP Nick Nastrini and RHP Jordan Leasure

For the Dodgers: A

Even though he had posted a 6.47 ERA for the White Sox, Lynn looked like a good pick-up for the Dodgers. And he has been exactly that. Before Atlanta got to him for seven runs over 4.1 innings on Thursday, his first five starts as a Dodger had yielded a 2.05 ERA.

Kelly, on the other hand, was something more like a throw-in, and his impact in Los Angeles has been minimal. Albeit all scoreless ones, he made just four appearances before hitting the IL with elbow inflammation.

For the White Sox: A

Because of his own track record and his more famous brother, Thompson was hardly an anonymous addition for the White Sox. But the real purpose of this deal—in which Chicago offloaded two pricey yet depreciated assets—was to get Nastrini and Leasure.

Now the No. 6 and No. 19 prospects in the White Sox's system, both are well-regarded young hurlers. Nastrini has already been bumped from Double-A Birmingham to Triple-A Charlotte, where he debuted by striking out nine batters over six two-run innings.

Date: July 30

The Trade: Texas Rangers get LHP Jordan Montgomery, RHP Chris Stratton and international bonus pool money; St. Louis Cardinals get LHP John King, RHP Tekoah Roby and INF Thomas Saggese

For the Rangers: A

Though the Rangers have lost four of his six starts, that has little to do with how Montgomery has pitched for them. Before hitting a wall in a 3.2-inning, six-run dud his last time out, the lefty had posted a 2.30 ERA over his first 31.1 innings as a Ranger.

Meanwhile, Stratton has more than done his part as a multi-inning reliever. His 13 appearances have yielded a 1.77 ERA over 20.1 innings. Add it all up, and it's no fault of these guys' that the Rangers have been slumping of late.

For the Cardinals: A

That the Cardinals were able to turn Montgomery and Stratton, both of whom are pending free agents, into King and two players who rank as the No. 5 (Roby) and No. 9 (Saggese) prospects in their system makes this trade look good just on paper.

And then there's how Roby and Saggese are performing at Double-A Springfield. The former has whiffed 12 of the 21 batters he's faced, while the latter has gone off for a 1.074 OPS and nine home runs.

Date: July 31

The Trade: Chicago Cubs get 3B Jeimer Candelario and cash; Washington Nationals get SS Kevin Made and LHP DJ Herz

For the Cubs: A

Deadline day was also the day when the Cubs started to get on a roll with a 20-9 shellacking of the Cincinnati Reds. With a 21-11 record since then, the roll is still going strong.

Candelario's performance is a fairly big reason why. He's put up an .809 OPS with 13 extra-base hits while putting in time at both third base and first base. Whereas the Cubs averaged 4.9 before, they've put up 5.6 runs per game since he came to town.

For the Nationals: B

The Nationals only had Candelario on a one-year deal, so them cashing him in to further their rebuild was inevitable. If anything, it was disappointing that they only got mid-tier prospects back for him. Made and Herz are their respective No. 15 and No. 16 talents.

Yet at least Herz is doing his part to make the Nationals' return look better. He's started six games for Double-A Harrisburg and struck out 39 of the 103 batters he's faced while compiling a 2.13 ERA.

Date: July 31

The Trade: Tampa Bay Rays get RHP Aaron Civale; Cleveland Guardians get 1B Kyle Manzardo

For the Rays: A

This looked like a score for the Rays even at the time, and that was before ace left-hander Shane McClanahan went on the IL and ultimately had Tommy John surgery. One wonders if the Rays knew that was coming, but the rest of us did not.

Though Civale hasn't maintained the 2.34 ERA he brought to Tampa, he's pitched just fine to the tune of a 3.82 ERA, and the Rays have won four of his six starts. No matter what happens the rest of this year, he'll remain under their control through 2025.

For the Guardians: B

Whether the Guardians should have traded Civale is a fair question. He wasn't costing them much, and it's not as if the AL Central lead was far out of their reach. The fact that it's still not makes it hard not to wonder where they would be if they had bought instead of sold.

Still, at least the trade netted them MLB's No. 60 overall prospect. Manzardo is also healthy now after coming to Cleveland's system with a shoulder injury, and back to doing his on-base machine thing with a .394 OBP for Triple-A Columbus.

Date: July 27

The Trade: Los Angeles Angels get RHP Lucas Giolito and RHP Reynaldo López; Chicago White Sox get C Edgar Quero and LHP Ky Bush

For the Angels: D

Let's just say it's never a good thing to give up your second- and third-ranked prospects for two guys only to say goodbye to said guys a few weeks later. That's what the Angels did with Giolito and López when the Guardians claimed them off waivers on Thursday.

They at least got a 2.77 ERA from López while he was around, but Giolito's time in Anaheim was a nightmare. His six starts yielded a 6.89 ERA, and there's no argument to make that that number overstates how hittable he was for them.

For the White Sox: A

Because Giolito and López are both free-agents-to-be who were having shaky seasons even before going to the Angels, it was a good look at the time that the White Sox were able to turn them into Quero and Bush. They're now the club's No. 3 and No. 9 prospects.

Though Bush has been slow out of the gate with an 8.00 ERA through six starts, Quero has hit the ground running at Double-A Birmingham. In 23 games, he's hit at .306 with an .833 OPS.

Date: July 30

The Trade: Texas Rangers get RHP Max Scherzer and $35 million; New York Mets get INF Luisangel Acuña

For the Rangers: A

Despite his three Cy Young Awards and status as a future Hall of Famer, taking on Scherzer was a risky move for the Rangers. To give up a top-100 prospect while also taking on $35 million in salary amounted to a heavy price for a guy with a 4.01 ERA.

To say it's paying off would be an understatement. Scherzer has looked like his vintage self in racking up a 2.21 ERA and 47 strikeouts in six starts, four of which have resulted in Ws for Texas. With Nathan Eovaldi having been out since July 18 with a forearm strain, this is godsend-level stuff.

For the Mets: A

Though Acuña is the No. 39 prospect in MLB and No. 1 within the Mets' system, he's hit a bit of a lull with Double-A Binghamton. He's hit just .255 and has yet to go deep even once in 28 games.

Yet this trade still feels like a win-win. Even as hot as Scherzer has been with the Rangers, it's hard to imagine the Mets getting any more than what they did given his iffy value at the time.

Date: August 1

The Trade: Houston Astros get RHP Justin Verlander and up to $52.5 million; New York Mets get OF Drew Gilbert and OF Ryan Clifford

For the Astros: B

Contrary to the Rangers with Scherzer, the Astros seemed to be making a safe play when they reunited with Verlander. The price was high, but Scherzer's fellow three-time Cy Young Award winner and future Hall of Famer was coming in hot with a 1.49 ERA over seven starts.

Because Verlander only has a 3.86 ERA in six starts, it would be a reach to say it's been all good. But he's given up three or fewer runs in four of his assignments, with the Astros losing just twice when he's been on the mound. Not vintage stuff, perhaps, but definitely helpful for a rotation that needed another stable arm.

For the Mets: A

It was appropriate that the Mets scored an even bigger haul for Verlander than they did for Scherzer, not only jettisoning more money but getting two real prospects back in return. As the No. 54 prospect in baseball, Gilbert was the prize of the latter.

He looks like even more of a prize now after his first 26 games for Binghamton. Albeit with 24 strikeouts against 12 walks, all he's done is hit at .323 with four home runs.

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.