Yankees, Padres among teams that had strangest MLB trade deadlines

The Major League Baseball trade deadline came and went on Tuesday evening and a lot of teams did what was expected.

The Rangers and Astros were buyers. The Mets were sellers. Shohei Ohtani did not get moved. None of that was a surprise. But there were a handful of teams that did some unexpected things before the 6 p.m. ET deadline.

Let's take a look at them.

1. Why did the Padres buy?

On one hand, you have to give the Padres some credit for being committed and not wanting to throw in the towel on the season. Their ownership and front office are clearly making an effort to win and in that sense should be the model that all small market teams strive for.

But were they really in a position to be buyers on Tuesday?

They made a series of trades to land veterans Rich Hill, Ji Man Choi, Scott Barlow and Garrett Cooper. 

In exchange, they traded away a couple of intriguing prospects in Jackson Wolf (their No. 16 prospect) and Henry Williams (their No. 10 prospect.) And while none of them figure to be future stars, it is still surprising given where the Padres are in the standings.

They entered play on Tuesday as one of the most disappointing teams in the majors. They were three games under .500 and five games out of a wild card spot needing to jump over four teams just to get into the third wild card spot. The Mets, who were one of the most aggressive sellers, are only a game back of them. The two teams could not have had more dramatically different approaches on Tuesday. 

The Padres clearly believe they can turn their season around and have enough time to do so. If they don't, they might look back on Tuesday with some regret.

2. The Yankees stand pat

Speaking of disappointing teams, you can not ignore the Yankees in that discussion.

And what did general manager Brian Cashman and Co. have up their sleeves for Tuesday? Pretty much the same thing they have had all season.

Nothing.

Well, almost nothing.

The Yankees did add relief pitchers Keyan Middleton and Spencer Howard, but that is not anywhere near enough to swing their fortunes in any direction. They entered the day 3.5 games out of a wild card spot, which could have put them in a position to either add for a late push or sell in what looks like a lost season.

They did neither, and instead want to see if they can make a run with what they had. Cashman pretty much admitted that was their plan after being involved in trade talks and seeing what was out there.