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Not all trades turn heads. Often, a team deals a player who is too expensive for its current context — payroll, chances of contention, depth of the organization, etc. — for a player or players who are less expensive and whose potential value mostly lies in the future.

But sometimes less-celebrated deals turn out to be more fun than we initially thought. We might not find that out until the next season is underway, when at that point all we can do is shrug our shoulders and say, “Who knew?”

Defining an under-the-radar deal is a subjective exercise but mostly, I just looked at the list of trade pickups since the end of last season with the players sorted by 2025 AXE ratings, which I use as the basis for my Awards Watch rankings. AXE ratings are calculated from a mix of leading value metrics. The higher the score the better, and 100 is league average. Then I looked to see what and how much we wrote about the deal at the time. Or, in a couple of cases, if we wrote about them at all.

With that as the basis, here are a few under-the-radar trade acquisitions who didn’t generate many headlines at the time but are paying unexpected dividends for teams as the 2025 season careens toward the heart of the postseason chase.


The hidden treasure

The trade: Acquired from the New York Yankees for RHP Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz on Dec. 11
What we said at the time: Nothing
2025 AXE: 117.8 (5th on Boston, 67th in MLB)

This trade came together in the waning hours of the winter meetings, in the aftermath of a much splashier deal. That was the one in which Boston acquired lefty ace Garrett Crochet for a package of prospects (more on that below) that included catcher Kyle Teel.

I pay some level of attention to every move since each one requires me to make some kind of update in my database, but I’ll be honest: I have zero recollection of learning when this deal went down, and it’s not one we graded.

Narvaez had been in the Yankees’ system since 2016, but didn’t debut in the majors until last season, when he went 3-for-13 in six games for New York. The Red Sox were collecting possible options to back up Connor Wong, and while GM Craig Breslow professed “excitement” about the deal to reporters, Narvaez entered spring training as just one of several possible options to break camp as Wong’s understudy.

Now? Only the Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh owns a higher AXE rating than Narvaez among American League backstops, and Wong has a .431 OPS in 18 games when behind the plate.

Last weekend, Narvaez’s breakout went national, when he clubbed a three-run homer on “Sunday Night Baseball” against — you guessed it — the Yankees. Afterward, Aaron Judge answered our rhetorical question of “Who knew?” while addressing the postgame media scrum.

“Narvy is a hard worker, a great teammate, one of the best we ever had over here,” Judge said, adding, “He outworked everybody in this room. So it doesn’t surprise me he’s having the success he is this year.”

Who knew? Well, for one the reigning AL MVP knew.


Cheating a bit

The trade: Acquired by the Atlanta Braves from the Los Angeles Angels for DH Jorge Soler on Oct. 31, then released by the Braves on Nov. 22 and signed as a free agent by the Mets on Dec. 19
What we said: “Canning could at least be a No. 5 starter. He gives the Braves another rotation option if free agent Max Fried signs elsewhere — which is a strong possibility.”
2025 AXE: 107.8 (10th on New York, 194th in MLB)

As teased above, this is a bit of a cheat. Canning was indeed an under-the-radar trade acquisition over the winter, only the team that acquired him (Atlanta) didn’t keep him. Instead, the Braves, fearing what Canning might earn via the arbitration process, non-tendered him. Thus, Atlanta’s motivation for trading Soler turned out to be a straight salary dump.

Well, the Braves and the Angels could use Canning now. After signing Canning to a one-year, $4.25 million deal (plus bonuses he now seems likely to reach), the Mets have seen the 29-year-old righty become a fixture in their stable core-five rotation. Through 13 starts, he’s 6-2 with a 3.22 ERA.

Canning is the No. 5 starter in Flushing, but his numbers would slot him second in the rotations for both the Angels (behind Yusei Kikuchi) and Braves (behind Chris Sale).


Far from a throw-in

The trade: Acquired from the Red Sox with RHP Wikelman Gonzalez, OF Braden Montgomery and C Kyle Teel for LHP Garrett Crochet on Dec. 11
What we said: “Meidroth is a potential glue player with positional versatility and features excellent bat-on-ball skills and approach at the plate. His raw tools are mediocre, per [ESPN’s Kiley] McDaniel, and his upside is limited by a lack of power.”
2025 AXE: 112.2 (2nd on Chicago, 119th in MLB)

The Crochet trade generated plenty of buzz, but in the pecking order of prospects, many might have rated Meidroth at the bottom. Indeed, many still might. Teel just reached the majors and remains viewed as a possible All-Star catcher. It’s early days for Montgomery, but he has done nothing to diminish his prospect glow. Gonzalez is raw but flashes exciting stuff as a part of a loaded staff at Double-A Birmingham.

But Meidroth beat them all to the majors and has become a fixture at second base and in the upper slots of the lineup for the White Sox. He’s hitting .296/.385/.365 and has displayed the same kind of almost pathological patience at the dish as he showed as a minor leaguer. As suggested, his power is below average, but he has stolen eight bases and played (mostly) good defense.

Even better, when you combine Meidroth’s lack of power with his excellent bat-on-ball skills and off-the-charts plate discipline, it’s not hard to imagine him becoming the kind of player who has vanished from today’s game: the hitter with at least a .400 on-base percentage but a sub-.400 slugging percentage.

Such players used to be common in the majors, but they’ve gradually gone extinct. There hasn’t been a qualifying hitter to meet those parameters since Florida’s Luis Castillo in 2000, when he hit .334/.418/.388 over 626 plate appearances.


Making a name for himself

The trade: Acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates with LHP Michael Kennedy and Josh Hartle for IF Spencer Horwitz on Dec. 10
What we said: Almost nothing
2025 AXE: 102.7 (13th on Cleveland, 328th in MLB)

The only mention on our grades page about this trade was at the end of our write-up about the deal that sent Andres Gimenez from the Guardians to the Blue Jays and included Horwitz. We didn’t hand out any grades when Horwitz was subsequently flipped to Pittsburgh, even though it turned out to be the splashiest thing the Pirates did all winter. Who knew?

Ortiz hasn’t been an ace, but he’s second on Cleveland in starts and innings and leads the club in strikeouts. The Guardians’ pitching program has long been lauded for its ability to push hurlers to a higher level of production, and they’ve displayed that trait with Ortiz in vivid terms.

With Cleveland, Ortiz has cut back on use of his sinker, added velocity to his four-seamer and ramped up the frequency of what was a seldom-deployed changeup. The end result: Ortiz’s strikeout rate has soared from 19.2% to 25.2%.


The DFA merry-go-round

The trade: Acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies for cash on April 26
What we said: Nothing
2025 AXE: 105.5 (11th on Minnesota, 245th in MLB)

Hopefully, the Phillies did something fun with that money, because they sure could use the services of Clemens right about now.

OK, that’s not entirely fair. This deal, which went down about six weeks ago, came when the Phillies ran into a 40-man roster crunch and designated Clemens for assignment. Clemens had barely been used, and during his time with the Phillies, going back to 2023, he’d slashed .220/.265/.394. The Phillies are short now though with Bryce Harper battling wrist problems.

The Twins were in dire straits back in April because of a broken arm suffered by newly called-up infielder and touted prospect Luke Keaschall. Minnesota surely saw Clemens as the kind of stopgap solution that so many DFA-related moves turn out to be. Such players are the temp workers of MLB. Just ask frequent Mariner Casey Lawrence, who has been DFA’d six times (five by Seattle, once by Toronto) since the season began. It’s no way to live, even if it does pay really well for temp work.

Instead of joining Lawrence on the DFA merry-go-round, Clemens helped keep a struggling Minnesota team afloat until it got healthier and caught fire. Clemens has hit .236/.340/.517 for the Twins, who have gone 24-15 since he debuted for the team on April 28.


The bull who became a bear might be a bull again

Jesus Luzardo (SP, Philadelphia Phillies)

The trade: Acquired from the Marlins with C Paul McIntosh for OF Emaarion Boyd and SS Starlyn Caba on Dec. 22
What we said: “The Phillies now project to have arguably the best rotation in the majors, and the upgrade with Luzardo could be a difference-maker in what should be a three-team race with the Braves and Mets for the NL East title.”
2025 AXE: 119.5 (4th on Philadelphia, 53rd in MLB)

Luzardo was actually the inspiration for this piece. It’s not that the move was unnoticed. We wrote it up and David Schoenfield gave the Phillies a B+ for it. Luzardo, a longtime top prospect whose big league career has been more solid than spectacular, was a recognizable name.

Yet when he was brought in, it seemed like he was destined to be the Phillies’ No. 5 starter and perhaps might get bumped from the rotation altogether once Andrew Painter and/or Mick Abel ascended from the minors.

Instead, when I wrote the season’s first Awards Watch, Luzardo had emerged as the early front-runner for NL Cy Young. Who knew?

Luzardo still earns props for his early success, especially in lieu of Aaron Nola’s struggles with production and health this season. But the news for Luzardo since that Awards Watch turned sour, at least for a couple of starts. In two brutal outings, Luzardo was hammered for 20 runs in 5 2/3 innings, raising his ERA from 2.15 to 4.46.

Luzardo and the team reportedly diagnosed the issue as pitch tipping and apparently they were right. On Wednesday, Luzardo held the Cubs to a lone run over six innings and struck out 10. Luzardo isn’t the Cy Young frontrunner he was just two weeks ago, but his suddenly bearish season has once again gone bullish for a Phillies team going through some struggles.

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2025 MLB All-Star rosters: Biggest snubs and other takeaways

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2025 MLB All-Star rosters: Biggest snubs and other takeaways

The initial 2025 MLB All-Star Game rosters are out, the product of the collaborative process between fans, players and the league. How did this annual confab do?

We already know that injuries will prevent some of these selectees from appearing in Atlanta, and replacement choices will be announced in the coming days. By the end of this post-selection period, we’ll wind up with something like 70 to 75 All-Stars for this season.

These first-draft rosters contain 65 players, the odd number stemming from the decision to send Clayton Kershaw to the festivities as a “Legend” pick. First reaction: Baseball’s newest member of the 3,000 strikeout club has earned everything he gets.

Now, on to the nitpicking.


American League

Biggest oversight: Joe Ryan, Minnesota Twins

The Twins’ lone representative on the initial rosters is outfielder Byron Buxton, a worthy selection. Ryan (8-4, 2.76 ERA) fell into a group of similar performers including Kansas City’s Kris Bubic and the Texas duo of Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi. Bubic and deGrom made it, which is great, and Bubic in particular is quite a story.

But Ryan and Eovaldi didn’t make it, and both were probably a little more deserving that Seattle’s Bryan Woo, whose superficial numbers (8-4, 2.77) are very close to Ryan’s. But Woo plays in a more friendly pitching park, and the under-the-hood metrics favor Ryan.

The main takeaway: If this is the biggest discrepancy, the process worked well.

Second-biggest oversight: Many-way tie between several hitters

The every-team-gets-a-player rule, along with positional requirements, always knocks out worthy performers from teams with multiple candidates. Thus, a few picks on the position side might have gone differently.

The Rays are playing so well they probably deserve more than one player. Their most deserving pick made it — infielder Jonathan Aranda — along with veteran second baseman Brandon Lowe. Infielders such as J.P. Crawford (Seattle), Isaac Paredes (Houston) and Zach McKinstry (Detroit) had good cases to make it ahead of Lowe, whose power numbers (19 homers, 54 RBIs) swayed the players.

While acknowledging that Gunnar Henderson has had a disappointing season, I still think he deserved to be the Orioles’ default pick instead of Ryan O’Hearn. But the latter was selected as the AL’s starting DH by the fans, and Baltimore doesn’t deserve two players. It’s a great story that O’Hearn will be a first-time All-Star just a couple of weeks before his 32nd birthday.

Other thoughts

• The default White Sox selection is rookie starter Shane Smith, a Rule 5 pick from Milwaukee last winter. Smith is my lowest-rated player on the AL squad, but he has been consistently solid. Adrian Houser, an in-season pickup, has been great for Chicago and has arguably produced more value than Smith. But I like honoring the rookie who has been there the whole campaign.

• The Athletics’ Jacob Wilson was elected as a starter and is easily the most deserving player from that squad. I’m not sure I see a second pick there, but Brent Rooker made it as a DH. Rooker has been fine, but his spot could have gone to one of the overlooked hitters already mentioned, or perhaps Kansas City’s Maikel Garcia.

• Houston’s Jeremy Pena is a deserving choice and arguably should be the AL’s starter at shortstop instead of Wilson. Alas, he’s on the injured list, and though reports say he might soon resume baseball activities, it’s likely Pena will be replaced. Any of the above-mentioned overlooked hitters will do.

• As for the starters, the fans do a great job nowadays. I disagreed with them on a couple of spots, though. I would have gone with a keystone combo of Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Pena rather than Gleyber Torres and Wilson, but I’d have them all on the team. And I would have definitely started Buxton over Javier Baez in the outfield.


National League

Biggest oversight: Juan Soto, New York Mets

Not sure how this happens, but I’m guessing Soto is a victim of his own standards. Yes, he signed a contract for an unfathomable amount of money, and so far, he hasn’t reinvented the game as a member of the Mets. He has just been lower-end Juan Soto, which is still one of the best players in the sport. His OBP is, as ever, north of .400, he leads the league in walks and it sure seems as if Pete Alonso has very much enjoyed hitting behind him.

The All-Star Game was invented for players like Soto, and though you might leave out someone like him if he is having a truly poor season, that’s not the case here. It is kind of amazing that he didn’t make it, while MacKenzie Gore and James Wood — both part of the trade that sent Soto from Washington to San Diego — did. They deserve it, and you can make a strong argument that a third player the Nats picked up in the trade — CJ Abrams — does as well. But Soto deserves it too.

Finally, the Marlins’ most-deserving pick is outfielder Kyle Stowers, who indeed ended up as their default selection. But he probably ended up with Soto’s slot.

Second-biggest oversight: Andy Pages, Los Angeles Dodgers

It’s hard to overlook anyone on the Dodgers, but somehow Pages slipped through the cracks despite his fantastic all-around first half for the defending champs.

It was just a numbers game. I’ve got five NL outfielders rated ahead of Pages, and all but Soto made it, so no additional quibbles there. The fans voted in Ronald Acuna Jr. to start at his home ballpark. Having Acuna there in front of the fans in Atlanta makes sense. But he has played only half of the first half.

Other thoughts

• The shortstop position is loaded in the NL, but the only pure shortstops to make it were starter Francisco Lindor and Elly De La Cruz. Both are good selections, but the Phillies’ Trea Turner has been just as outstanding. Abrams and Arizona’s Geraldo Perdomo are also deserving. The position has been so good that the player with the most career value currently playing shortstop in the NL — Mookie Betts — barely merits a mention. Betts has had a subpar half, but who will be surprised if he’s topping this list by the end of the season?

• Both leagues had three pitching staff slots given to relievers. The group in the AL (Aroldis Chapman, Josh Hader and Andres Munoz) was much more clear-cut than the one in the NL, which ended up with the Giants’ Randy Rodriguez, the Mets’ Edwin Diaz and the Padres’ Jason Adam. It made sense to honor someone from San Diego’s dominant bullpen, and you could have flipped a coin to pick between Adam and Adrian Morejon.

• Picking these rosters while meeting all the requirements and needs for teams and positions is hard. I don’t have any real issue with the pitchers selected for the NL. One of them is Atlanta’s Chris Sale, who is on the IL and will have to be replaced. My pick would be Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sanchez (7-2, 2.68 ERA).

• And for the starting position players, Alonso should have gotten the nod over Freddie Freeman at first base, though it will be great to see Freeman’s reception when he takes the field in Atlanta. For that matter, the Cubs’ Michael Busch has had a better first half than Freeman at this point, though that became true only in the past few days, thanks to his explosion at Wrigley Field. I would have gone with Turner at short, but it’s close. And I’d have started Wood in place of Acuna.

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Nats seek ‘fresh approach,’ fire Martinez, Rizzo

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Nats seek 'fresh approach,' fire Martinez, Rizzo

The last-place Washington Nationals fired president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez, the team announced Sunday.

Rizzo, 64, and Martinez, 60, won a World Series with the Nationals in 2019, but the team has floundered in recent years. This season, the Nationals are 37-53 and stuck at the bottom of the National League East after getting swept by the Boston Red Sox this weekend at home. Washington hasn’t finished higher than fourth in the division since winning the World Series.

“On behalf of our family and the Washington Nationals organization, I first and foremost want to thank Mike and Davey for their contributions to our franchise and our city,” principal owner Mark Lerner said in a statement. “Our family is eternally grateful for their years of dedication to the organization, including their roles in bringing a World Series trophy to Washington, D.C.

“While we are appreciative of their past successes, the on-field performance has not been where we or our fans expect it to be. This is a pivotal time for our club, and we believe a fresh approach and new energy is the best course of action for our team moving forward.”

Mike DeBartolo, the club’s senior vice president and assistant general manager, was named interim GM on Sunday night. DeBartolo will oversee all aspects of baseball operations, including the MLB draft. An announcement will be made on the interim manager Monday, a day before the club begins a series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Rizzo has been the top decision-maker in Washington since 2013, and Martinez has been on board since 2018. Under Rizzo’s leadership, the team made the postseason four times: in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019. The latter season was Martinez’s lone playoff appearance.

“When our family assumed control of the team, nearly 20 years ago, Mike was the first hire we made,” Lerner said. “Over two decades, he was with us as we went from a fledging team in a new city to World Series champion. Mike helped make us who we are as an organization, and we’re so thankful to him for his hard work and dedication — not just on the field and in the front office, but in the community as well.”

The Nationals are in the midst of a rebuild that has moved slower than expected, though the team didn’t augment its young core much during the winter. Led by All-Stars James Wood and MacKenzie Gore, Washington has the second-youngest group of hitters in MLB and the sixth-youngest pitching staff.

The team lost 11 straight games in a forgettable stretch last month. And during a 2-10 run in June, Washington averaged just 2.5 runs. Since June 1, the Nationals have scored one run or been shut out seven times. In Sunday’s 6-4 loss to Boston, they left 15 runners on base.

There was industry speculation over the winter that the Nationals would spend money on free agents for the first time in several years, but that never materialized. Instead, the team made minor moves, signing free agents Josh Bell and Michael Soroka, trading for first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and re-signing closer Kyle Finnegan. Now, the hope is a new management team, both on and off the field, can help change the franchise’s fortunes.

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Kershaw gets special ASG invite; no Soto, Betts

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Kershaw gets special ASG invite; no Soto, Betts

The rosters for the 2025 MLB All-Star Game will feature 19 first-timers — and one legend — as the pitchers and reserves were announced Sunday for the July 15 contest at Truist Park in Atlanta.

Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw, a three-time Cy Young Award winner who made his first All-Star team in 2011, was named to his 11th National League roster as a special commissioner’s selection.

Kershaw, who became only the fourth left-hander to amass 3,000 career strikeouts, is 4-0 with a 3.43 ERA in nine starts after beginning the season on the injured list. He joins Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera as a legend choice, after the pair of sluggers were selected in 2022.

Kershaw said he didn’t want to discuss the selection Sunday.

Among the first-time All-Stars announced Sunday: Dodgers teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto; Washington Nationals outfielder James Wood and left-hander MacKenzie Gore; Houston Astros ace Hunter Brown and shortstop Jeremy Pena; and Chicago Cubs 34-year-old left-hander Matthew Boyd.

“It’ll just be cool being around some of the best players in the game,” Wood said.

First-time All-Stars previously elected to start by the fans include Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson, Baltimore Orioles designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn and Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong.

Overall, the 19 first-time All-Stars is a drop from the 32 first-time selections on the initial rosters in 2024.

Kershaw would be the sentimental choice to start for the National League, although Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes, who leads NL pitchers in ERA and WAR, might be in line to start his second straight contest. Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler, a three-time All-Star, is 9-3 with a 2.17 ERA after Sunday’s complete-game victory and also would be a strong candidate to start.

“I think it would be stupid to say no to that. It’s a pretty cool opportunity,” Skenes said about the possibility of being asked to start by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “I didn’t make plans over the All-Star break or anything. So, yeah, I’m super stoked.”

Kershaw has made one All-Star start in his career, in 2022 at Dodger Stadium.

Among standout players not selected were New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto, who signed a $765 million contract as a free agent in the offseason, and Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts, who had made eight consecutive All-Star rosters since 2016.

Soto got off to a slow start but was the National League Player of the Month in June and entered Sunday ranked sixth in the NL in WAR among position players while ranking second in OBP, eighth in OPS and third in runs scored.

The players vote for the reserves at each position and selected Wood, Corbin Carroll of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres as the backup outfielders. Kyle Stowers also made it as a backup outfielder as the representative for the Miami Marlins.

Unless Soto later is added as an injury replacement, he’ll miss his first All-Star Game since his first full season in 2019.

The Dodgers lead all teams with five representatives: Kershaw, Yamamoto and starters Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith. The AL-leading Detroit Tigers (57-34) and Mariners have four each.

Tigers ace Tarik Skubal will join AL starters Riley Greene, Gleyber Torres and Javier Baez, while Raleigh, the AL’s starting catcher, will be joined by Seattle teammates Bryan Woo, Andres Munoz and Julio Rodriguez.

Earning his fifth career selection but first since 2021 is Texas Rangers righty Jacob deGrom, who is finally healthy after making only nine starts in his first two seasons with the Rangers and is 9-2 with a 2.13 ERA. He has never started an All-Star Game, although Skubal or Brown would be the favorite to start for the AL.

The hometown Braves will have three All-Stars in Acuna, pitcher Chris Sale (his ninth selection, tied with Freeman for the second most behind Kershaw) and first baseman Matt Olson. The San Francisco Giants had three pitchers selected: Logan Webb, Robbie Ray and reliever Randy Rodriguez.

The slumping New York Yankees ended up with three All-Stars: Aaron Judge, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Max Fried. The Mets also earned three All-Star selections: Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz.

“Red carpet, that’s my thing,” Chisholm said. “I do have a ‘fit in mind.”

Rosters are expanded from 26 to 32 for the All-Star Game. They include starters elected by fans, 17 players (five starting pitchers, three relievers and a backup for each position) chosen in a player vote and six players (four pitchers and two position players) selected by league officials. Every club must be represented.

Acuna, Wood and Raleigh are the three All-Stars who have so far committed to participating in the Home Run Derby.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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