{"id":110760,"date":"2025-08-01T17:02:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T17:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/110760\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T17:02:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T17:02:11","slug":"mlb-trade-deadline-weird-wild-eugenio-suarez-a-j-preller-and-a-crazy-save-stat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/110760\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB trade deadline Weird & Wild: Eugenio Su\u00e1rez, A.J. Preller and a crazy save stat"},"content":{"rendered":"

What a day. What a week. What a deadline.<\/p>\n

Eugenio Su\u00e1rez! Carlos Correa! Mason Miller! The Rogers twins! Seranthony Dom\u00ednguez! They all got mixed up in the Weirdest and Wildest trades of the week. Which means \u2026<\/p>\n

It took this very special Weird and Wild Trade Deadline Extravaganza to sum up their exploits. You\u2019re welcome!<\/p>\n

Follow the leader<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know what you were thinking when the Mariners \u2014 a team that already had one league\u2019s home run leader (Cal Raleigh) \u2014 traded for a guy who has spent much of this season as the other league\u2019s home run leader\u00a0(Su\u00e1rez). But here\u2019s what I was thinking:<\/p>\n

Has anyone ever seen that before?<\/p>\n

So I asked that question of my friends at STATS Perform. And the answer was \u2026<\/p>\n

Yes, but barely!<\/p>\n

If we start in 1995, which is about when the trade deadline took on its current meaning in North American baseball life, no team had ever employed the league leader in home runs and then traded for the other league\u2019s leader in home runs. But there\u2019s a good reason for that. Namely \u2026<\/p>\n

If we go back to \u201995, no player who was leading either league in homers had ever gotten traded, period, regardless of where he was headed.<\/p>\n

Anyone else find that shocking? I did.<\/p>\n

So what were the closest calls? Here they come \u2014 the only other players who ranked in the top four in their league in homers at the time they were traded, according to STATS:<\/p>\nPlayerYearNumber of Homers<\/tr>\n\n\n\n

1997<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

34 HR (2nd)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n\n

2025<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

36 HR (3rd)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n\n

2023<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

25 HR (T-3rd)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n\n

2016<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

25 HR (4th)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n\n

2021<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

23 HR (4th)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

But that\u2019s not all, because, as you may have noticed, the Mariners also have their league\u2019s RBI leader hanging out in the middle of the lineup. That would also be a guy named Cal Raleigh. And guess who was leading the other league in RBIs? Right. A fellow named Eugenio Su\u00e1rez.<\/p>\n

So why not ask: Has any team ever made a deal like\u00a0that\u00a0before? And that answer, according to STATS, is \u2026<\/p>\n

Nope!<\/p>\n

Since 1995, the league leader in RBIs has never been traded at any point in the regular season \u2026\u00a0until now \u2026 when he was traded to a team that already had the other league\u2019s leader in RBIs. Amazing. Only in \u2026<\/p>\n

Baseball!<\/p>\n

Two hearts are better than one<\/p>\n

But wait. We\u2019re not through with Eugenio Su\u00e1rez yet. Here was my next question about him:<\/p>\n

He heads for Seattle with 36 long balls already in the books. So can he hit enough homers for the Mariners to set the record for most home runs in a season by a man who played for more than one team that year?<\/p>\n

Well, it\u2019s possible, but he\u2019ll need to keep mashing, because the number to catch is a big one. He\u2019s 22 away! Here comes that leaderboard:<\/p>\nNo. of homersPlayerYear + Team<\/tr>\n\n\n

58<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Mark McGwire<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

1997 A\u2019s\/Cardinals<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

45<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

J.D. Martinez<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

2017 Tigers\/Diamondbacks<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

41<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Greg Vaughn<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

1996 Brewers\/Padres<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

41<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

David Justice<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

2000 Indians\/Yankees<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

40<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Adam Dunn<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

2008 Reds\/Diamondbacks<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

39<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Cecil Fielder<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

1996 Tigers\/Yankees<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

(Source: Lee Sinins\u2019 Complete Baseball Encyclopedia)<\/p>\n

Mark McGwire bashed 24 home runs in just 51 games after he got peddled to St. Louis in 1997. The Mariners had 53 games left when Su\u00e1rez joined them Thursday night. The most homers he has ever hit in any 53-game span is also 24, in 2019. His most this year? That would be 23. So all he\u2019ll need is one more streak like those two, and he\u2019ll make some pretty cool history.<\/p>\n

It takes two<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s this awesome tidbit from STATS.<\/p>\n

Have we mentioned that the Mariners just traded for a dude with 36 homers (in Su\u00e1rez)? We have.<\/p>\n

Have we mentioned that they already had another dude with 41 homers (in Raleigh)? Yep, that came up, too.<\/p>\n

According to STATS, only one other team in history has roared into August with two players on its roster who each had at least 35 homers that year. And they were these two guys:<\/p>\n

Roger Maris \u2014 40<\/b>
Mickey Mantle \u2014 39<\/b><\/p>\n

That team was the fabled 1961 Yankees. It went on to win the World Series. Maris went on to break the coolest record in sports. So if the Mariners want to dream of history repeating itself, who am I to stop them?<\/p>\n

The fantastic four\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Have you caught the same case of Eugenio-mania that I caught? I hope so, because I\u2019ve got one more of these!<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve already gotten the impression it\u2019s kinda rare for a team to trade a player like Eugenio Su\u00e1rez at the deadline, hey, I\u2019m not done hammering that point home, because \u2026<\/p>\n

On April 26, Eugenio hit four home runs \u2026 for the Diamondbacks.<\/p>\n

On July 30, Eugenio then got traded \u2026 by the Diamondbacks.<\/p>\n

Again, I asked STATS: Has\u00a0that\u00a0ever happened?<\/p>\n

Depends how you frame it. One one hand, STATS found three other men in history who had a four-homer game in a season in which they played for two teams:<\/p>\nPlayerYearTeams<\/tr>\n\n\n

Chuck Klein<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

1936<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Cubs\/Phillies<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Pat Seery<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

1948<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Indians\/White Sox<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

JD Martinez<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

2017<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Tigers\/Diamondbacks<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

On the other hand, all three of those men hit four homers\u00a0after\u00a0they got traded. So once again, how many teams have ever traded away a player who had thumped four home runs for them in one game\u00a0earlier that season?\u00a0As always in this column, \u201cnone\u201d is the best guess out there.<\/p>\n

Dude, where\u2019s my Carlos?\"\"<\/p>\n

Carlos Correa is headed back to Houston. (Lachlan Cunningham \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

All right, we\u2019re finally moving on. Next question!\u00a0<\/b>What\u2019s more fun than a big-time reunion? If you\u2019ve been to one of your high school reunions lately, don\u2019t answer that!<\/p>\n

The reason I ask, of course, is that now it\u2019s Carlos Correa\u2019s turn to star in his own reunion show \u2014 back in Houston, where he was traded by the Twins on Thursday.<\/p>\n

This deal is staggering on lots of levels, but here\u2019s the Weirdest and Wildest:<\/p>\n

Once upon a time, in his previous life, Correa played in 79 postseason games for the Astros, only to leave and (now) return. Does that seem like a lot? I\u2019ll vote yes.<\/p>\n

I got so curious about that, I fired that question at the gang from STATS, too. And what did I learn? That it\u2019s the most games in history by a player who left and then was reacquired by the team he played for in all those October games. Your leaderboard:<\/p>\nGAMES PLAYERTEAM<\/tr>\n\n\n

79<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Carlos Correa<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Astros<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

77<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Tino Martinez<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Yankees<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

74<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Albert Pujols<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Cardinals<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

58<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Dodgers<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

55<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Jim Thome <\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Indians<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

50<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Matt Carpenter <\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Cardinals<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

If you\u2019re curious, only two of those previous re-acquisitions were via a midseason deal: Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez to L.A. in 2023 and Jim Thome back to Cleveland in 2011.<\/p>\n

The closer you get\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

How many relief pitchers got traded at this deadline? I lost count. Was it 50? Or 450? Maybe ChatGPT could tell us. Or not.<\/p>\n

I do know that Jhoan Duran got traded. And Ryan Helsley got traded. And Mason Miller got traded. Not to mention Camilo Doval, David Bednar and Kyle Finnegan.<\/p>\n

These were huge deals, for big names, and filled with excellent intentions. Now here\u2019s a secret the teams that made those trades might not want to know:<\/p>\n

The modern save rule arrived in this sport in 1969. In all that time, how many closers would you guess were traded in midseason and then went on to save the last game of the World Series that year?<\/p>\n

Hint: It\u2019s not a big number \u2026 by which we mean\u00a0zero!<\/p>\n

I am not making this up. I promise. We\u2019ve seen starters save those games (MadBum!) and match-up relievers save those games (Josh Sborz!) and all sorts of unlikely pitchers save those games (Mike Montgomery!). But no team has ever traded for a new closer in the middle of a season and had that guy save that game. Yes, really.<\/p>\n

The closest call? In 2019, the Nationals traded for Daniel Hudson, and he got the last out of that World Series. But \u2026 it wasn\u2019t a save situation \u2026 and he wasn\u2019t \u201cthe closer.\u201d He was acquired mostly to be Sean Doolittle\u2019s setup man. But he did save five games in September and four more in the postseason with Doolittle battling a knee issue.<\/p>\n

At any rate, I said that was close! But again, it wasn\u2019t a save. So here\u2019s the list you\u2019ve been waiting for, of every pitcher who got \u201cthe last out\u201d of the World Series after pitching for another team earlier that season. Hat tip: MLB Network Research Department.<\/p>\n

2019: Daniel Hudson, Nationals<\/b>
2016: Mike Montgomery, Cubs<\/b>
1977: Mike Torrez, Yankees<\/b>
1961: Bud Daley, Yankees<\/b>
1951: Bob Kuzava, Yankees<\/b>
1926: Grover Cleveland Alexander, Cardinals<\/b><\/p>\n

Only Montgomery recorded an official \u201csave,\u201d via the rules we use these days. Kuzava and Alexander would have gotten a save, but that was in an era where there actually was no such thing as a \u201ccloser\u201d who would even remotely resemble, say, Mason Miller.<\/p>\n

So good luck to all those teams that emptied the farm system this week. But this is just a reminder. Baseball is weird!<\/p>\n

(Not) cheaper by the (baker\u2019s) dozen<\/p>\n

At one point Thursday, after the Mason Miller deal went down, I wrote a mini-column pronouncing A.J. Preller, the GM\/president of baseball ops for the Padres, as \u201cthe king of the deadline.\u201d<\/a> Hoo boy. That was a popular take.<\/p>\n

Thanks to all of you who so helpfully pointed out that you must have missed all the Padres parades those deadline deals led to. OK, I get your gist. I even acknowledged that myself!<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s do it this way. Just since 2022, Preller has traded for\u00a013 All-Stars in midseason. Yes, I said 13. That counts players who made the All-Star team\u00a0after\u00a0he traded for them, too. But whatever. Here they are:<\/p>\n

2022: <\/b>Juan Soto, Josh Hader, Josh Bell, Taylor Rogers, Brent Rooker
2023: <\/b>Garrett Cooper
2024: <\/b>Luis Arraez, Mart\u00edn P\u00e9rez, Tanner Scott, Jason Adam
2025: <\/b>Mason Miller, Ryan O\u2019Hearn, Nestor Cortes<\/p>\n

By my count, the Padres had to trade away\u00a037 prospects\u00a0(plus a handful of veteran players) to make those deals. So that\u2019s also a nutty number. But it\u2019s all just part of A.J.\u2019s wild ride \u2014 and a reminder that no GM in modern times has been more aggressive in-season, and at the deadline in particular, than A.J. Preller.<\/p>\n

So how rare is it for any team to trade for 13 All-Stars in the middle of a season\u00a0in a span of only four seasons? STATS dug into that for me, too. If we start the search in 1993, we find only two GMs\/PBOs in all that time who traded for at least 13 players in-season who were All-Stars at some point in their careers. And it\u2019s exactly who you\u2019d expect.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s Preller and \u2026 Alex Anthopoulos of the Braves. Who else?<\/p>\n

Anthopoulos pulled off all his wheeling and dealing in the 2018-19-20-21 seasons, by acquiring all of these guys: Kevin Gausman, Brad Brach, Adam Duvall (twice), Darren O\u2019Day, Jonny Venters, Mark Melancon, Shane Greene, Chris Martin, Joc Pederson, Stephen Vogt, Orlando Arcia and Jorge Soler.<\/p>\n

Asterisk alert!\u00a0If a GM trades for the same player twice, should that count as one or two? I gave full credit for Duvall, but feel free to cast your votes.<\/p>\n

Of course, Anthopoulos\u2019 work at the 2021 deadline turned his team into a World Series winner. So I know you\u2019ll all want to give him the crown here. But the point is, nobody loves the deadline like the president of baseball ops of the Padres. And I think I just proved it!<\/p>\n

More Weird, Wild deadline stuff I loved<\/p>\n

Speaking of the Padres \u2026\u00a0<\/b>they went into deadline day leading the major leagues in bullpen ERA \u2026\u00a0and\u00a0they employed the reliever who was leading the entire sport in saves (Robert Suarez) \u2026 and then, because A.J., they traded for Mason Miller.<\/p>\n

So who else has done something like that? Nobody has done something like that.<\/p>\n

Miller had 20 saves at the time. And the only other team STATS could find in the last 30 years that had the best bullpen ERA in baseball and\u00a0then traded for a pitcher who even had 10 saves (or more) was the 2007 Red Sox. Those Sox traded for Eric Gagne (who had 16). But they weren\u2019t adding him to the team with the major-league saves leader. So never mind!<\/p>\n

O Brother Where Art Thou \u2026\u00a0<\/b>There\u2019s nothing I aspire to get more mileage out of than the Taylor-and-Tyler Rogers brother act. Like that time two \u201ctwins\u201d pitched against the Twins in 2023? Still one of my favorite notes of the decade.<\/p>\n

Then came Wednesday,\u00a0when they both got traded on the same day<\/a>! First Taylor went from the Reds to the Pirates (only to have the Pirates flip him again the next day to the Cubs). Then, just minutes later, Tyler went from the Giants to the Mets.<\/p>\n

\n

What were the odds of 2 twins being traded today before any Twins? https:\/\/t.co\/GYGefqKHAc<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) July 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So yes,\u00a0of course\u00a0they\u2019re the first twins traded on the same day. And according to the great Sarah Langs of MLB, only two other sets of non-twin brothers have ever been traded, in separate deals, on the same day: Hal and Danny Breeden in 1970, and Hank and Ed Sauer in 1949. If only there had been such a thing as a Weird and Wild column back then!<\/p>\n

The road to Canada \u2026\u00a0<\/b>has never felt shorter than it must have felt to Seranthony Dom\u00ednguez this week. On Tuesday, he got mixed up in the trade of the century, when he got dealt from the Orioles to the Blue Jays \u2014 between games of a doubleheader between the Orioles and the Blue Jays!<\/p>\n

So was that a thing? If I had 10 bucks for everyone who thought I was just the right person to tell them how many other players in history had worn the uniform of both teams in a doubleheader, I could have bought Camden Yards and the entire Inner Harbor.<\/p>\n

OK, here\u2019s the deal. We only know of one other player who can make that claim. On May 30, 1922, Max (Killing Me Softly) Flack started for the Cubs in right field in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Cardinals \u2026 and then started in right\u00a0for the Cardinals\u00a0in Game 2 (and even got a hit against the team he started the day with). Hat tip: Lee Sinins.<\/p>\n

So that was fun. But so was this post, from one of my favorite X accounts.<\/p>\n

\n

Is the Seranthony Dominguez trade the first in baseball history in which a player was traded to another country and only had to travel about 100 feet to get there? @jaysonst<\/a> is that Weird and Wild enough?<\/p>\n

\u2014 MLB Scoring Changes (@ScoringChanges) July 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

My mapping app tells me that Seranthony will get 460 miles worth of moving expenses for that deal. But where else could a guy walk down a hallway in Baltimore for like a minute and a half and wind up in Canada? Yep, only in \u2026<\/p>\n

Baseball!<\/p>\n

(Top photo of Eugenio Su\u00e1rez: Steph Chambers \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n