The trade deadline has come and gone. While trade season was slow to get started this year, when all was said and done, there were several dozen trades made in a flurry of movement over the final few days before the deadline arrived. The full impact of these trades won’t be known for years to come, but that doesn’t mean we can’t analyze the deals and decide whose haul looks the best right now. Over the next week-plus, MLBTR will be running a series of polls asking which club in each division had the best deadline, starting today with the National League East. A look at each of the five clubs, listed from best to worst record in 2025:
Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies made one of the biggest trades of the entire deadline when they landed closer Jhoan Duran from the Twins. With a 1.93 ERA and 18 saves this season, Duran figures to fortify the back of the bullpen and checks off the biggest need for Philadelphia. The club made a few more deals, but none were quite as impactful as adding Duran. Harrison Bader should provide a strong complement to Brandon Marsh and Max Kepler in the outfield against left-handed pitching while also improving the club’s defense. Matt Manning and Brewer Hicklen are purely depth additions who are not on the club’s active roster but could offer some protection against injury. Losing Mick Abel and Eduardo Tait from the farm system in order to bring in Duran is a blow, but the value an elite closer like Duran could provide over the next two-plus years figures to justify that cost.
New York Mets
The Mets took nearly the opposite approach to their primary rival for the division title this deadline, as they made a number of mid-level additions without swinging any one massive blockbuster. They added a second All-Star closer to the roster when they scooped up Ryan Helsley in a deal with the Cardinals to serve as the top setup man for closer Edwin Diaz, and further fortified their bullpen with trades for Tyler Rogers and Gregory Soto. They capped their deadline off by adding Cedric Mullins to the outfield in a move that could be game-changing for a club that was forced to rely on Tyrone Taylor (55 wRC+) as their regular center fielder throughout the first half. A legitimate starting-caliber player in center field and one of the best bullpens in the league should leave most Mets fans pretty happy with these additions, but the cost was significant. The Mets surrendered their #6, #10, #14, #22, #25, #27, and #28 prospects (according to Baseball America) in these trades alongside big league reliever Jose Butto. The club’s top five prospects remained untouched, but it’s still a steep price to pay for a package of players who are all ticketed for free agency this winter.
Miami Marlins
The Marlins had a rather quiet deadline where their headline move was shipping outfielder Jesus Sanchez to the Astros in exchange for a package of three players headlined by young starter Ryan Gusto. Aside from that, the fish dealt catcher Nick Fortes to the Rays for Double-A outfielder Matthew Etzel in a move that opens up playing time behind the plate for Agustin Ramirez and Liam Hicks and picked up depth reliever Michael Petersen from the Braves in a cash deal. The Sanchez move was a solid one that brings a young pitching talent into the fold for a club with a knack for developing young arms, but the most notable thing about Miami’s deadline is what they didn’t do: trade Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera. A run to the postseason this year is still very unlikely, but the quiet trade deadline gave the 55-55 Marlins a chance to see if they can keep up their recent torrid pace for another two months.
Atlanta Braves
Atlanta had something of a perplexing deadline. Like the Marlins, the biggest storyline here isn’t about the moves they made but rather about their decision to keep Raisel Iglesias and Marcell Ozuna in the fold. While Alcantara and Cabrera both have multiple seasons of control remaining with the Marlins, Iglesias and Ozuna are pending free agents who cannot even be extended Qualifying Offers this November. It was puzzling to see Atlanta shy away from dealing either of them and instead make a small handful of pitching additions. Erick Fedde, Dane Dunning, Tyler Kinley, Carlos Carrasco, and Hunter Stratton were added to help fortify a beleaguered pitching staff, and the trio of Fedde, Dunning, and Carrasco should help protect the club’s young arms from overuse down the stretch. The Rafael Montero trade stands as the club’s biggest sell-side move, however, while only Stratton (and perhaps Kinley or Dunning) will impact the club beyond the 2025 campaign of the team’s acquisitions.
Washington Nationals
The Nationals were the most aggressive sellers in the division as they shipped out Amed Rosario, Alex Call, Kyle Finnegan, Michael Soroka, Andrew Chafin, and Luis Garcia. Of that group, only the 30-year-old Call was controlled beyond the 2025 season. With a lackluster 44-67 record, it’s understandable that the Nationals would sell off a number of pieces, though they did hold onto some of their controllable pieces with higher potential for impact like MacKenzie Gore and Nathaniel Lowe. Former top prospects Jake Eder and Clayton Beeter are perhaps the most recognizable names from the haul the Nats received for their veteran pieces, but they received ten prospects and young players in total. According to MLB Pipeline, the club’s #10 (Sean Paul Linan), #11 (Christian Franklin), #12 (Eriq Swan), #13 (Ronny Cruz), #23 (Josh Randall), and #24 (Beeter) prospects were all acquired in this sell-off. That should keep their farm system fairly well-stocked headed in the first offseason of the post-Mike Rizzo era of Nationals baseball.
The NL East’s teams ran the gamut between buying and selling this year. The Phillies and Mets were both aggressive buyers, but took different approaches as the Phillies prioritized a controllable star while New York focused on the short-term. The Marlins and Braves were mostly quiet this summer, while the Nationals bolstered their farm system through several trades of veteran players. Who do MLBTR readers think had the best deadline of the division? Have your say in the poll below:
Maybe the Marlins? If they keep this up, the SPs they kept will be key to compete in 26 and beyond.
*…remembers PHI and NYM are in same division…*
Maybe not
While I agree they probably aren’t contending for the division title next year, I think it’s evident the Marlins have a strong core (Ramirez, Stowers, Edwards, Lopez, etc… and don’t forget Conine!). I think the moves they made were sound and the returns were solid. a very good deadline and perhaps the best in the division given acquisition costs.
Norby will be a player. The Marlins are in a real good spot.
Marlins might have had the best deadline because they didn’t sell their pitchers and now they’re hot
I agree! They might compete in 2026 and who knows, even this year.
Trading two of their best starters with more years of control would have led to another rebuild.
Id say the Mets, they stacked their bullpen and added a nice bat in Mullins who is a better hitter than Tyrone Taylor.
Traded some good prospects but improved the most.
Those Marlins are pretty good and I expect them to be good going forward.
Bendix is executing the Rays strategy very well, very quickly.
I think the Mets got 3 quality arms, but I think Duran makes the biggest impact for the Phillies. So, the Mets in terms of quality/quantity. The Phillies in terms of a difference maker. It’s tough to judge. Phils getting Robertson and Alvarado back soon is also significant. These two teams are going to be neck and neck all year until the 2nd place team eliminates the division winner in the playoffs. Such is the way of the NLE in the 3 wildcard era.
I think the Mets had the best deadline. Philly added perhaps better talent, but the Mets addressed there needs more and it makes the roster deeper. The addition of Mullens cannot be overlooked as it slides Taylor into a backup role/late innings defensive replacement
I think you could say the same for the Phils with Robertson, Duran and Bader. They got a righty bat and improved their OF defense/offense. I like Bader over Mullins tbh.
Like I said, it’s close. Mets got 3 quality arms.
Mets probably had the better deadline because they have 2 closers now on top of Rogers for the 7th, Phillies “only” have 1 established closer on their roster right now
People don’t talk about the Diaz and helsey pair enough, Diaz once saved 57 and Helsley just led the league last year
VonPurpleHayes— the Phillies and Mets have 7 head-to-head games in the last 5 weeks of the season, beginning 3 weeks from now. It should give Robertson Alvarado Duran and Bader a xhance to assimiliate, while at the same time giving Helsley Soto Rogers and Mullins the chance to do the same in NY.
The difference may be the toughest road trips for each club ahead nearer the end.
Philly travels to the Brewers and To the Dodgers. The Mets travel to the Tigers and to the Cubs.
Both the Mets and the Phillies will be tested wearing the road uniforms.
It should be an interesting two months.
@von Despite their season-long success, the rotation still has me concerned a bit. I understand not trading their best prospects for what was supposedly available, however I think the Phillies rotation is what makes the difference between the 2 teams. Their bullpen gave up the NLDS last year and they addressed that. Especially with Holmes on track to pitch way more innings then he ever has during a single season in the big leagues.
Robertson and Alvarado have both closed successfully for the Phils.
Pitching the most innings he ever has isn’t anything you want to hear about a reliever
@smacky That was my point. It concerns me despite how good he’s been
The Phillies got Durán for a few years. That’s a huge difference.
Phillies gave up some key prospects though.
Duran fits their window for chasing a championship.
Mets gave up nothing important.
Baez has tools to be really good, but there are some other developmental issues.
Gilbert doesn’t fit major league roster.
Butto has regressed to mediocre. If Montas fails again, he is going to the bullpen to effectively replace Butto.
I think they gave up less than the Mets did tbh.
Tait could be a huge get for the Twins way off in the future, but I’m not sold on Abel. He’s had far too many struggles. The Phils held on to their top prospects and got Duran.
The Atlanta Braves are going to ride this amazing trade deadline to the world series. Book it.
Marlins just swept the 2024 AL Champions. Gotta be them…
That Marlins rebuild is going quicker than most thought. Bendix is showing he knows what he’s doing.
That Friday night game was unreal
metzfan how can you say the Mets made mid-level acquisitions when they picked up two of the best relief pitchers in baseball yet say the Phillies got an elite level reliever? Taylor has a 1.80 era & Helsley has the most saves of any relief pitcher for the past few years
Taylor was a huge get. Helsley is not having a great year, but he looks to be returning to form lately. I still think 2 years of Duran is the best move here, but the Mets pen is super deep now.
I disagree a bit. Both older players and their poor performance (with strong underlying stats) make me think they’re strong candidates for a two-year deal in the offseason after extended stints with the team. Also, despite their awful record, Atlanta’s attendance is very strong. I can see the value in playing out the string, even if AA could technically try to resign them in the winter.
@straightuphonestguy Nice try! They could sign those guys to 2-year deals in the offseason even if they had traded them away. And trading them will have no bearing on Atlanta’s attendance down the stretch.
I love the way AA implied they didn’t wanna trade any players for just nothing of value. I get the sentiment of not being a push over in trades….but you didn’t want to take too little just to ultimately walk away with nothing? Makes no sense.
As bad as the year has been, the Braves are 7th in overall attendance. They still want to keep selling tickets.
Doesn’t Ozuna have 10/5 rights? That might have played into his mobility.
Iglesias not being moved is the one I question. He was definitely in the “get what you can” category.
All AA may have scored here are loyalty points with players.
Leaning Phillies a bit. They got the best player with ample control. The Mets had to plug more holes, so they are the most improved in the division. I didn’t like the Nationals trading away Call for a couple of lottery tickets; he’s nothing special, but they’re a bottom-5 RH offense, and he was cheap and very controllable. They didn’t get any impact prospects, but whatever, moving expiring vet contracts is fine when the team is in that position. I like Marlins and Braves standing pat; Marlins seem to be on the upswing, and Braves are having a weird year.
In terms of immediate additions, the Phillies are the clear winners. Upgrading from Marsh to Bader in CF immediately improves the defense and by extension pitching, even if they hadn’t acquired Duran.
The long term winners are the Marlins, who once again managed to deepen the farm system without parting with any members of the next core. The team is much closer to contention than most think. Assuming they can get Alcantara straightened out (the last two starts have been encouraging), and meaningfully upgrade first and third, there’s no reason why they can’t secure a WC spot in 2026.
I thought it was Keplar they were trying to replace. Marsh and Bader in the OF is nice.
As a Mets fan I’ll say the Mets had a better deadline (because they did) but they’ll still lose the division because their offense hasn’t been good, they can’t win big series and they’re handicapped by Hefner and Mendoza who both are vastly inferior to the Phillies coaching staff.
No one’s offense has been great. That’s modern baseball.
Time for change? I believe they have much of their starting lineup locked up for the next few years.
Murphy could get shipped out for pitching.
Albies is an interesting decision. They could benefit from an upgrade at 2b.
Not much else they can do position wise except SS. Outfield is under contract. I guess they will need a DH. Ozuna looks cooked.
Baldwin and Murphy will probably be splitting the DH/catching next season just like they have been since the AS break. They’ll keep Murphy. Likely the Braves pitch kids (Waldrep, Ritchie, Burkhalter, Fuentes) in the 4/5 rotation spots behind Sale, Strider, Schwellenbach, and Lopez (if healthy) next year. No luxury tax problem and plenty of funds to sign a couple of FA vets for starting and pen depth. Possible they rush their 2nd rounder Lodise through the system and have him playing SS before season’s end.
Soooo basically more of the same from this season?…Oh geez can’t wait lol
The Twins having a fire sale and the Giants and Guardians becoming surprise sellers made it a buyer’s market.
It seems from AA’s comments that the only offers he was getting were salary dump type offers, the Braves were likely willing to pay the salaries for Ozuna and Iggy in order to get a decent return. But that option never presented itself
Entire division did good except maybe Atlanta but besides salary dumping a reliever not much to do. Duran had multiple years so like that. Mets got nice rentals. Marlins trying to compete and didn’t sell low on Sandy. Washington sold a lot.
Philly-They not only picked up some good players, the players fit the team perfectly. I’m including Robertson, but they needed an RP, CL, and RH OF.
Mets needed a starter so they stopped burning out relievers. Mullins was good
Phillies made equal moves to the Mets, both were good but not enough to really excel over the other
Braves fell flat
Marlins seemingly are trying to make a plan?
Nationals won in the east. They didn’t do anything huge, but are continuing to accumulate depth and progress. Small steps and fine tuning are important