Among that flurry, it could be easy to overlook some of the quieter moves that may have gotten lost in the shuffle, but could end up making rather huge differences down the stretch and, especially, in the postseason. Here’s a look at five players who switched teams on Deadline Day who may turn out to be, when all is said and done, among the most impactful names to change addresses.
This season has widely been seen as a disappointment for Adell, who had 37 homers, 98 RBIs and a .778 OPS in 2025. He only went deep 16 times for the Angels this year, with his OPS down almost 100 points. He also — highlight-reel plays aside — has seen a defensive slip, and his walk rate has dropped two full points.
But it should be noted that Adell still has one of the fastest bats in the entire sport, and he has been crushing left-handed pitching (.910 OPS this year). That makes him sound like a platoon player, but it should be said that those 16 homers would still make him the team leader for the Guardians, had he been with the team all year. The Guardians desperately, profoundly need power, and Adell, when he’s on, can very much provide that. The prospect pedigree showed up last year. It could show up again down the stretch.
Yeah, so the Dodgers got another left-handed starter who made an All-Star team out of the AL Central last year. Bubic hasn’t pitched since the middle of May and hasn’t even started a rehab assignment yet, so there wasn’t any reason for the last-place Royals to keep him around. But he could be an incredible weapon for the Dodgers come the postseason.
Bubic was a starter last year for the Royals — and an excellent one, posting a 2.55 ERA over 20 starts. But he had been an effective reliever before that (2.67 ERA and 39 K’s in 30 1/3 innings in 2024), which makes him ideal for a potential swingman role in October. The Dodgers are happy to let him take his time rehabbing as long as he’s ready for the postseason.
If he’s not, heck, no big deal: The Dodgers didn’t give up much, he’s a free agent this offseason and they have tons of lefties already. But if he can work his way back to anything close to what he was last year … the Dodgers may have just added their version of vintage postseason Andrew Miller.
Heliot Ramos might be the bigger name, with an All-Star selection to his credit, and there’s reason to think his numbers will improve when he ditches Oracle Park for Yankee Stadium. But I’m not sure enough people realize just how good García has been for Washington this year. His underlying numbers have been impressive for a few years now, but this was the year it came together for him. He has 24 homers after going deep in his pinstriped debut — that would be second on the Yankees behind Ben Rice — and, if you can believe this, he actually came into the Trade Deadline first in the National League in slugging.
Sure, a lot of that is because the Nationals generally protected him against lefties — he had only 55 at-bats against lefties this year and hit .218 — but that just speaks to how nuts he has gone against righties, smashing them to the tune of a .918 OPS. That’s particularly impressive because of how rarely he walks: just 14 walks in 317 plate appearances against righties.
García chases too much and he’s not a great defensive first baseman, but neither one of those things is an issue for the Yankees. I bet he leads the Yankees in homers over the rest of the season and makes them a terrifying matchup against righties in the postseason. Remember when Luke Voit showed up in the Bronx in 2019 and 2020 and just launched baseballs all over the place? García is that, but from the other side of the plate.
All the underlying metrics have argued that Nootbaar — who possesses a terrific batting eye — has been about to have a breakout season for a few years now, but it has never quite happened. Injuries got in the way the last couple of years, really since his breakout in the World Baseball Classic four years ago, and he had surgery on both of his heels this past offseason. It took him a while to return, and while he has struggled of late (hitting .169 in July), he still provides on-base ability, especially against right-handed pitching.
Perhaps most importantly, Nootbaar has looked fast and nimble in the field. He can play center field in a pinch but is an excellent corner outfielder, and, seriously, that breakout has to happen at some point. He’s under team control through next season, so the D-backs have this year and next year to find out.
The Pirates obviously needed bullpen help badly, which is why they brought in so much of it, with Weaver, Kirby Yates and Lake Bachar joining Camilo Doval, who was acquired Saturday. But forget the quantity: Since Mason Miller didn’t move, it’s possible the best reliever anyone got at the Deadline was Weaver.
The Mets’ season being such a disappointment has distracted from how terrific Weaver has been. This has been the best season of his career — and remember, this was once the Yankees’ postseason savior — with a 1.84 ERA and a miniscule walk rate. The key to his success has been keeping the ball in the park, giving up just three homers in 44 innings. The Pirates were so desperate for a reliever, and the Mets struggling so badly this year, that it feels like it has almost gone unnoticed that Pirates may have gotten the guy.
