The 2026 MLB Trade Deadline has now come and gone. There were nearly 50 deals on Monday alone. Some big-name players switched teams, including back-to-back Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, going from the Detroit Tigers to the back-to-back World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

For many of the players moved over the past few days, it is a chance for a fresh start, a new beginning. These are sometimes referred to as “change of scenery guys,” those who just need a new organization to either unlock some latent potential or to simply wash away bad vibes of promise not fulfilled. Here is a list of five such players, and the impact that they may have on their new teams.

Adley Rutschman

Baltimore selected Adley Rutschman with the first overall pick in the 2016 draft out of Oregon State. He debuted in 2022, set to become the anchor of the next generation of great Orioles. In his first three seasons he put 5.4, 4.3, and 3.1 bWAR, thus living up to the hype. But in 2025 he played in only 90 games (accruing 1.9 bWAR) and only 67 this year (he is currently on the IL with wrist inflammation).

The former Home Run Derby participant hit nine homers last season and has just eight this year. It is not that Baltimore soured on him, per se, but they seem to like their next big catching prospect, Samuel Basallo, better. That made him expendable, and the Red Sox, on a heater (23-4 in their last 27 games) but getting no production from the catching position, went all-in, trading some of their best minor league assets to get a catcher for this year and next.

The Red Sox have a pretty good track record of switch-hitting catchers, so getting even moderate production from Rutschman could go a long way towards helping Boston reach – and succeed in – the post-season.

Jo Adell

The Angels drafted Jo Adell with the 10th pick in 2017. FanGraphs gave him a 60 Future Value. He debuted in 2017 and just never lived up to expectations. His 1.2 fWAR in 2025, when he hit 37 homers, was his high-water mark. This year he had one of the greatest defensive games of all time, robbing three Mariners home runs. But he also allowed one to bounce off his head for a homer in June. He is slashing .239/.287/.395 with 16 home runs.

The Angels as an organization are going nowhere, and Adell might perform better when he has something to play for. The Guardians rank 27th in home runs with just 109. Adell, playing every day in Cleveland, hitting behind José Ramirez, now has a chance to prove that he is a legitimate slugger. And if he does, the Guardians have a great chance of once-again winning the American League Central. Adell remains arbitration eligible next season before he could become a free agent in 2028.

Joey Bart

The San Francisco Giants selected Joey Bart second overall in 2018 for him to be the next Buster Posey. That may have been too much to put on a young player. In four seasons in NorCal, he accrued 0.7 bWAR with a 75 OPS+.

The Giants shipped him to Pittsburgh in 2024 for his first change of scenery, where he has been better but still not great, both catching and playing the outfield. With Kyle Teel on the IL with an ankle injury, the White Sox needed someone to fill his spikes as they seek to win the AL Central (at least a year ahead of schedule). Bart will get that chance and also get the chance to prove that he can be a solid backup for the ChiSox in the future.

Bart will cost Chicago about $800,000 for the remainder of the season, and he is arbitration eligible next year as well.

Bo Naylor

Another catcher selected in the first round of the 2018 draft (29th), Bo Naylor always stood in the shadow of his older brother Josh in Cleveland. The Guardians traded Josh to the Mariners at the deadline last year, so that ostensibly freed the catcher to be himself. Unfortunately, that has not worked out too well. Naylor has split his time between the majors and the minors this year. A glove-first backstop, his career slash line is .199/.279/.372. But the Brewers know how to make good use of light-hitting catchers (and they already have two big bat receivers in William Contreras and Gary Sánchez), so there may be a home for Naylor in Milwaukee. Also consider that Sánchez is a free agent at year’s end and Contreras is always a trade possibility. Naylor could truly find himself – and find himself helping the Brewers in the post-season – on not only a different team, but in a different league, than his brother. Naylor won’t be a free agent until 2030.

Marcelo Mayer

The Red Sox took Marcelo Mayer with the 4th pick in 2021. Like Rutschman, Mayer was supposed to be an anchor of the next great Boston teams, holding down shortstop for years to come. But then the team signed Trevor Story, and Mayer had to move to second and third, which he did admirably. What he couldn’t do was hit off-speed pitches or stay on the field.

Here is a list of his injuries: Back and wrist issues limited him to 91 games in 2022, his first professional season; his 2023 season was cut short with shoulder inflammation; he missed the final two months of 2024 with a lower back strain; a tear in his right wrist required season-ending surgery in 2025; and he went on the IL on June 26th of this year with a bone stress reaction in his forearm and has not played since.

There is no question that Boston sold low on the former first rounder, and that he could ably fill the hole at second base left when San Francisco traded Luis Arráez to Philadelphia. Maybe the San Diego native will be more comfortable on the West Coast, can stay healthy, and will be part of the next successful Giants team, as he is under team control for the next six years.

Change of Scenery

Only time will tell if a new uniform, a new clubhouse, and a new set of coaches will unlock what scouts and front office executives saw in these players many years ago. The talent is real but converting that to success in the major leagues is wholly different. Don’t be surprised if at least a couple of these players end up making their prior teams look foolish for letting them go.