Baseball pushed the trade deadline back one day this year to avoid having the annual swap-o-rama on a Sunday, when some people don't bother checking Twitter 100 times a day because they're not at work.
That extra 24 hours gave baseball executives more time to wheel and deal, which is what they did Monday with 18 trades. We won't know for years how they'll be judged, but that never stops us from guessing.
Here's an early look at the presumptive winners and losers from the deadline.
WINNERS
Cubs: They struck a week early, getting the most dominant closer in the game, Aroldis Chapman. And they gave up only one top prospect while keeping Kyle Schwarber, whom the Yankees wanted in an Andrew Miller deal. The Cubs now have one of the top late-inning duos in Chapman and Hector Rondon and added the Angels' Joe Smith for dessert in the final hour.
Indians: Miller gave up a home run in his Indians debut Monday but should settle in as the most valuable closer in the American League to go with a standout rotation.
Dodgers: Rich Hill, the best truly available starter, was reeled in despite being on the shelf with a blister. Josh Reddick, the biggest bargain, also came in the deal. And the clubhouse chemistry improved overnight with the exodus of Yasiel Puig.
Yankees: Trying to replicate the Cubs' vaunted "Plan" without going through the pain of three losing seasons, GM Brian Cashman had better players to deal than Theo Epstein from 2011, and thus netted better overall prospects. At the very least, the payroll will go down while the ticket prices will remain as high as ever, so it's win-win for the Steinbrenners.
Mets: Jay Bruce won't single-handedly get the Mets into the postseason, but he was the best available bat and came for a relatively cheap price. When Yoenis Cespedes opts out, he'll be The Man.
Nationals: Dusty Baker gets a reliable closer in Mark Melancon to replace ulcer-inducing Jonathan Papelbon.
ESPN: With the Yankees out of the picture and no need to focus on their rivalry with the Red Sox, the media giant has adopted the Cubs as their own. Smart move. ESPN will feature the team in an upcoming Cubs-centric issue of their magazine and air as many games as possible down the stretch. Hopefully it's not just an infomercial for Tom Ricketts.
MLB: With parity and a second wild-card team, all clubs believe they're still in it if they make a deadline deal. And teams that don't are making a statement too.
Ex-nerds: If you like baseball, numbers-crunching, computers and dealing with other ex-nerds, get a business degree from an East Coast university and use it to better the world by making the perfect deadline deal. You can thank me later.
LOSERS
White Sox: "For me personally, and for all the front office, going up to Jerry (Reinsdorf), there's a very high level of frustration, which I'm guessing is shared by many of our fans," GM Rick Hahn said. Lucky guess. No problem with not trading Chris Sale, whose contract is team-friendly. No problem with not dealing Jose Quintana, who didn't deserve to go through the trade-deadline angst after all the lack of support and blown saves he has endured over the years. But hinting at a rebuild, then keeping everyone but Zach Duke risks insulting your fans' intelligence.
Jonathan Lucroy: The Brewers catcher wound up with the Rangers after using his no-trade clause to veto a deal with the Indians. Good for him and his agent for negotiating the clause. But in spring training he told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel he wanted to be dealt: "I want to win and I don't see us winning in the foreseeable future. I want to go to a World Series. That's what all players want." It was all lip service. The Brewers gave him the chance to go to a Series contender, and Lucroy rejected the trade to the Indians. Hopefully the teams meet in the playoffs.
Rangers: Needed a starter. Didn't get one. Lucroy is a good pickup but simply was not worth their Nos. 2 and 3 prospects. GM Jon Daniels has dealt four first-round picks this season, including pitcher Dillon Tate, the fourth pick of the 2015 draft who went in the Carlos Beltran deal. Beltran, 39, is having a good season. The rotation is still weak after Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish. Better win now.
Giants: Matt Moore had a 5.43 ERA with the Rays in 2015 and a 4.08 ERA this season. Not the impact pitcher he was purported to be a few years ago. Serviceable, but they needed more.
Billy Beane: Whether buyer or seller, the Beane brand never stops growing. The $6 million investment in Rich Hill by the A's paid off despite Hill's blister.
Reds: Ripped off again, this time by Mets. Who knew?
Frankie Montas: From the Red Sox to the White Sox in the Jake Peavy-Avisail Garcia three-way deal. From the White Sox to the Dodgers in the Todd Frazier-Trayce Thompson three-way deal. From the Dodgers to the A's in Hill-Reddick deal. Montas is only 23 but already is becoming a perennial throw-in.
Puig: Pity the GM who thinks a fresh start will motivate this guy to become a better teammate/player/person.
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