MLB trade deadline 2024 live updates (2024)

The 2024 MLB trade season is over. Jack Flaherty went to the Dodgers, Eloy Jimenez moved to the Orioles, and Isaac Paredes found himself in one of the places he might have least expected: Chicago. Catch up on the latest from across baseball:

Around the league

Our big-picture examination of the winners, losers and snoozers of the 2024 deadline period.

Keith Law looks at over a dozen of the most impactful deadline deals.

Which teams made the right trades and which ones missed at the deadline? All the Trade Grades in one spot.

MLB Trade Deadline Roundup: All the deals from Monday and Tuesday

Deadline News

Yankees backed out of Jack Flaherty deal because of medical concerns

Top prospect Jackson Holliday set to rejoin Orioles

Tampa Bay Rays get approval for new stadium project

Jack Flaherty could have landed with the New York Yankees instead of the Los Angeles Dodgers. But according to sources briefed on the discussions, the Yankees backed out of a preliminary trade agreement with the Detroit Tigers for Flaherty after reviewing the right-hander’s medical records.

Flaherty, a potential free agent, was the best starting pitcher traded at the deadline, and the Tigers wound up moving him for two prospects from the Dodgers’ rich system, catcher/first baseman Thayron Liranzo and shortstop Trey Sweeney. The return the Tigers would have received from the Yankees is not known.

The issue with Flaherty, his lower back, forced him to miss a start at the beginning of July and receive two injections in a span of three weeks. Since returning, he has made three starts, two against the Cleveland Guardians and one against the Toronto Blue Jays, producing a combined 1.53 ERA in 17 2/3 innings. For the season, he has a 2.95 ERA in 106 2/3 innings.

“I can’t comment on medical stuff with trades,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris told reporters in Detroit. “You would have to ask the other teams. Jack is healthy. If we didn’t trade him, he was going to start for us on Thursday.”

Read the full story here.

HOUSTON — Dana Brown insisted for months his Houston Astros would be buyers at the trade deadline, even during a disastrous start that led to whispers of a sell-off.

The club clawed its way back into contention within baseball’s worst division, removing those thoughts while thrusting Brown into the spotlight. His second deadline as a general manager occurred in one of the best sellers’ markets in years and with very little prospect capital to compete against other contenders.

Brown still managed to acquire one of the most accomplished starters available, even if the price peeved his fan base. Brown does not work for the fans. His responsibility is to show faith in a clubhouse that rebounded from baseball’s abyss. The Astros’ actions this week sufficed.

“I think our deadline was very strong,” Brown said. “We feel very confident that we stabilized the rotation, added to the back half (of) the pen where we had rode those guys real hard early in the season. We feel very confident that we did what we needed to do at this deadline.”

Here are three takeaways from Houston’s deadline.

CINCINNATI — The Chicago Cubs were dealing with the Tampa Bay Rays, perhaps the last front office you would ever want to trade with, but also maybe the only one willing to move a 25-year-old All-Star third baseman off a team with a winning record. The Rays have been so good at this for so long that it makes you wonder why they traded Isaac Paredes back to the Cubs, the organization that originally signed him as a teenager out of Mexico.

What’s the catch? Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer understood the question after Tuesday’s trade deadline. Hoyer said he and his Rays counterpart, Erik Neander, had been circling concepts for “almost a month” before finally executing a deal to exchange Paredes for Christopher Morel, relief pitcher Hunter Bigge and A-ball pitching prospect Ty Johnson. That move happened Sunday, more than 48 hours out from the deadline, and it stood as the biggest transaction made by Hoyer’s front office during this cycle.

“You always have to evaluate the player yourself,” Hoyer said. “I know we were not alone in pursuing Paredes. There were a lot of teams involved, as you might imagine. (But) it made sense from the way they do business that this was the deadline they would move him.”

I’ve written over a dozen articles breaking down various trades at this year’s deadline, focusing, of course, on the trades that involved prospects. Here’s a rundown of all of the trade breakdowns I’ve written with an excerpt from each and links to all of the full stories.

Read Keith's breakdowns here.

It’s past. We double checked. The MLB trade deadline has come and gone, meaning we can safely publish this without — as it happened last night — a late-breaking trade making liars out of us. Here, for your perusal, is a list of all 32 trades that happened on the last day before the deadline (and one from Monday).

First, a catch-up on the 27 trades that happened from Thursday through almost the end of Monday.

Thursday-Saturday

Sunday

Monday

On to the finale…

Read the full story here.

The trade deadline is behind us.

Barring a team pulling a 2023 Angels and doing a late-August waiver dump and setting off another feeding frenzy, rosters are essentially set for the stretch run. Did your team do enough?

We’re here to help you sort that out with our annual three-tier rating system: winners, losers and snoozers. Winners are buyers or sellers who got better without getting fleeced. Losers overpaid, misfired or misread the market with their moves. Snoozers infuriated fans with inaction or an unwillingness to address needs.

Read the full story here.

DETROIT — On an electric October evening at Progressive Field in 2013, fans twirled red towels and marveled at the 100 mph heaters a rookie named Danny Salazar zipped toward home plate.

The young pitcher who stood tallest that night, though, was Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Alex Cobb.

More than a decade later, Cobb is still seeking a return trip to the postseason. And now he’ll be tasked with helping guide the Cleveland Guardians to October, to set the stage for more of those high-stakes autumn nights at a buzzing ballpark.

It’s quite a gamble, considering Cobb hasn’t pitched in a big-league game in 10 months. Matthew Boyd, the Guardians’ other veteran solution, hasn’t appeared in a game in 13 months.

The Guardians will enter August with the best record in the American League and perhaps, depending on how the Phillies–Yankees series shakes out, the best record in baseball. They were positioned to swing big, with a healthy farm system, clear roster deficiencies, an energized fan base that has already fueled 11 sellouts, and a legitimate opportunity to end a championship hex that dates back to three weeks before Dewey “beat” Truman.

With all of that in mind, the Guardians’ trade deadline was … fine. Certainly not overwhelming. Maybe just whelming.

Their formula for winning this season is clear: Hand the bullpen a lead and get out of the way. Timely hitting. Aggressive base running. Sound defense. Juuuust enough starting pitching to survive.

Lane Thomas boosts the lineup’s potential, with an ability to obliterate left-handed pitching, steal bases and thrive in right field. If he can handle righties at all or rediscover his home run stroke from 2023, that would pay significant dividends.

As the trade deadline came and went Tuesday evening, a slew of deals came in just under the wire. What the bevy of moves might have lacked in star power, they made up for in quantity. Our writers evaluated some of the deals that came together at the last minute for the Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals, Giants and Dodgers, among others.

Check out all the grades here.

Jack Flaherty has averaged just about half-tick better on the fastball this year, and that doesn’t seem like a lot, but it has something to do with what seems like a bit of a magic number for the newly acquired Los Angeles Dodgers starter.

Flaherty has allowed a .349 slugging and 27.2 percent whiff rate when he throws 94 mph or harder. Those numbers change to a .460 slugging and 18.5 percent whiff rate when the fastball drops under 94. That’s stark.

He has shown great ability to strike batters out and limit walks this year. He has the second-best strikeout-minus-walk rate among pitchers with 100 innings so far. But that also obscures that he was amazing early on with great velocity, but then has been in a bit of a decline since.

• In March and April, he had a 93.8 mph fastball and a 30.6 K-BB%
• In May, he had a 93.8 mph fastball and a 29.7 K-BB%
• In June, he had a 92.9 mph fastball and a 25.0 K-BB%
• In July, he had a 93.4 mph fastball and a 19.7 K-BB%

Maybe this is too much of a focus on velocity, despite the stark splits. But other than throwing his slider a little more and his fastball a little less, there hasn’t been a change from this year’s Flaherty (top of the league in a ton of metrics) and last year’s Flaherty (14th-worst ERA in baseball among pitchers with 140-plus innings).

That could be a little unfair. He’s added two inches of ride to his fastball, and that can help. But it doesn’t seem to fully explain the gulf between the 2023 and 2024 versions of this pitcher.

The velocity split, though, does seem to explain a lot. 40.5 percent of his fastballs have been above 94 this year, versus 31.5 percent last year, which was the worst of his career. And 2023 was probably the worst year of his career.

Ninety-four might just be the magic number to watch as Jack Flaherty plies his trade for the Dodgers down the stretch.

The Phillies spent Tuesday attempting to thread a needle — upgrade the third left-hander in their bullpen — and they accomplished it minutes before the trade deadline.

Soon after acquiring 32-year-old lefty Tanner Banks from the Chicago White Sox, major-league sources said, they flipped Gregory Soto to the Baltimore Orioles for a rotation prospect. Banks will slot into the middle of the Phillies’ bullpen. He’s held lefties to a .184 batting average and .492 OPS this season.

It’s an unceremonious end for Soto’s time in Philadelphia. The Phillies had sought bigger chances for Soto after the All-Star break to see how he could handle them. He struggled. The Phillies had grown frustrated with Soto’s inability to throw strikes. He was not among the club’s trusted relievers.

Seth Johnson, a 25-year-old righty starter who was at Double A in the Orioles system, is part of the return for Soto. Johnson will go on the Phillies’ 40-man roster and he becomes rotation depth. The former first-round pick has a 2.63 ERA in 65 innings with Double-A Bowie this season.

Moisés Chace, a 21-year-old righty, is also part of the package for Soto, MLB.com reported. Chance had struck out 76 and walked 30 in 52 innings at High-A Aberdeen. He had a 3.46 ERA there. His fastball sits 93-95 mph and tops out at 97, according to a National League scout. He has a strong changeup and is working on a slider.

In Banks, the Phillies acquired a lefty with little experience in high-leverage situations. He could slot into the middle of the Phillies’ bullpen as a multi-inning reliever.

He was a starter for much of his minor-league career, and it is possible the Phillies explore a return to that role at some point next season. Banks is a late bloomer who did not make his big-league debut until he was 30.

William Bergolla, a 19-year-old second baseman, is going to the White Sox in the deal, league sources said. Bergolla signed for $2 million out of Venezuela and is known for his strong bat-to-ball skills. He does not project to have much power, but evaluators believe the contact is a carrying tool.

Oh, the deadline is just minutes away? Yep, that means it’s about time to learn the Dodgers made the biggest splash in the starting pitching market. Los Angeles did it for Yu Darvish, then for Max Scherzer, and it’s doing it again for Jack Flaherty.

Theoretically, the Dodgers’ rotation should be fine. Tyler Glasnow has been everything they could have wanted when they traded for him, and they’ve got Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. But those last three are either injured or recently back from being injured, and Flaherty was one of the only starters moved at the deadline who you could write into a postseason rotation with ink. Following several disappointing seasons with St. Louis and a disastrous post-deadline performance with Baltimore, he’s rediscovered the form that landed him in the top five in the Cy Young balloting back in 2019. Only George Kirby and Zach Eflin have better strikeout-to-walk rates this season, and those guys aren’t punching out better than 30 percent of dudes like Flaherty. He’s a SoCal native, too, which perhaps helps ease this transition more than the one last year.

In exchange for a rental, the Tigers are tapping into LA’s huge surplus of catching prospects with Liranzo. He’s holding his own as a switch-hitter in High A, and like so many others, his future depends on his ability to stick behind the plate. Baseball Prospectus included him in its top 100 back in the spring. Sweeney, a shortstop and a 2021 first-round Yankees pick, went to the Dodgers for Victor González in the winter. He’s had a solid first go-round at Triple A and is closer to making a major-league impact, though maybe not as an everyday player. It’s not quite what the Blue Jays landed for a worse pitcher in Yusei Kikuchi, but that just shows how aberrational that return was.

Dodgers: A-

Tigers: A-

For the second time in two years, right-hander Jack Flaherty is on the move at the trade deadline. This time he’s headed from the Detroit Tigers to the Los Angeles Dodgers, league sources told The Athletic on Tuesday.

In exchange for Flaherty, the Tigers received High-A catcher/first baseman Thayron Liranzo and Triple-A shortstop Trey Sweeney, their payoff for signing one of the most sought-after rental pitchers on the market. Flaherty ranked No. 12 overall and fifth among starting pitchers on The Athletic’s Top 50 Trade Deadline Big Board.

The Dodgers needed to come out of this deadline period with an “impact” arm, a directive issued last week by general manager Brandon Gomes. Now, they’ll emerge with potentially the best arm moved at the deadline in Flaherty.

Flaherty, 28, is a free agent at year’s end, unlike fellow targets like Flaherty’s now-former teammate, Tarik Skubal, or the Chicago White Sox’s Garrett Crochet. But when neither Skubal nor Crochet moved, the Dodgers pushed with a pair of intriguing prospects.

Liranzo has been one of the fastest-rising prospects in the Dodgers’ system, with a unique ability to hit at 21 years old for a switch-hitting catcher. Trey Sweeney came to the Dodgers this past winter as part of a 40-man roster-clearing swap for Victor González and Jorbit Vivas. Sweeney has a .761 OPS in 440 plate appearances this year in Triple A.

After authoring a splash on Monday night by acquiring Yusei Kikuchi, the Houston Astros had a quiet Tuesday, swinging a minor trade with the New York Yankees for veteran left-handed reliever Caleb Ferguson while failing to upgrade their lineup.

Getting Kikuchi accomplished general manager Dana Brown's foremost goal, but the price he paid will continue to stir conversation. Brown parted with Jake Bloss, Joey Loperfido, and Will Wagner — ranked No. 2, 5 and 19 in Baseball America's midseason organizational rankings — for two months of Kikuchi.

One day later, the Los Angeles Dodgers gave up No. 3 prospect Thayron Liranzo and No. 28 Trey Sweeney to the Detroit Tigers for two months of Jack Flaherty. Flaherty's back issues all season must be mentioned, but the return does invite wonder if it would've behooved Brown to be more patient and allow prices to drop.

Though reports throughout Tuesday linked the Astros to Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Yandy Diaz, people familiar with both teams' plans said Houston's overtures were never serious. League sources said the Astros had far more interest in Isaac Paredes, whom Tampa eventually traded to the Chicago Cubs. Diaz did not get moved on Tuesday.

Without an offensive addition, the Astros must count on Kyle Tucker to lengthen their lineup whenever he returns from a shin contusion. Jon Singleton is ostensibly locked in as the everyday first baseman, too. Singleton entered Tuesday's game against the Pirates with a .313 on-base percentage and .669 OPS across his previous 134 plate appearances.

Only five teams have hit fewer homers this season than the Pirates, and they’re all sellers: the Rays, Blue Jays, White Sox, Marlins and Nationals. The Pirates are buying, because their pitching has them only two games out of a wild-card spot. In Bryan De La Cruz, they get an outfielder who can hit the ball over the fence. There’s not much else to like in De La Cruz’s profile: he strikes out a lot, doesn’t walk much, doesn’t steal bases, and has a negative career dWAR. But he’s only 27, he’s under club control through 2027, and – most importantly at the moment, he’s hit 18 homers this season, matching Bryan Reynolds for the most on the Pirates. He’s a bat that other teams have to respect, and that’s an upgrade for Pittsburgh.

In Shim, the everything-must-go Marlins get a big righty (6 foot 4, 215 pounds) from South Korea who is said to have excellent stuff. He’s only 20 with almost no pro experience — a low-risk, long-term play for the Marlins in exchange for a one-tool outfielder.

In the minutes before the trade deadline, the Red Sox added another reliever to their bullpen.

The Red Sox acquired right-hander Luis García, 37, from the Los Angeles Angels, according to Jon Heyman. The return is not yet known.

Garcia, who will be eligible for free agency at the end of the season, posted a 3.71 ERA over 45 appearances this season with Angles, with 40 strikeouts in 43 2/3 innings. He’s been in the big leagues since 2013 and has a career 4.02 ERA in 512 2/3 innings.

The Phillies added to their pitching depth minutes before Tuesday’s trade deadline by acquiring lefty Tanner Banks from the Chicago White Sox, according to major-league sources.

Banks, 32, will likely slot into the middle of the Phillies bullpen as a multi-inning reliever. He was a starter for much of his minor-league career, and it is possible the Phillies explore a return to that role at some point. Banks, a late bloomer, has been tough against lefties this season.

After acquiring Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham, Cardinals’ president of baseball operations John Mozeliak turned his focus to the bullpen. The team had wanted to add another high-leverage right-handed reliever to pair with set-up men Andrew Kittredge and Ryan Fernandez as a bridge to All-Star closer Ryan Hensley.

Moving Carlson was expected. Once a starting outfielder, his role had been reduced to a late-inning defensive replacement, or an occasional pinch-hitter. When the Cardinals traded for Pham, it was no longer a matter of if Carlson would be traded, it was simply a matter of when.

San Diego paid a hefty price last week for Tampa Bay reliever Jason Adam. You won’t believe this, but A.J. Preller did not stop there. Scott has been the most valuable reliever in baseball since 2023, according to FanGraphs. He has posted a 0.995 WHIP across those two seasons with a 1.89 ERA. His slider can be devastating. His Baseball Savant page is covered with red — save for one category: Walks.

Scott has struggled to throw strikes this year, although it hasn’t hampered his bottom line yet. If he can stay within the zone, he should be fine. The downside risk is San Diego bought the dip on a reliever who will be a free agent after this season.

With Dylan Lesko heading to Tampa Bay in the Adam deal, Snelling looked like San Diego’s best pitching prospect. He will take his talents to South Beach. Like Lesko, Snelling has had a brutal season that has dimmed some of his prospect status. Mazur was pilloried by big-league hitters during an eight-start cameo for San Diego this season. He may end up as a reliever. Pauley may not be able to stick as an everyday regular, but could be a useful utility player. Beshears has struggled to hit since getting promoted to High-A Fort Wayne.

As with the Adam deal, Preller seems to have given up a good deal of future value in exchange for a reliever. Yet San Diego improved quite a bit in the present. The team will enter the postseason race with a bullpen that looks devastating. Miami, meanwhile, continues to stockpile talent under president of baseball operations Peter Bendix. Good deal for both sides.

The Rangers have had a bottom-10 bullpen by ERA this season, and adding a veteran lefty like Chafin will help bolster that unit. Chafin had a 1.35 ERA through May 7, and over the next month that number swelled to 5.40 because of three particularly bad outings. Since early June, though, Chafin has allowed only one run over 17 innings. He is a known commodity, exactly the type of arm teams target at the trade deadline. Chafin eviscerates lefties, and the AL West has some scary ones. Chafin has held left-handed hitters to a .474 OPS this season, compared to .756 OPS for righties. We’ve seen a few lefty relievers moved already this month — A.J. Puk, Jalen Beeks, Caleb Ferguson — and Chafin might be the most reliable of the bunch. His command is solid. He’s leaning on his slider more than ever this season, leading to a career-best strikeout rate (30.9 percent).

The Tigers, who enjoyed their first go-round with Chafin in 2022 so much that they brought him back in 2024, now acquire his expiring contract for a couple minor league arms. Baseball America has Montalvo ranked as the Rangers’ No. 19 prospect. Between Lee and Montalvo, there’s a decent chance the Tigers will one day get a capable reliever out of this deal.