It's been only one week since the MLB trade deadline, but first impressions are important, and plenty of new faces around the league have introduced themselves to their new squads with their play – for better or worse. For contending teams, that means seeing how these additions can boost the lineup, rotation or bullpen as the stakes increase with October approaching. For clubs that have fallen out of the mix, this time of the season brings opportunities for new names to establish themselves as pieces for the future.
This week's power rankings take a look at how the players who changed threads at the deadline have fared so far and speculate on their roles for their new clubs moving forward, whether that's for the postseason race or for next season and beyond.
AL East: Rays | Yankees | Red Sox | Orioles | Blue Jays
AL Central: White Sox | Twins | Tigers | Guardians | Royals
AL West: Astros | Rangers | Mariners | Athletics | Angels
NL East: Braves | Phillies | Marlins | Nationals | Mets
NL Central: Brewers | Cubs | Cardinals | Pirates | Reds
NL West: Dodgers | Diamondbacks | Padres | Giants | Rockies
With the Brewers having reportedly finished runners-up in the Tarik Skubal sweepstakes, right-hander Dustin May becomes a lot more compelling as Milwaukee's lone rotation reinforcement as the team pushes for the best record in MLB. May turned in a quality start in his Brewers debut, including a notable uptick in cutter usage. Given his plus velocity and deep pitch mix, it'll be interesting to see how the Brewers remix May's repertoire, especially if they're counting on him to be part of the postseason rotation.
Colorado and Sacramento weren't the friendliest venues for Freddy Peralta to make his first two starts as a Ray, but the right-hander bounced back from a rough one at Coors Field (3 ⅔ IP, 7 ER) with solid six innings against the A's – his longest outing since June 9. Arguably no team/player pairing has more to gain down the stretch than Peralta with his new club as he tries to rejuvenate his value heading into free agency and Tampa Bay pushes for the pennant. Also, catcher Liam Hicks hit a grand slam in his Rays debut, and reliever Tyler Wells has already struck out eight across 4 ⅓ scoreless innings. Arguably no team improved its roster in multiple facets more than Tampa Bay, and it's showing so far.
The Dodgers rallied to get Tarik Skubal off the hook on Monday, but in his first two starts with his new team, the ace lefty was good, not great. There's bound to be an adjustment period for Skubal as he settles into his new surroundings, and one interesting element of that will be his batterymates. With L.A.'s lead catching duo of Will Smith and Dalton Rushing both on the injured list and not expected back anytime soon, the pressure is on Ben Rortvedt and Hunter Feduccia — both acquired at the deadline — to support not only Skubal's transition to Los Angeles but also the rest of the star-studded pitching staff as the Dodgers push for one of the top two seeds in the NL postseason field.
With outfielder Lane Thomas likely relegated to a part-time role and reliever Brent Suter suited for lower-leverage situations, the post-deadline focus for Atlanta is veteran right-hander Tyler Mahle. Despite the Braves' reported pursuits of Skubal and Jacob deGrom in trade talks, Mahle ended up being the lone reinforcement for Atlanta's injury-ravaged rotation. While he made a brilliant first impression, with six scoreless innings at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, Mahle has a lot to prove now pitching for a contender after an underwhelming few months in San Francisco.
The Cubs desperately needed to add pitching at the deadline and did exactly that, reeling in two starters in Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes, plus a hard-throwing reliever in Ryan Zeferjahn. Gausman was rock-solid in his Cubs debut, completing seven innings for just the second time this season in a win Friday in Kansas City. Holmes was less stellar, allowing four runs across four innings in a loss the next day, but that was his first major-league outing after he missed nearly three months due to a right fibula fracture, so let's see how he rounds back into form.
With Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton all on the injured list, the Yankees opted to upgrade their lineup at the deadline rather than bolster their pitching staff, landing two talented hitters in Luis Garcia Jr. and Heliot Ramos. Garcia electrified the Bronx crowd with a go-ahead blast in his Yankees debut, but the bullpen went on to blow that game, and neither Garcia nor Ramos has done much with the bat since (though Garcia made quite the catch over the weekend). As with any Yankees deadline addition, a balanced diet of hype and scrutiny will likely follow these players in the coming months.
Adley Rutschman's highly anticipated (and utterly fascinating) Boston debut is on deck with his activation from the injured list. Meanwhile, the Red Sox will wait for Curtis Mead to return from a broken wrist suffered July 27 on a hit-by-pitch in his first game with the team. Another promising development: Hard-throwing lefty Erik Miller, acquired from San Francisco for former top prospect Marcelo Mayer, looks capable of supercharging a bullpen that already features two of the best relievers in the AL in Aroldis Chapman and Garrett Whitlock.