MLB trade grades: Griffin Jax, Charlie Morton and other at-the-buzzer deadline deals

New York Times

01-08-2025

The MLB trade deadline has hit, and as usual, news of deals came flying in up to and after the deadline had technically passed. There were no last-second blockbusters, but several teams made impactful moves. Our writers evaluated what the Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City Royals and others did as this trade season came to a close.
Chicago White Sox get: INF Curtis Mead, RHP Duncan Davitt, RHP Benjamin Peoples
Rays get: RHP Adrian Houser
White Sox: B+
Rays: A
Tyler Kepner: The White Sox signed Houser after the Texas Rangers released him in May. He's a pending free agent who got hot for 11 starts, and they spun him into a three-player package from Tampa Bay. Curtis Mead hasn't hit yet in the majors, but the 24-year-old Australian infielder has a good minor league pedigree. He's worth a look. Could the White Sox have gotten more than Mead and two Triple-A pitchers? I don't know, but they had to get something and did. That's a win.
San Francisco Giants get: RHP Yunior Marte
Royals get: OF Mike Yastrezemski
Royals: B
Giants: B
Tyler Kepner: Yastrzemski — consistently undervalued by the industry despite his famous last name — had to wait until age 28 to reach the majors. When he did, he proved he belonged, logging nearly seven stellar seasons as a sound and steady Giant.
Advertisement
How steady? I don't have time to look this up right now, but has anyone ever had seven consecutive seasons with at least 2 bWAR but no more than 3? That's Yaz. You know what you're getting.
He's a nice fit for the Royals, who must improve their meager outfield production to break into the wild card mix. Yastrzemski, who is used to hitting in a big ballpark, has a .330 OBP – 15 points better than the AL average of .315 and 30 points better than the Royals' miserable .300 OBP, which ranks 14th in the AL.
Yunior Marte, 21, has a 2.74 ERA in Class A, a fair return for a rental.
Blue Jays get: RHP Louis Varland, 1B Ty France
Minnesota Twins get: OF Alan Roden, LHP Kendry Rojas
Blue Jays: A
Twins: B-
Tyler Kepner: Varland has excelled this season, with a 2.02 ERA and just three home runs allowed. That'll help the Jays, who have a 3.94 bullpen ERA this season and are trying to hold off the New York Yankees and their vastly improved relief corps. France helps the bench, while the Twins save some money and get Roden, whose minor league slash line (.302/.409/.457) shows promise.
Dodgers get: OF Alex Call
Washington Nationals get: RHP Sean Paul Liñan and RHP Eriq Swan
Dodgers: A
Nationals: B
Tyler Kepner: Call has played in 102 games over the last two seasons, batting .297 with a .388 OBP and six home runs. He hits lefties especially well (.314 average this season), and the Dodgers will probably deploy him so expertly that he'll win MVP of the NLCS or something.
Rangers get: RHP Phil Maton
St. Louis Cardinals get: RHP Skylar Hales, LHP Mason Molina and international pool space
Rangers: A
Cardinals: C
Tyler Kepner: Phil Maton is basically a Dallas Cowboys wide receiver with his fondness for number 88, which he's worn for six different teams. Unlike the Cowboys, though, Maton usually finds himself in the playoffs. His teams have played in October in each of the last five seasons, and he has a 2.57 ERA in 26 career postseason appearances.
Advertisement
Known for his high-spin fastball (the kind that seems to hop as it crosses the plate), Maton has been his usual reliable self this season, with a 2.35 ERA and 11.3 strikeouts per nine. The Rangers need bullpen help, and he helps the bullpen.
Maton was the only free agent the Cardinals signed before opening day, and now they get some goodies to remember him by. Win-win!
Reds get: UTIL Miguel Andujar
Athletics get: RHP Kenya Huggins
Reds: A-
Athletics: B-
Chad Jennings: In his 20s, Andujar went very quickly from prospect breaking through to journeyman trying to stick around. Now 30 years old, he might have found a happy middle ground. He's mashed lefties two years in a row while playing a little bit of all four corners. If he can keep doing that, he'll have a job. The Reds, who mix and match and have a lot of lefty bats — not to mention a right-handed first baseman with reverse splits — are proof that even contenders have spots for guys like that. It's a good fit.
The cost was modest. Huggins was a fourth-round pick, and he's in his third season of A ball. His numbers are good, though. A worthwhile flyer for the A's, who were going to lose Andujar to free agency this winter.
Royals get: RHP Bailey Falter
Pirates get: LHP Evan Sisk, INF Callan Moss
Chicago Cubs: A
Pirates: C
Tyler Kepner: I love this deal for the Royals, who've been stockpiling rotation pieces — not aces, but useful, reasonably reliable guys, and there's something to be said for that. Falter, 28, is a deceptive lefty under team control through 2028 who is enjoying his best season, with a 3.73 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in 22 starts. This feels like a small price to pay.
In Moss, who turns 22 in August, the Pittsburgh Pirates get a righty first baseman who gets on base but hasn't hit for much power in the pros and a 28-year-old lefty reliever in Sisk.
Tigers get: RHP Charlie Morton
Baltimore Orioles get: LHP Micah Ashman
Tigers: A
Orioles: B
Tyler Kepner: Tigers manager A.J. Hinch is reunited with Morton, a postseason hero for him in 2017, when he closed out the Dodgers to clinch Game 7 of the World Series for the Houston Astros. Morton, 42, started 0-6 with a 10.36 ERA through April 26. Since then, he's had a 3.86 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 77 innings. He's never been afraid of the big moments, and Hinch will deploy him wisely.
Advertisement
Ashman, a 22-year-old lefty, is having a great season in relief, with a 1.49 ERA between Class A and Class AA. Fun fact that might make you feel old: He was born more than seven years after the famous 'Seinfeld' episode that almost made fun of his last name.
Cubs get: LHP Taylor Rogers
Pirates get: OF Ivan Brethowr
Cubs: B-
Pirates: B-
Tim Britton: 'The Accountant 3' will focus largely on which team is paying Rogers what for the 2025 season. This is the third time he's been traded since the end of last season, with the Giants dealing him (and some cash) to the Reds last winter, the Reds moving him (and some cash) in the Ke'Bryan Hayes trade earlier this week and now the Pirates inevitably unloading him just before the deadline.
You'd think a player traded this often — and with cash to offset his salary — would be a real drag on a club's roster. Rogers isn't, though. While the lefty isn't quite the shutdown reliever he once was with Minnesota and the San Diego Padres, he's still a useful relief piece, though probably more in the middle innings than the late ones.
A seventh-round pick in last summer's draft, outfielder Ivan Brethowr is hitting .221 in High A.
Rays get: RHP Griffin Jax
Twins get: RHP Taj Bradley
Rays: B+
Twins: B-
Sam Blum: This was one of the more interesting deadline deals because it involved the Rays seemingly buying, in a day that they were otherwise selling. One minute they ship away José Caballero to the Yankees, and the next they're adding Griffin Jax and, in a different deal, Adrian Houser. The addition of Jax is not solely for this year, as he's under team control through 2027. Surely Tampa Bay expects to be competitive in that window. They're also not fully punting on this season, given that they are just 3.5 games out of a playoff spot.
Advertisement
Jax, 30, was an elite reliever last season, but has not been this year. He allowed 47 hits in 71 innings last year, while allowing 46 hits in 46 innings this year. We all know where this is headed, however. The Rays will work some kind of reliever magic to make him elite again. That's why they parted with Taj Bradley, a 24-year-old former stalwart of their rotation. He hasn't been able to put it together yet at the big league level, but he used to be one of Tampa Bay's top prospects.
It's hard to trust that Minnesota will get more out of him than the Rays were able to, especially as they engage in a fire sale during a season where they notably did not get enough out of the players already on their roster. Still, there's a lot to like about Bradley. It's a tough deal to assess because there is a lot of potential on both sides, but also neither player represents a sure thing.
Brewers get: RHP Shelby Miller, LHP Jordan Montgomery
Arizona Diamondbacks get: PTBNL/Cash
Brewers: B+
Diamondbacks: B-
Tim Britton: On a Diamondbacks roster where nearly every pitcher has underperformed, Miller was a shining counterpoint. In his second stint with the club, he'd emerged as a reliable late-game option, and his adoption of a splitter in 2024 has made him a menace against left-handed hitters. Such reverse-split relievers can prove especially helpful in the postseason, where Milwaukee is headed once again.
The cost to the Brewers is essentially $2 million of the $7.5 million Montgomery is still owed on the disastrous free-agent deal he signed with Arizona ahead of the 2024 season. He's out into next year and will not play for Milwaukee. Salary dumps can feel uncouth, and Miller could have brought back a lottery-ticket prospect. However, the DBacks have at least shown a willingness to swiftly apply payroll savings back into the roster, and if this helps them make a better bid on a player this winter, it's worth it.
(Top photo of Griffin Jax: Matt Krohn / Getty Images)