The 3 Most Impactful Acquisitions at the 2023 MLB Trade Deadline
The Major League Baseball (MLB) trade deadline is the cutoff date for teams to make in-season transactions. Typically, teams in the playoff hunt deal minor league players and prospects for veteran depth, while teams outside of the playoff picture look to acquire younger players to build up their farm systems.
Teams completed dozens of trades in the days leading up to the 2023 MLB trade deadline on August 1 at 6 p.m. ET. Below is a look at three of the most notable transactions.
Justin Verlander Returns to Houston
The Houston Astros acquired three-time Cy Young winner Justin Verlander from the New York Mets in exchange for minor league outfielders Ryan Clifford and Drew Gilbert, Houston's top two prospects in the MLB Pipeline rankings. An 18-year veteran, Verlander won the Cy Young with the Astros last season, leading all American League (AL) pitchers with 18 wins and a 1.75 earned-run average (ERA), but opted to sign with the Mets in the off-season. He had a 6-5 record to go along with a 3.15 ERA through 16 starts before the trade.
The Astros paid a considerable price to get Verlander, and it was a risky gamble at the time considering the team was just a half-game back of the Texas Rangers for first place in the AL West and several of its starting pitchers were injured.
Texas Rangers Acquire Max Scherzer
Hoping to keep ahead of the Astros, the Rangers also acquired a former Cy Young winner in Max Scherzer. Texas sent minor league player Luisangel Acuña, the younger brother of Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr., to the Mets in exchange for Scherzer, who won three Cy Youngs from 2013 to 2017. Although not as dominant as he once was, Scherzer had a 9-4 record, 4.01 ERA, and 121 strikeouts through 107.2 innings pitched prior to the trade.
Acuña, meanwhile, is a player with decent potential. The 21-year-old infielder was hitting .315 with seven home runs and 51 RBI through 84 games with Texas' Double-A affiliate prior to the trade. He was MLB's 71st-best prospect before the start of the 2023 season.
Cleveland Guardians Deal Aaron Civale
In another major deal involving a starting pitcher, the Tampa Bay Rays acquired Aaron Civale from the Cleveland Guardians for minor league first baseman Kyle Manzardo. Cleveland was just a half-game out of first place in the AL Central at the time of the trade, but most of its other starting pitchers, including Triston McKenzie and Shane Bieber, had been sidelined with injury.
Civale, who is still under contract for another two seasons, has dealt with his own injury troubles in the past. He missed two months this season with an oblique injury and has yet to pitch more than 130 innings in a season.