MLB trade deadline by the numbers: How did 2022 compare to other years? originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The 2022 MLB trade deadline was one for the books.
The biggest transaction of the season occurred the afternoon of deadline day when the San Diego Padres sent six prospects to the Washington Nationals and brought back Juan Soto and Josh Bell. Along with the addition of Josh Hader, the Padres improved their World Series potential in the blink of an eye.
The Soto swap was one of many moves across Major League Baseball as teams raced to get deals done before the 4 p.m. ET trade deadline on Tuesday. Now that the dust has settled and moves are official, the numbers show that trades happened at a rapid rate not just on Tuesday, but throughout the entire buildup to the deadline.
Just how many trades went through, and how did the 2022 deadline compare to years past? Here’s a breakdown of the busiest MLB trade deadlines:
How many trades were made at the 2022 MLB trade deadline?
MLB processed 31 trades on Tuesday, falling two deals short of the record.
What was the busiest MLB trade deadline day of all time?
July 31, 2019, marks the busiest MLB trade deadline day this century. Thirty-three swaps were made the day of that year’s deadline, with Zack Grienke, Shane Greene and Nick Castellanos highlighting the group of players on the move.
With MLB.com’s transaction page going back to 2001, here’s a look at how many trades were made on deadline day each of the last 22 seasons:
- 2001: 8
- 2002: 6
- 2003: 4
- 2004: 8
- 2005: 5
- 2006: 12
- 2007: 9
- 2008: 4
- 2009: 10
- 2010: 15
- 2011: 11
- 2012: 14
- 2013: 8
- 2014: 12
- 2015: 15
- 2016: 18
- 2017: 15
- 2018: 18
- 2019: 33
- 2020: 20
- 2021: 27
- 2022: 31
What was the busiest pre-deadline day in MLB history?
While it fell short of becoming the busiest deadline day, 2022 featured the historic deadline eve.
Fifteen trades were made on Aug. 1, making it the only time double-digits swaps went through the day before the actual deadline. Hader was joined by Trey Mancini, Frankie Montas and Tommy Pham as notable players who changed teams on Monday.
Here’s a look back at how many trades were made the day before each year’s deadline:
- 2001: 4
- 2002: 2
- 2003: 4
- 2004: 7
- 2005: 4
- 2006: 3
- 2007: 2
- 2008: 2
- 2009: 4
- 2010: 4
- 2011: 5
- 2012: 0
- 2013: 1
- 2014: 3
- 2015: 9
- 2016: 4
- 2017: 3
- 2018: 5
- 2019: 2
- 2020: 4
- 2021: 9
- 2022: 15
What was the busiest month prior to an MLB trade deadline in league history?
As a whole, this was among the busiest hot stove seasons on record.
From July 1 until Aug. 2, MLB processed 75 trades. By comparison, 74 trades were made between July 1 and the July 31 deadline in 2021.
Here’s a glance at how many trades were made from July 1 until the deadline each season.
- 2001: 32
- 2002: 26
- 2003: 29
- 2004: 20
- 2005: 22
- 2006: 35
- 2007: 23
- 2008: 18
- 2009: 43
- 2010: 32
- 2011: 29
- 2012: 38
- 2013: 27
- 2014: 39
- 2015: 48
- 2016: 43
- 2017: 62
- 2018: 52
- 2019: 67
- 2020: 49*
- 2021: 74
- 2022: 75
*The 2020 figure accounts for all trades from Aug. 1-31 since that year’s deadline was pushed back as part of a pandemic-shortened season.
