Dodgers go all in, Yankees come up short as MLB trade deadline passes
Bob Nightengale breaks down why the Dodgers won the MLB trade deadline after landing Tarik Skubal, plus other winners and losers.
Sports Pulse
BALTIMORE — They grew up in baseball together, stood up for each other in weddings and while facing professional travails and, on this day, simply were gathering to see a movie on an off day.
And then Adley Rutschman’s phone rang, and the young core of the Baltimore Orioles was stunningly broken up for good.
The trade sending Rutschman, the first overall pick in the 2019 draft, to the division rival Boston Red Sox at the Aug. 3 deadline was a shocker to the baseball industry. And even moreso to Rutschman, shortstop Gunnar Henderson and outfielder Colton Cowser, all drafted between 2019 and 2021 and integral to the Orioles’ rise from baseballs dregs into a playoff team.
They, along with veteran Ryan Mountcastle were awaiting Henderson’s arrival to proceed into the theater. But on this Monday, they never made it into “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”
Instead, Rutschman had a short conversation with Orioles president Mike Elias. The face of the franchise was gone, even with Baltimore just 2 ½ games out of a playoff spot.It was the latest and harshest lesson in the business of baseball that these guys experienced, the Gatorade baths and moos from the crowd and champagne celebrations camouflaging the fact almost anybody can be a goner.And in this modern baseball environment where young assets are often more valued than present completion, that phone call can come any time.Soon followed by tears.
“You know, all I could do is give him a hug,” Cowser said Tuesday at a morose Camden Yards, “and tell him I’m here for him, and I love him.
“It was obviously tough.”
The Orioles’ stunning sell-off, which will disillusion fans who sat through three 100-loss seasons amid an extensive rebuild from 2018-2022, fractured several relationships in one afternoon.
Trevor Rogers, a pending free agent, was with reliever Tyler Wells and his family. Rogers was the one expected to be dealt. Instead, it was Wells headed to Tampa Bay. Earlier, outfielder Taylor Ward was shipped to Seattle, three key cogs gone in one day.
None more shocking than Rutschman, the franchise bulwark turned Red Sox.
“Who wouldn’t want Adley Rutschman on their team?” manager Craig Albernaz said by way of describing his vantage point.
His friends agree.
“The initial shock of it was something that was tough to see,” says Cowser. “Definitely some sadness.”
Yet the Orioles struggled Tuesday to determine how much blame they should assess themselves in this sell-off, as they’re 54-58 entering a three-game series against the league-worst Los Angeles Angels. A team that won 101 games in 2023 and 90 in 2024 – yet lost all five playoff games those two seasons – has struggled since, the core losing some sheen.
Henderson was 2023 AL Rookie of the Year, hit 37 homers and finished fourth in AL MVP voting in 2024 but has struggled to meet those standards since, his OPS a career-low .687 this season. Cowser was the 2024 Rookie of the Year runner-up, yet injuries have stalled him the past two seasons, as he’s batting .204 with eight homers and eight steals in 98 games this season.
“Overall, it sucks to see a lot of our guys go,” says Cowser. “You look inward and feel like you can be at fault as a player, wanting to keep a lot of your best friends here. And that’s just how it panned out.”
Pete Alonso, signed to a $155 million deal this past offseason, is a veteran of several buy-sell cycles amid the pressurized environment of New York. Mets owner Steve Cohen probably wouldn’t have sold off three win-now pieces with the playoffs this close within reach.
Yet Alonso opted for the self-blame as well, noting the Orioles’ uneven play.
“It’s conflicting emotions,” says Alonso, who has hit a team-leading 23 homers. “Because if you’re expected to do something and you fall short, there’s consequences to that. That’s just the reality of the industry.
“For us to pout and be stuck on it, it would be doing this organization a huge disservice. Because we have a bunch of talented players. Yes, Adley, Ward, Wellsey and Dean (Kremer, traded to Minnesota Saturday) have meant a lot not just to the past but this year. But we have to turn the page. That’s just the truth. We have to play better. We’re still only 2 ½ games out.
“If I recall history, 2004, when the Red Sox traded away Nomar Garciaparra, they were like how are you going to win without him? Hopefully we’re one of those special cases where we can get into the playoffs and go on a special run.”
The deadline defrocking was significant enough that Elias and Albernaz saw fit to address the team Tuesday afternoon. The message: Elias has a big-picture organizational view to maintain – and oh, let’s make the playoffs despite subtracting three pieces.
But they didn’t ship off everything. Rogers, who has a 2.21 ERA over his last 10 starts, would have been a strong left-handed addition to a playoff rotation. He’s still here, even as he assumed he was gone once the trade of outfielder Ward popped early in the afternoon.
“When I saw Wardey go, I thought it’s most likely going to happen,” says Rogers. “Stayed by my phone. Thankfully it didn’t happen. I’m so happy and stoked that I’m able to be here with this organization for the remainder of this year. We’re only 2 ½ games out and go compete for a playoff spot.”
Just without Rutschman.
“I couldn’t believe it,” says Rogers. “I heard it was getting closer. And I’m like, I don’t think it’s going to happen and then it happened. I was kind of blown away. Shocked.
“The deadline, you never know what’s going to happen. It’s a cutthroat business. (Boston’s) a good, hot ballclub right now and he’s only going to make them better.”
The Rutschman trade felt in some ways like a harbinger.
Rutschman was an instant smash in Baltimore but negotiations on a long-term contract to stay never got far; by contrast, Rutschman’s long-term repalcement, Samuel Basallo, signed team-friendly eight-year, $67 million deal while Rutschman remained poised to hit free agency after the 2027 season.
Elias said on a Monday video call that the Rutschman trade was “part of running a baseball organization. Sometimes at deadline time you have to sell off guys, particularly as they get near their contractual control.”
One year from now, it is Henderson who will be in Rutschman’s exact position. Henderson, along with infielders Jordan Westburg and Jackson Holliday, are represented by agent Scott Boras, who is almost always averse to clients signing extensions before free agency.
And the Rutschman trade indicated the Orioles seem averse to letting players ride it out into free agency.
“In this game, unless you get to that free agency standpoint, and get a contract, and you’re fortunate enough to put a no-trade clause in there, then you’re good,” says Albernaz. “But outside of that, every player in that clubhouse – every player can be traded at any point.
“Which is the crazy business that we’re in.”
Crazy, competitive and often emotional. Perhaps never moreso than when bonds are broken, this time on the most ordinary of days – watch a movie, share some laughs – that instead jolted an organization.
“He’s someone who I’ve grown really close with, is gonna be in my wedding and someone I’m going to miss dearly on a day-to-day basis,” sasy Cowser. So that’s part of the human side, you know, that part that sucks.
“It’s not getting to see him every day. But you know, he’s going to do some great things and I’ll always be in his corner.
“But yeah, I’m going to miss him.”