In a typical season, the Trade Deadline will be 4:00 pm ET on July 31 and is the last point during the regular season at which players can be traded from one club to another.
History
The trade deadline was first put into place after the 1922 season when the New York Yankees traded for Joe Dugan very late in the season which helped them win the AL Pennant.
During the off-season, Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis (yes, that is his real name) enacted a trading deadline, to ensure teams couldn’t simply wait until late in the season to trade for a playoff-impacting player.
2019 Rule Change
Prior to 2019, July 31 was referred to as the non-waiver Trade Deadline, and players could be traded after that date if they first cleared revocable trade waivers. A player placed on revocable waivers could be claimed by any team, who would assume the player’s current contract.
The player’s original club had three options when a waiver claim was placed: It could either work out a standard trade with the claiming club (the two sides had 48 hours to agree to a deal), allow the player — and all money remaining on his contract — to go to the claiming club with no return, or pull the player back off waivers.
A player who was pulled back off waivers could be placed on trade waivers a second time, but at that point the waiver request became irrevocable. If a player passed through waivers unclaimed, he could then be traded to any club, free of restriction (though all 40-man-roster players in the trade had to clear waivers before being dealt).
Although trades could be completed after Aug. 31 under the old rules, the last day in August was sometimes referred to as the “waiver Trade Deadline,” as players acquired after that date were ineligible to be added to the postseason roster by their new teams.
As of 2019, the July 31 Trade Deadline is the only trade deadline. Players may still be placed and claimed on outright waivers after July 31, but trades will no longer be permitted after that date. With regards to newly acquired players, the Aug. 31 postseason roster deadline remains in effect.
Strategy
The trade deadline has become a time for teams who are out of the playoffs to trade away expensive players for prospects and salary relief as they retool their major and minor league rosters.
Players who have expiring contracts and are expected to become free agents are sometimes “rented” (traded) to a contender as they attempt to solidify their playoff rosters and make a push for the World Series.
One example of such a deal is the 2016 trade between the New York Yankees, a team that was well out of the playoff picture, and the Chicago Cubs, a team that felt they were just a player away from contending for the World Series title.
Aroldis Chapman, of the New York Yankees, was traded to the Chicago Cubs for pitcher Adam Warren, outfielder Billy McKinney, minor league outfielder Rashad Crawford, and top prospect infielder Gleyber Torres. Torres was the Cubs’ top prospect and the #24 prospect in all of baseball at the time of the trade.
Chapman was in the last year of his contract and was refusing to engage in contract extension negotiations. The deal worked out well for both sides as the Cubs went on to win the World Series that year and the Yankees received depth in Warren and McKinney and a perennial All-Star middle infielder in Torres.
Summary
The weeks, days, and hours leading up to the MLB trade deadline can be a part of an incredibly exciting and important period of the MLB season. Playoff-hopeful teams look to add the final pieces for their World Series push.
Teams that are out of the playoff picture hope to trade veteran and expensive players for promising young talent and salary relief as they look to build for the future.
Fans on both sides of the spectrum can dream of championships in the near or far future as well as seeing MLB superstars they know and love put on their hometown team’s jersey!
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