Every day, Pinstripe Alley offers updates on what the Yankees’ top American League opponents are up to through the Rivalry Roundup. The AL East is well-trodden ground there, but with the Trade Deadline behind us, we’re going to take a peek around MLB as a whole and check in with each of the other five divisions. Who’s surprising? Who’s underwhelming? Who’s simply mediocre at the moment? Read on and find out.
As anyone even a little tuned into the baseball world knows, the rich got richer at this year’s
deadline in the National League West. It was a busy deadline around one of baseball’s more competitive deadlines, with the Dodgers, of course, making the biggest splash of any team in the league.
As far as play goes, the D-backs leapfrogged San Diego to jump into second place, but other than that, the standings remained the same. The Dodgers, who actually had a mediocre month, remain in first with a solid lead, and it would certainly be fair to expect much bigger things on the horizon for what is likely baseball’s most talented roster.
First Place: Los Angeles Dodgers (69-45)
Top Position Player: Shohei Ohtani (6.4 combined fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (3.1 fWAR)
For the Dodgers, July was not the brightest month. Since the end of June, Los Angeles has gone just 13-14, but they maintained a solid nine-game lead in the West. Shohei Ohtani has since reclaimed his top spot among position players by fWAR, headlining a group that is realistically second to none. He is one of nine L.A. batters with at least 130 plate appearances and a wRC+ above 100, and one of five with a mark of at least 120. It is a star-studded group, and even a lackluster month can do much to diminish that.
On the pitching side, Yamamoto has stepped up with Ohtani not pitching since the beginning of July, tossing mostly excellent ball outside of a dud in the middle of the month. Justin Wrobleski has also remained solid, and will look to overcome a couple of rough starts in his most recent outings. Of course, beyond adding Kris Bubic to their cupboard of injured-but-talented arms, the staff will get a major boost from the acquisition of Tarik Skubal.
The Dodgers made the biggest splash of the deadline by acquiring perhaps the game most talented pitcher in the sport, much to the chagrin of almost every other fanbase. The lefty is a two-time Cy Young Award winner and a bona fide star, he makes any contender take a significant leap, and the Dodgers can count on getting plenty from their new superstar, who’s joining a roster already filled with them. His debut in blue, however, was a disappointing one as he took the loss against the Cubs.
Second Place: Arizona Diamondbacks (60-54)
Top Position Player: Corbin Carroll (3.4 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Michael Soroka (2.1 fWAR)
The Diamondbacks enjoyed the best July out of any team in the West, and have been rewarded with a jump to second place, as well as the final wild card berth in the NL as things stand. Five regulars are boasting a wRC+ above 100, including Gabriel Moreno, who’s posted a .402 OBP since the beginning of July. Top pitcher Michael Soroka hasn’t pitched since June 19th, but Eduardo Rodriguez has remained steady, with an excellent 2.48 ERA as one of the 10 pitchers in baseball with over 130 innings of work thus far.
Despite the nice surge before the deadline, the D-Backs were not major buyers, instead opting for a smaller move gearing up for the final months. Arizona acquired outfielder Lars Nootbaar from the Cardinals in exchange for a crop of prospects. The veteran outfielder has been solid this year, walking more than 13 percent of the time, though the power department (.354 SLG) leaves something to be desired. He’ll hope to turn on the jets as the D-backs try to make it back to October baseball for the first time since sweeping the Dodgers en route to a surprising pennant in 2023.
Third Place: San Diego Padres (59-55)
Top Position Player: Fernando Tatis Jr. (2.4 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Mason Miller (3.1 fWAR)
The Padres were not far off from Arizona, going 16-13 since the beginning of July, remaining just a couple games back from their division rivals. Fernando has continued to move past his early season woes, while Ty France has hit like an MVP over the past month, slashing .340/.384/.580.
Most notably, after seemingly sitting on the fence, the Padres elected to push the chips in at this year’s deadline. Instead of moving top-shelf bullpen arms in Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller, president of baseball operations A.J. Preller held on to them, and instead bolstered the starting rotation, which was severely lacking behind Michael King. The Padres added former Cy Young winner Robbie Ray and former number one overall pick Casey Mize to the mix, each of whom have had good 2026 seasons to this point. With those moves in mind, the Padres certainly have postseason aspirations. How much noise can they actually make, though?
Fourth Place: San Francisco Giants (48-66)
Top Position Player: Casey Schmitt (1.8 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Logan Webb (2.6 fWAR)
From wire-to-wire, the Giants have been mostly locked into fourth place in this division. After another unconvincing month of lifeless play, and a long hill to climb to any sort of contention, the Giants elected to sell big at this year’s deadline. They sent Luis Arraez to the Phillies, starters Ray and Tyler Mahle off to new squads, and of course, Heliot Ramos to the Yankees. It was likely not the deadline moves the front office would have expected at the beginning of the year, but was the right one in the big picture.
In a division as competitive as this one, the odds were stacked against the Giants, and their result at the deadline speaks to just that. Regardless, they will have plenty of opportunity to play spoiler as the season winds down.If nothing else, franchise legend Buster Posey’s front-office haul as POBO this deadline was met with acclaim.
Last Place: Colorado Rockies (45-69)
Top Position Player: Hunter Goodman (2.4 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Kyle Freeland (1.2 fWAR)
While the Rockies have inched closer to the Giants, their overall situation changed little over the last month. Clear-cut sellers at this year’s deadline, they hoped to build for the future by most ]trading away Brenton Doyle and Antonio Senzatela.
They did hole on to Hunter Goodman, who continues to mash opposing pitchers. He is tied for the second-most homers in baseball with 33, and has posted a 152 wRC+ since the beginning of July. He has been a very bright spot in an other wise tough season in Colorado.
