- Oct 16, 2026
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SportsMafia Wire graphic. Team logos and player headshots via ESPN.
Cleveland faces elimination Monday in ALCS Game 6, trailing Tampa Bay 3-2 after a dramatic turnaround sparked by an unusually bold trade deadline strategy.
President of baseball operations Chris Antonetti orchestrated the club's busiest deadline ever. On Aug. 1, Cleveland acquired outfielder Blake Perkins and reliever Craig Yoho. The next day, with the team at 57-56 and three games behind Chicago in the AL Central, Antonetti finalized a flurry of moves including outfielder Jo Adell from Los Angeles, All-Star pitcher Foster Griffin from Washington, and first baseman Nathaniel Lowe. The Lowe trade with Washington closed just 15 minutes before the 6 p.m. ET cutoff after talks resumed 20 minutes prior.
The offensive transformation was stark. Before the deadline, Cleveland ranked 29th in runs and last in OPS. Following the deals, the club climbed to eighth in runs and ninth in OPS. Their postseason OPS now trails only Milwaukee.
Lowe, who replaced Kyle Manzardo, delivered a two-run single on an 0-2 pitch in the eighth inning of ALCS Game 1. Antonetti said of the deadline activity: "It's probably the most volume we've ever done."
The approach began in May with the acquisition of catcher Patrick Bailey from San Francisco after just 40 games, and continued even as Steven Kwan struggled through his worst months and Jose Ramirez recovered from June hamate bone surgery.
Source: ESPN - Mon Oct 19, 7:07 AM ET
Written by the SportsMafia Wire desk in our own words from the original reporting (AI-assisted, checked against the source).