Winners and losers of the MLB trade deadline

With Major League Baseball's trade deadline officially behind us, Jonah Birenbaum, theScore's senior MLB writer, breaks down the winners and losers from this season's final flurry of wheelings and dealings.

Winner: Houston Astros

The Astros could've easily rested on their laurels and stayed quiet at the deadline. They entered Wednesday all but guaranteed a third straight American League West title - FanGraphs had their division title odds pegged at 99.7 percent - and were more than equipped for another lengthy October run. Houston boasted the league's most potent offense, a devastating 1-2 punch atop the rotation, and an elite bullpen. In the most cynical terms, the team didn't need to spend significant money or relinquish major prospect capital to ensure postseason revenue. None of the American League's other presumptive playoff teams did those things ahead of Wednesday's deadline. The Astros did both.

Admirably - and, in this climate, uniquely - steadfast in their desire to win a World Series, the Astros made the biggest splash of the day, acquiring ace right-hander Zack Greinke from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for four prospects, three of whom project as future studs. Greinke, the former Cy Young winner who owns a 2.90 ERA through 23 starts in 2019, will now slide in behind Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole in the Astros' rotation, turning a great rotation into perhaps the best in the majors.

Next year, should the Astros fail to re-sign Cole, an impending free agent, Greinke should more than ably replace him. It should also be noted that by taking on most of the $70 million remaining on Greinke's contract, which runs through 2021, the Astros managed to acquire him without losing either of their top two prospects in outfielder Kyle Tucker and pitcher Forrest Whitley.

Had they only traded for Greinke, it would have been enough. More than enough, in fact. Again, they didn't have to do anything. But they also acquired two capable major-league arms from Toronto - the flawed-but-intriguing Aaron Sanchez along with Joe Biagini - for outfielder Derek Fisher.

Ultimately, in the plainest terms, the best team in the AL got significantly better Wednesday because that's what it set out to do. If every team cared as much about winning as the Astros - who, in fairness, blossomed into a dynasty only after a protracted tank - perhaps baseball wouldn't be hemorrhaging fans.

Loser: New York Yankees

To suggest the Yankees' rotation is in disarray would be putting it mildly. Over the last month, New York's uniformly scuffling starters have stumbled to a 6.23 ERA, worse than every team in the majors except the Tigers, Rangers, and Rockies. To compound the issue, the club lost veteran left-hander CC Sabathia to a knee injury last week. (Admittedly, that might be a blessing in disguise considering how he's pitched lately.) As such, the Yankees were widely expected to make a move for a starter. Plenty of names were bandied about, from Madison Bumgarner to Zack Wheeler to Robbie Ray, and all seemed plausible.

No expense is too great for the Yankees, and their prospect reserve, while not quite as impressive as it was a couple of years ago, still has plenty of names a rebuilding or re-tooling club would want. Moreover, they haven't won a World Series in a decade, nor claimed a division title since 2012. Seeing as they're in prime position to do both this year, deadline reinforcements seemed fait accompli. Yet, the only pitcher they acquired Wednesday was Alfredo Garcia. If you don't know who that is, you're not alone; Garcia, a 20-year-old left-hander, has yet to pitch above Low-A.

The Yankees, to put it bluntly, blew it. To be sure, they're still going to make the postseason, and they'll almost certainly get that elusive American League East title, but the prospect of heading into a postseason series with Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton, and maybe-if-he's-healthy Luis Severino really doesn't inspire much confidence at the moment. They can obviously still win the World Series as currently constituted, but the Yankees have the luxury of not having to leave things to chance. After all, they're the Yankees. Their inaction could well come back to bite them in October, especially considering the Astros' additions.

Winner: Cleveland Indians

It takes serious cojones to give up the best player in a trade - especially one with multiple years of control remaining - when you're three games out of first place, even when that player is as obnoxious as Trevor Bauer. But the reigning AL Central champs are better for it, both now and moving forward, after their three-way swap with the Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.

Their return is particularly impressive given how Bauer had undermined their leverage, intentionally or otherwise: The 28-year-old had made it clear he wouldn't sign an extension with Cleveland, preferring to ink successive one-year deals following the 2020 campaign, and his weekend ball-launching tantrum provided rival clubs with more ammunition to bring down his value.

Nevertheless, the Indians were able to address two holes by parting ways with the 2018 All-Star. They added Franmil Reyes, a solid DH who boasts a career 125 OPS+ and four additional years of control, and Yasiel Puig, a short-term upgrade in right field who's slashed .282/.338/.534 since May 3. Cleveland also picked up three prospects in the deal, one of whom - left-hander Logan Allen - blossomed into a Potential Guy with a breakout 2018 campaign in the upper minors.

Will they miss Bauer in their rotation down the stretch? Of course. He is, for all his faults, a stud on the mound. But the impending return of injured starters Corey Kluber and Danny Salazar, coupled with the emergence of Shane Bieber, could mitigate that loss. Meanwhile, the Indians upgraded multiple spots in their lineup while also expanding their long-term asset base.

Loser: Toronto Blue Jays

The timing of the Marcus Stroman trade seemed odd in real-time, and the decision to unload the ebullient right-hander three days before the deadline looks even worse in hindsight. Stroman undermined the Blue Jays' leverage in trade talks by refuting reports of a potential extension, but it's hard to believe the Blue Jays couldn't have coaxed a stronger haul from an actual contender if they'd waited until Wednesday. Instead, they shipped Stroman to the under-.500 Mets for two pitchers who weren't considered among the game's top 100 prospects coming into the 2019 campaign.

Waiting could have netted them a package more closely resembling, in terms of overall value, the bounty Cleveland landed for Bauer. Stroman isn't as good as Bauer, to be sure. But it still feels, in the wake of that deal, like the Blue Jays undersold on their biggest asset. Neither 24-year-old Anthony Kay nor 18-year-old Simeon Woods Richardson projects as a top-of-the-rotation arm, and the latter - widely considered the superior talent - comes, as all teenage pitching prospects do, with considerable risk.

It can't be overstated: The Blue Jays didn't need to trade Stroman. They could've waited two more days, until the offseason, or until next year's deadline. Holding out for a better offer would've also extended the Blue Jays' window to work out an extension with Stroman, who'd repeatedly expressed his desire to stay in Toronto. Instead, they jumped the market and discarded Stroman for a package that was, at least in the eyes of one rival club, "dog shit."

Winner: Atlanta Braves

The Braves' decision to sign starter Dallas Keuchel - not closer Craig Kimbrel - in June was curious. Their rotation, it seemed, was set, thanks to a breakout from Mike Soroka and a resurgence from Julio Teheran. The bullpen, though, was floundering. Through the first two months of the season, Atlanta's relief corps - which lost closer Arodys Vizcaino less than two weeks after Opening Day - ranked 20th in the majors in ERA (4.45), 22nd in WHIP (1.46), and 25th in FIP (4.89). Kimbrel, who spent the first half-decade of his illustrious career in Atlanta, seemed like a painfully obvious fit for a club chasing a second straight division title.

Two months later, the baseball world owes general manager Alex Anthopoulos a collective mea culpa. Clearly, the veteran executive knew relief help would be available at the deadline for an acquisition cost more palatable than the three-year, $43-million deal Kimbrel ultimately commanded from the Chicago Cubs. Anthopoulos instead landed Shane Greene, the top reliever on the market who remains under control through 2020, and veteran Mark Melancon. The cost for Greene was two middling prospects; for Melancon, a mid-level prospect and a fringe veteran. The Braves' bullpen is fortified not only for the stretch run and the playoffs but also for 2020. Their stranglehold over the National League East is now that much tighter.

Jonah Birenbaum is theScore's senior MLB writer. He steams a good ham. You can find him on Twitter @birenball.