Most Deadline acquisitions aren’t stars – they’re platoon bats, middle relievers and fourth starters who solve specific weaknesses. They are the types of additions that can help a club today without sacrificing too much of tomorrow.
The following are six under-the-radar players whose markets may be quieter than their eventual impact.
(All stats below are through Wednesday’s games.)
There are relatively unknown players and then there are setup men on the Marlins.
Petersen is not exactly a household name, and he’s not even the most commonly cited Marlins reliever potentially on the trade block — that’s closer Pete Fairbanks. Petersen is even more obscure because he’s the only active Major Leaguer born in Great Britain.
The 32-year-old Petersen may not be well known — he toiled in the Minors for a decade after the Brewers took him in the 17th round of the 2015 Draft — but he’s been an excellent reliever this year. He owns a 2.84 ERA and stellar 18% K-BB% this season. While he’s long been able to miss bats, his strikeout rate is up to an elite 29% mark (89th percentile) and is supported by Stuff+ (112), Command+ (103), and Pitching+ (114) marks that are all above average. This is a legitimate breakout story.
Petersen is not the type of reliever who is a lock to move. For one thing, the Marlins are not clear-cut sellers. For another, he has considerably more club control than most trade candidates, as he’s not due to reach free agency until after the 2031 season. But he’s also 32 years old already, so an opportunistic Marlins front office could take advantage of his spike in value.
Ramos is one of the greatest positive-regression candidates likely available. His expected metrics remain excellent despite modest production, and Oracle Park has historically suppressed his offense. A contender acquiring him isn’t just buying a league-average outfielder (103 wRC+) — it’s buying the possibility that his production catches up to his quality of contact.
Ramos sits at the 91st percentile in barrel rate (14.4%). His average exit velocity is 92.3 mph (90th percentile) and his expected slugging percentage (83rd percentile — .470) is also excellent. While he’s missed time with injury, too, his actual stats fall far short of what we would expect based upon his underlying ability. He’s homered just nine times in 289 plate appearances and is slugging a pedestrian .436.
He’s also been somewhat unlucky in his environment. Ramos owns a 110 career wRC+ on the road compared to 103 at Oracle Park. That is extremely unusual, as most hitters benefit from a friendlier strike zone, and familiar hitting environments, at their home ballparks. (That’s in addition to new-age benefits, like teams having access to Trajekt hitting machines at home.)
But for Ramos, there’s been no such home-field advantage. It suggests that he could really benefit from a change of scenery. He also isn’t due to become a free agent until after the 2029 season.
It’s nearly impossible to put up attractive surface-level numbers as a pitcher at Coors Field, but Senzatela is a different player with his move to the bullpen in 2026, after nine seasons spent almost entirely as a starter for the Rockies. His average fastball velocity is up to 97 mph, with his four-seamer and his new cutter as his best pitches. In fact, there’s a case to be made that he should reduce his fairly diverse arsenal as a reliever to just his three best offerings.
Senzatela’s overall season numbers are fine but nothing special: a 3.66 ERA, 3.57 expected ERA and 13% K-BB%. Those numbers don’t immediately scream “late-inning weapon.”
But consider what Senzatela has done on the road. Away from mile-high altitude, he’s limited opponents to a .238/.313/.337 slash line. That profile can help any contender’s bullpen. It’s also worth remembering that while much of the discussion around the Coors “hangover effect” focuses on Rockies hitters, pitchers also face the challenge of constantly recalibrating how their stuff plays away from Denver.
Senzatela’s pitch-level metrics hint at even more upside, as his Stuff+ (103), Location+ (108) and Pitching+ (107) are all above average. A different club can perhaps coax even more performance out of his skillset.
The Rockies will almost certainly move him, as he’s on a short-term deal with a $14 million club option for next season. There will be bigger bullpen names moved at the Deadline, but Senzatela might be even better than what his numbers suggest.
The most sought-after arms at the Deadline are impact starting pitchers. Tarik Skubal is the headline name, with arms like Kevin Gausman, Reid Detmers and Trevor Rogers a tier or two below.
While Singer might not be the type of arm a club prefers to start a postseason game, he is the type of durable innings-eater who can help bolster a rotation to get a team to the postseason. Quietly, over the past month, even while pitching his home games at Great American Ball Park, he’s tied for 26th among pitchers in fWAR, in addition to posting a 2.37 ERA. During that stretch, he has one of the most valuable sliders in baseball, by run value.
As a pending free agent whose rough beginning to the season (6.18 ERA through May) is still weighing down his overall line, Singer is one of the more affordable arms available that can help a club. He may not headline the Deadline, but he’ll help someone win games in August and September.
At worst, Thomas can be a lefty-mashing platoon outfielder on a contender (125 wRC+ against lefties this season). But he’s well-rounded enough that he can also slide lower into the lineup against right-handed pitching.
Thomas remains one of the more underrated all-around athletes in baseball. He ranks in the 96th percentile in arm value and in the 92nd percentile in sprint speed, and he pairs that with excellent swing decisions, as evidenced by a 96th-percentile chase rate and 81st-percentile walk rate.
He’s also pulling the ball in the air more than at any point since 2020, posting an above-average 26% air-pull rate, hinting at additional offensive upside. Thomas can impact a game in a number of ways and as a free agent after this season, he should be affordable to acquire.
The Mets are expected to be sellers, with much of the focus centered around the likes of starters Freddy Peralta and Clay Holmes, as well as relievers Luke Weaver and Devin Williams.
But Torrens is quietly another player who could help a contender with catching needs, and he doesn’t have a pathway to starter-level playing time, with Francisco Alvarez locked in as the No. 1 catcher in New York.
Torrens is not going to help much offensively (.636 career OPS), but he is an elite defender who ranks first in Defensive Runs Saved (+12) and tied for third in Statcast’s Fielding Runs Value (+9) at catcher. And that’s despite ranking 21st in innings caught this season. Torrens also ranks in the 90th percentile or better in pop time, caught stealing above average and pitch framing, and he’s an above-average pitch blocker.
If a team is going to sacrifice offense for defense at one position, catcher is the place to do so. It’s a position where total defensive value is incredibly important, and not all of the value is publicly quantified. (There are also duties as a pitch-caller, game-planner and in-game psychologist). Torrens can help a club more than might be expected, and he’s signed to an affordable contract that runs through 2028.
