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 meant 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:
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