According to sources, the 2026 Major League Baseball trade deadline turned into one of the most fascinating in years, with every team in playoff contention making at least one move. The story notes exceptions: the Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles traded away their two biggest names rather than buying, and the deadline featured just one big superstar who was traded.
Despite a high-profile addition, the Los Angeles Dodgers have not clinched the World Series, according to the report. The Dodgers’ acquisition of reigning two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal earned the David Cone Award in the deadline recap, placing him among the all-time deadline rentals.
The piece lists the top five starting-pitcher rentals since David Cone helped popularize deadline deals: Randy Johnson from the Seattle Mariners to the Houston Astros in 1998; CC Sabathia from Cleveland to the Milwaukee Brewers in 2008; Cliff Lee from the Mariners to the Texas Rangers in 2010; Jon Lester from the Boston Red Sox to the Oakland Athletics in 2014; and Max Scherzer from the Washington Nationals to the Dodgers in 2021. The report details each pitcher’s regular-season production with their new teams and notes the postseason results for those clubs.
The story adds context by naming other notable rentals such as David Price to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2015 and Zack Greinke to the Los Angeles Angels in 2012, and it mentions Johnny Cueto’s 2015 move to the Kansas City Royals. The article summarizes that, among the prominent rental aces discussed, none of the five primary examples produced a World Series title (0-for-7), though the total can be stretched to 1-for-8 if Cueto is included.
The deadline recap also hands out the Philippe Petit Risk-Taking Award to Craig Breslow and notes that, according to the report, the Boston Red Sox entered deadline day in third place in the American League East — five games behind the Tampa Bay Rays and 2½ games behind the New York Yankees.
