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The buzzer is still ringing in the ears of 30 front offices across the land. The Major League Baseball trade deadline passed peacefully on Monday, and the time has come to anoint winners and losers.It is a fine and worthy ritual, and we strongly urge you to read our installment. That’s not why we’re right here in this space today, though.We’re only going to talk about the losers.It’s been an ugly season across the major leagues, with rampant mediocrity and clubs seemingly obsessed with programming an 84-win team that gives their fans modest hope while keeping their bosses’ balance sheets clean. All this comes against the backdrop of what could be a protracted labor battle that threatens the 2027 season.MLB has already signaled that it will take the winter meetings and hot stove season away from its fans; a lockout is imminent. Thus, this trade deadline was the last time fans could hope and wish that their team improved its chances with a whopping 50 games left in the season.Instead, many teams clustered in contention bade a hasty retreat.Rather than adding, or standing pat and improving on the margins, or matching up with clubs on a my-reliever-for-your-fifth-starter neutral trade, they traded franchise players and beloved All-Stars, or asked potential Hall of Famers if they could please waive a no-trade clause.It was an ugly look, befitting a loser mentality, threatening to boot encouraging presents into a hazy future and a land of prosperity that never seems to arrive. Let’s take a moment to disparage the losers:Detroit Tigers: LosersLet the record reflect that the Tigers were 2 1/2 games out of a playoff berth when the trade deadline arrived. That they won three games in a row after telegraphing their intentions by scratching No. 2 starter Casey Mize from his assignment.That Tarik Skubal led them on a glorious 31-13 finishing kick to roar into the playoffs, upset the Houston Astros and nearly reach the ALCS.Nah. Definitely wouldn’t want to have that much fun again, right?Tigers apologists will try to memory-hole the ’26 Tigers as having little chance this year, that they played poorly enough and Skubal was injured long enough that they had no choice but deal him to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a package that may help them in the long run but certainly is not the franchise-altering return one would expect for trading the greatest left-handed pitcher on the planet.Don’t let them do that.The Tigers chose to trade Tarik Skubal the way the Boston Red Sox chose to trade Mookie Betts. And let’s throw in Mize, too, while we’re at it.Detroit will insist no towel was thrown in and the players left – Jack Flaherty, for one, was not dealt, as he was in 2024 – can make a run at the playoffs. Maybe they’ll even get there. Yet the club became demonstrably worse Saturday night.And a team that had appointment viewing every five days just slinked even deeper into the great, gray mass that is the AL this season.Baltimore Orioles: LosersFunny how the Boston Red Sox gave up three of their best prospects to acquire Adley Rutschman from Baltimore on the same day they traded once-top prospect Marcelo Mayer to San Francisco.It seems like yesterday the Red Sox boasted a “big four” prospect group of shortstop Mayer, outfielder Roman Anthony, catcher Kyle Teel and infielder Kristian Campbell.Well, Mayer is gone, Anthony and Teel – now a White Sox - can’t stay healthy and Campbell is buried in the minor leagues after signing a multi-year contract. Almost like the Red Sox decided selling hope and dreams isn’t as good as seizing a moment.That’s a lesson to be learned in Baltimore, where club president Mike Elias fielded some of the worst teams you’ve ever seen in 2019 and 2021 in service of gleaning top talent through the draft.Rutschman was the bell cow who grew from first overall pick to three-time All-Star. And now that he’s approaching free agency, he’s gone.This was a gut punch to Orioles fans who averted their eyes through those lean years and bought into brighter days, which came with a 101-win season in 2023 and a playoff appearance the next. Yet five postseason losses and zero wins in those campaigns preceded two desultory seasons, though the Orioles entered deadline day, like Detroit, just 2 ½ games out of a playoff berth.No matter. Rutschman, whose engaging smile and pump-them-up hugs with his pitchers brought sunlight after so many dark years in Baltimore, is a goner. Never mind that heir apparent Samuel Basallo also seems injury prone, or that both of them are playable at catcher and DH, a combo that would have worked nicely in 2027, too.Along the way, they dealt closer Tyler Wells – who toggled between roles for years before settling in nicely as their closer of late – to Tampa Bay and walk-happy, power-challenged outfielder Taylor Ward to Seattle. Two rebuild survivors, traded within the division. Wells and former Oriole Bryan Baker will make a nice late-inning combo in Tampa Bay. Perhaps they can ship some cigars to Eutaw Street as a thank-you.The Orioles received a laudable package for Rutschman – top pitching prospects Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon, who throw the hell out of the ball but have SEC mileage on their arms. Minor league outfielder Enddy Azocar is a potential superstar. He is also 19.Perhaps indicative of the market’s exhaustion with collecting assets rather than championships, Elias, meeting with the media on a 29-minute video call, was not asked a single question about the incoming prospects. Instead, he pointed to Rutschman’s lack of a contract extension and the year and a half remaining on his deal, as if the world would implode should he not get traded before then.“This is part of running a baseball organization,” says Elias. “Sometimes at deadline time, you have to sell off guys, particularly as they get near their contractual control.”Well, just like the Tigers, you don’t have to do anything. There is no pennant for asset maximization.Just one good week away from getting into playoff contention, the Orioles are instead selling the future. Again. This time, Orioles fans seem far more likelier to vote with their feet.Texas Rangers: LosersThey have spent 37 days in first place, most recently in that ancient period of time known as July 30, 2026. Sounds like a perfect time to ask Jacob deGrom to waive his no-trade clause!Yes, this is the mentality of the modern franchise: A ballclub will bob up and down with the currents and tides and, if the boat is dipping just a little bit at the magic date on the calendar known as the trade deadline, it’s like they’re a bunch of bums.So it went in Arlington, where the Texas Rangers still draw decent crowds to their sterile ballpark and this year have fielded their best team since winning the World Series in 2023. At deadline time, they were just 2 ½ games back in the West, 1 ½ back of the wild card.Some teams would kill to have two races to run. This one asked a potential future Hall of Famer if he’d be willing to get shipped out. Jacob deGrom said, hell no.“I want to win here,” he said, per the Dallas Morning News. “I signed to win here. We can win.”Whoa, there, pallie! Not so fast. There’s payroll to clear, assets to collect.Per multiple reports, the Rangers also talked to clubs about right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, who won them that World Series and has only been a franchise stalwart ever since. Those dudes are owed a ton of money, so you can see the Rangers’ motivation.They’re also not living quite as high on the TV rights hog as they were when they signed deGrom before the 2023 season. A penny saved, a penny earned, things of that nature.Yet the Rangers should know how fleeting these windows are. It took the franchise 62 seasons to win a World Series, and two lackluster seasons followed. DeGrom didn’t contribute to that title due to elbow surgery.Perhaps he’ll have an outsize contribution to this bid simply by saying, “No. Let’s try to be winners.”
