The Los Angeles Dodgers landed perhaps the best pitcher in baseball in Tarik Skubal, triggering another round of disgust over how the two-time defending champions seem to get every star they want. Bryce Harper — who might have to go through the Dodgers to reach the World Series with Philadelphia — was having none of it. “A lot of teams could have done what they did,” Harper said. “That’s not a money move, that’s a prospect move, right? There’s a lot of teams in baseball that have the prospects to move them.” By the time Monday’s trade deadline passed, the Dodgers had taken their big swing, and the Boston Red Sox had thrown caution to the wind, sending prospects every which way to acquire Adley Rutschman and others. Other contenders, however, took a more tepid approach. Milwaukee added right-hander Dustin May. The New York Yankees made a solid pickup in infielder Luis García Jr., but general manager Brian Cashman said they tried for Skubal and Rutschman and didn’t get either. Atlanta was fairly quiet. Near the postseason cutoff, a few teams acted like they were much further behind. Detroit is 2 1/2 games out of a playoff spot and just 5 1/2 out of first place in the AL Central. The Tigers have the second-best run differential in the American League but still parted with Skubal and right-hander Casey Mize. Baltimore is also 2 1/2 games out of a wild card, and July was its most successful month in over two years. But the Orioles traded Rutschman, starter Dean Kremer, outfielder Taylor Ward and reliever Tyler Wells. They got a lot back for Rutschman — three of Boston’s top five prospects according to MLB Pipeline — but didn’t add many players likely to help this year. “This is not the plan that we had going into the season,” team president Mike Elias said. “I wish that we were in a better position in the standings right now. This is not something that we embrace, but once you find yourself in these positions, you make the right moves by the franchise.” Miami won six in a row, lost 12 in a row, then won six of seven. The Marlins are two games out of a playoff spot but traded catcher Liam Hicks to Tampa Bay for prospects. Here’s a division-by-division look at this year’s deadline: AL East TAMPA BAY will hope Freddy Peralta can find his form after posting a 4.99 ERA this season for the New York Mets. In addition to García, the YANKEES added outfielder Heliot Ramos, but Aaron Judge’s health is probably going to be the biggest factor down the stretch for New York, and this deadline did nothing to change that reality. The vibes are good in BOSTON thanks to a recent 15-game winning streak, and now the Red Sox bring in a new All-Star in Rutschman, But for Boston fans of a certain age, trading shortstop Marcelo Mayer — the No. 4 overall draft pick in 2021 — for San Francisco reliever Erik Miller might stir unpleasant memories of Jeff Bagwell for Larry Andersen. It’s not a shock that BALTIMORE traded Rutschman less than two years from free agency, especially given what Boston was offering. The same could eventually happen with Gunnar Henderson. What’s hard to swallow for Orioles fans is that they only enjoyed two good seasons before it occurred. Last-place TORONTO balanced buying and selling more than the Orioles, dealing right-hander Kevin Gausman away but replacing him with the much younger José Soriano. AL Central The WHITE SOX made a splash by trading for Luis Castillo. But he hasn’t been good this year, going 3-9 with a 5.06 ERA for Seattle. CLEVELAND is barely holding on to a wild-card spot but made an honest effort to stay afloat by adding slugger Jo Adell and pitcher Foster Griffin. MINNESOTA was also looking to buy at the deadline. That amounted to adding Kremer from the Orioles, plus a couple pricey relievers in A.J. Minter and Jeff Hoffman. Don’t totally write off DETROIT yet. The Tigers made the playoffs after selling at the deadline two years ago. Probably not happening this season, however. Not only did they shed Skubal and Mize, they also failed to improve their bullpen. KANSAS CITY was an obvious seller, but Lane Thomas and Kris Bubic could only bring back so much. AL West HOUSTON is now in first place but just two games over .500. The Astros acquired Daulton Varsho, a good defensive outfielder, and will keep relying on Yordan Alvarez to provide the offense. Jacob deGrom said he wanted to stay with TEXAS, and if there were any plans for the Rangers to be big sellers, they didn’t come to fruition. Texas lost its sixth straight game Monday night but is still just two games out of a wild card. SEATTLE has plenty of pitching even after trading Castillo, and there’s time for the Mariners to claw back into a playoff spot. The ATHLETICS have fallen apart lately and did almost nothing at the deadline. The ANGELS were much more active, dealing Soriano, Adell, Ryan Zeferjahn and Kirby Yates. They acquired infielder Arjun Nimmala, a 2023 first-round pick, from Toronto. NL East ATLANTA leads the division comfortably and largely stood pat, acquiring Thomas from the Royals and right-hander Tyler Mahle from San Francisco. PHILADELPHIA made one of the biggest additions Monday by trading for three-time batting champ Luis Arraez, a move that will shift Bryce Harper back to the outfield. MIAMI has two playoff berths in the last 20 years and isn’t exactly pulling out all the stops to make it this season. WASHINGTON was surprisingly in the playoff race and made a pretty standard hitting-for-pitching swap when it sent Curtis Mead to Boston for Connelly Early two weekends ago. Now the Nationals have lost six straight and sold at the deadline, dealing Garcia and Griffin. The METS were obviously going to be sellers and parted ways with Minter, Peralta, Clay Holmes and Luke Weaver. NL Central Perhaps MILWAUKEE was hesitant to give up a big package of prospects to rent Skubal for three months, but watching him go to the Dodgers couldn’t have been pleasant. The CUBS also did more than the Brewers, adding Gausman, Holmes and Zeferjahn to their pitching staff. PITTSBURGH added Weaver, Yates and Camilo Doval to its bullpen. ST. LOUIS traded May and reliever JoJo Romero within the division to the Brewers, and CINCINNATI traded Nathaniel Lowe within the state to Cleveland. NL West Even after trading for Skubal, the DODGERS have seven prospects in MLB Pipeline’s top 100. ARIZONA mostly stood pat but did add outfielder Lars Nootbaar. SAN DIEGO was unusually quiet before landing Mize. Robbie Ray also joins the Padres’ pitching staff. SAN FRANCISCO had a busy week, selling off Arraez, Mahle, Ray, Miller and Ramos. The Giants will hope the Red Sox moved on from Mayer too quickly. COLORADO added infielder Connor Norby, who was once a solid prospect for the Orioles but never really took off after being dealt to Miami. ___ Noah Trister, The Associated Press
