For a lot of people in baseball, the biggest story of the 2024 MLB trade deadline was all the potential impact players who did not get traded.
Tarik Skubal stayed in Detroit. Garrett Crochet is still with the White Sox, and so is Luis Robert Jr. The Blue Jays didn’t move either resurgent Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or scuffling Bo Bichette.
Mason Miller’s hand injury probably prevented the most dynamic late-inning reliever from being moved, though it’s entirely possible no team would have met the A’s asking price — no, they weren’t looking for a new stadium deal in exchange for the young closer.
But here we are, roughly a week after the deadline passed and there are four players/teams worth taking a second look at.
The Energy Boost: Yanks Get Jazz
Sure feels like Jazz Chisholm Jr. needed the Yankees as much as the Yankees needed Chisholm, doesn’t it? And that’s really saying something, because New York’s two-superstars-and-a-lot-of-crossed-fingers offense — we see you, Aaron Judge and Juan Soto — really needed some backup.
But if there was ever a player seemingly born to play in the New York spotlight, it’s the guy named Jazz who was languishing in relative obscurity with the Marlins. That’s not always the case with the Yankees, obviously. Sometimes sunny careers turn a little gray under the Bronx spotlight.
Chisholm hit two homers in his second game with the Yankees and two more in his third game with his new club. And showing that he’s a team player — contrary to his reputation — Chisholm agreed to move to third base, even though he’d never played there as a professional, dating back to 2016 when he made his pro debut for Missoula in the Rookie League in the Diamondbacks’ organization.
He’s up to 17 homers and 24 stolen bases on the season. Only four other players have at least that many homers and at least that many stolen bases — Shohei Ohtani (33 homers, 31 stolen bases), Bobby Witt Jr. (20 and 25), Jose Ramirez (29 and 24) and Elly De La Cruz (20 and 57).
In his seven games with his new club, he’s batting .300 with a 1.064 OPS and, most importantly, the Yankees are 6-1 in those contests.
The 2021 Braves Playbook: Baltimore Orioles
The Braves didn’t exactly win the headline battle at the 2021 trade deadline. As a team, they had been hovering around the .500 mark for weeks, and the moves made by GM Alex Anthopoulos seemed more like collecting low-hanging fruit than anything.
The Braves picked up three outfielders with power but lacking consistent contact — Jorge Soler, Adam Duvall and Eddie Rosario — and reliever Richard Rodriguez. You know what happened, though. The Braves snuck into the playoffs and those three outfielders played huge roles in Atlanta’s run through the postseason and to the World Series title.
Obviously, the Orioles had higher expectations for the season heading into the trade deadline, and Baltimore fans had their hearts set on landing a true ace like Skubal or a potential ace in Crochet, or an established and effective closer to replace Craig Kimbrel in the ninth inning. Instead, they underwhelmed, by most accounts.
But like the Braves proved once again in 2021, the final story has yet to be written.
Eloy Jimenez, off to a 5-for-9 start in Baltimore, could absolutely play the Soler role, with his massive power but inconsistent track record. Zack Eflin is a veteran starter with elite command — he’s seventh in baseball with a 112 command+ and his 1.0 BB/9 ranks just behind MLB-leader George Kirby — and three different fastballs that have an effectiveness not solely reliant on MPH. He slides in nicely behind Corbin Burnes and Grayson Rodriguez in the playoff rotation.
Trevor Rogers had a 3.17 ERA in his nine starts before the trade, though trading both Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers seemed like a bit of an overpay. The O’s traded for two of Philadelphia’s relievers — Gregory Soto and Seranthony Dominguez — both of whom are having middling-type seasons but have big arms and a track record of big moments.
The Immediate Regret: Trading Christopher Morel
Way back in 2014, baseball writer Sam Miller sent a Tweet that became an instant classic:
And it still rings just as true today as it did back then. General managers around the league have to be wary of dealing with the Rays, not because the players Tampa Bay trades away will fail but because there’s a reason the Rays targeted the player they’re acquiring.
The Rays have a way of scouting — in-person and finding the numbers behind the numbers — that lead to the sorts of deals that Miller was referencing in his Tweet. In this deal that sent Christopher Morel to the Rays, though, it was a bit surprising to hear the guy, Chicago GM Jed Hoyer, who traded Morel to the Rays basically make the case for why his former guy was positioned to succeed. Morel, who is 25, under club control through 2028 and was leading Chicago in home runs, was dealt for Isaac Paredes, who is 25, under club control through 2027 and was leading Tampa Bay in home runs.
“Normally that — as long as you’re keeping your exit velocities steady — results in really good success,” Hoyer told the media after the deal. “And I just think this year, I do think (Morel has) hit into some really bad luck and he scuffled. I think his numbers are going to be a lot closer to his expected numbers. So, this wasn’t about his offensive performance at all.”
Of course, getting a more steady defensive player at third base also played a big role for Hoyer. But Morel’s secondary offensive numbers have improved, even though he was batting just .197 with an 89 OPS+ at the time of the trade. His strikeout rate was down — from 31.6% in his first two years to 24.8% before the trade — and his walk rate was up — 8.7 to 11.4. That’s exactly the type of growth at the plate teams hope to see a few years into the big leagues. The exit velo Hoyer mentioned: 90.0 over his first two seasons, 89.7 before the deal.
And his advanced metrics tell a story the Rays have to like. With 100 being league average, Morel checks in at 134 in BIP+ and 112 in discipline+. His raw value+ (RV+) is 121, which is right in line with 2024 All-Stars Adley Rutschman (119), Riley Greene (121), Ryan McMahon (120) and Pete Alonso (121).
Going Home: Jack Flaherty Joins the Dodgers
Just when it looked like the trade deadline might come and go and the Tigers might actually keep Jack Flaherty for the rest of the season, news broke that Flaherty — a SoCal native — was heading to the Dodgers, a team that suddenly found itself in need of rotation stabilization.
And the right-hander’s first start for the Dodgers was quite memorable, as he threw six shutout innings with just one walk and seven Ks.
For the season, Flaherty has a 2.80 ERA – a far cry from the 4.99 mark he posted in 2023 for the Cardinals and Orioles. Maybe the most impressive part of his transformation? His ability to miss bats in 2024 in a way he really didn’t in 2023. And it’s not just with one pitch, but across the board.
Check out the 2023 to 2024 improvements in whiff percentage with his three primary pitches:
- Four-seam fastball: From 20.8 in 2023 to 24.8 in 2024
- Slider: From 26.5 to 38.3
- Curveball: From 40.2 to 44.5
Overall, Flaherty ranks fifth in the majors with a 129 whiff+ and his K/9 ratio of 11.2 is also fifth among pitchers with at least 100 innings after it was just 9.2 in 2023.
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