Labar: A Look at the Most Impactful Players of the MLB Trade Deadline

By Abby Labar
Sportmoney Columnist

With my first official MLB trade deadline passing, of course I wanted to focus on the hot topics coming off of the crucial moves that were made as we head into the final stretch of the season. But it’s important to me to try and provide a unique angle that can spark a conversation that not everyone’s talking about or highlighting. 

After hanging out with some MLB Network colleagues on Tuesday as we all were covering and watching the deadline closely, I got to talking with my good friend Taylor McGregor, who in addition to MLB Network is the Cubs Host/Reporter. While tossing around ideas of what’s not being talked about enough, we got on the topic of “most impactful players.” I thought this was an especially fitting topic to dive into coming off of a deadline where a lot of really big names were left on the board — like Garrett Crochet, Vladdy Guerro Jr., Blake Snell, among others. 

Now before we dive in, let me clarify what “impactful” means here. I’m not talking about the biggest names or the best players. I’m talking about the player that brings the tangibles and the intangibles, the one that’s going to fit into what the team needs on the field as well as bring what’s needed into the clubhouse. I know it’s hard to measure the intangibles, but that's what my experts are for, especially the former players who can get a better read beyond the stats on what a specific player can bring. 

Ahead of the deadline, my MLB Network colleague Jake Peavy, a World Series champ and Cy Young Award winner, brought an interesting perspective to MLB Tonight as somebody who’s been inside a winning clubhouse. Peavy said there are certain players that can make a team feel this newfound energy and confidence to win as soon as they walk into the clubhouse. There are guys that can make that statement by simply being added to a team that sends a certain message to the rest of the group. 

The numbers back it up too– according to the MLB Network research department, the last time a team didn’t make a single trade and went on to win the World Series was the 1998 New York Yankees. So for the fans that are upset that their team didn’t go out and make “the big splash” you were hoping for, all 30 teams made some sort of move this year, so whether a buyer or a seller, a contender or prepping for a rebuild, have some hope and optimism that it’s all for a positive future. 

With all of that being said, here is what some of my MLB Network experts shared about their thoughts on the most impactful players on their new teams:

• Taylor McGregor — Carlos Estevez to the Phillies: “The Phillies are a team that we knew would be making minor moves to make an already good team great. It’s hard to find weaknesses but one crucial weakness was in their bullpen when it came to walking guys. Estevez is a true ninth inning guy and when you’re looking ahead to the postseason, one walk in a late inning could be the difference in the series.

• Gregg Caserta — Tanner Scott to the Padres: “I’m scared of the Padres right now. If Musgrove comes back healthy to pair with Cease and Michael King, that rotation bridges to a bullpen that's arguably the best in the NL. If the starters give you five, Mike Shildt can cover 12 outs with Scott, Jason Adam, Jeremiah Estrada and Robert Suarez. Nasty.

• Greg Amsinger — Tommy Pham to the Cardinals: “Pham has an edge that the Cardinals have been lacking. He doesn’t want to beat the opponent, he wants to fight the opponent for an entire series sweep. There’s an aggression he has that is special.”

As for my pick? I personally love Jazz Chisholm, Jr. with the Yankees. I know I know, he’s one of the hottest topics just days after the trade, but it’s not like he was one of the star players we had our eyes on leading up to the deadline. The Yankees had seven guys staring at two. Aaron Judge and Juan Soto have been such huge players, they needed a guy like Jazz Chisholm to come in and play like a superstar, with that confident edge.

Chisholm’s numbers aren’t astronomically setting him apart, but this is a player that you can feel has those intangibles, that swagger and that energy that a team needs as they go long into the groundhog days of the postseason.