Five Observations From An Unprecedented 2020 Trade Deadline

1. The deadline was busier than expected, but still less than usual.

The trade deadline was far from quiet, but there were still fewer deals completed compared to previous seasons. Last year, first season of a hard trade deadline and no waiver trades, there were 51 trades made the week of the deadline, including 33 on deadline day alone. This year, there were 33 trades made during deadline week, including 20 officially completed on deadline day.

2. Lots of players will be named later

Teams were only allowed to trade players in their 60-man player pool, but one workaround was teams could trade players outside the pool as players to be named later. Many teams took that route, with 25 players to be named later dealt during deadline week. In some cases, the identity of the player to be named later is known but cannot be officially announced. Players who aren’t on 60-man rosters can only be officially traded once minor league contracts are no longer suspended by the Commissioner. (They were suspended when a national emergency was declared in March). PTBNL’s have to be named within six months of being traded and MLB has yet to extend that deadline, so clubs are betting minor league contracts will no longer be suspended by February 2021.

3. Eight teams controlled the action

Of the 33 trades made during deadline week, all but eight involved the Padres, Blue Jays, Cubs, Reds, Mariners, D-backs, Rangers and/or Orioles. The Padres (six trades) and Blue Jays (five) were the biggest buyers, while the Mariners (four) and D-backs (four) were the biggest sellers. With 20 of the 30 teams entering the day within two games of a playoff spot, the pool of potential buyers was significantly larger than that of sellers.

4. Young big leaguers took the place of top-tier prospects in trades

With teams unable to scout alternate training sites, many sellers opted for young big leaguers—for whom better video and data is available—over prospects at the top of their trade packages. Cal Quantrill, Josh Naylor, Caleb Smith and Franklin Barreto are no longer prospects, but all topped trade packages as young big leaguers with room to grow. Of the named prospects traded, one-third (7 of 21) have major league experience. Taylor Trammell was the only Top 100 prospect traded.

5. Everybody always wants pitching

Of the 33 trades made, 21 involved at least one pitcher—and that number will surely rise with so many players still to be named. That included All-Star starters (Mike Clevinger, Robbie Ray, Mike Minor), shutdown relievers (Trevor Rosenthal, Archie Bradley, David Phelps) and a whole host of prospects and big leaguers in between.  While some big bats did move (Starling Marte, Mitch Moreland) pitching was the focal point of the deadline.