The Padres want to be the dads of the National League.

The change of the Dominican gardener John Soto from the Washington Nationals to the San Diego Padres was the centerpiece of an avalanche of deals at the Major League Baseball (MLB) trade deadline, and it appears to be the trade that will have the most impact on a team since of closing the negotiations.

The transfer of Soto to San Diego, together with the expected re-entry of Fernando Tatis, could help the team climb the rung they need to overcome the Los Angeles Dodgers, who maintain a monopoly in the National League West.

And it wasn’t just Soto, first baseman Josh Bell also arrived from Washington in exchange for Luke Voit, CJ Abrams and four minor league prospects. The Padres had already acquired arguably the best reliever in the majors, Josh Hader, from Milwaukee and added infielder and outfielder Brandon Drury from Cincinnati.

The New York Yankees, despite already owning the best record in the majors at 70-43 through Tuesday and leading the AL East by 12 games, first acquired Andrew Benintendi on Saturday to bolster their outfield and they added starter Frankie Montas and reliever Lou Trivino from the Oakland A’s and reliever Scott Effros from the Cubs.

And they also added Gold Glove winner Harrison Bader in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals for left-hander Jordan Montgomery. And they sent Joey Gallo to the Dodgers for right-hander Clayton Beeter, considered the Dodgers’ 15th-best prospect. I mean, the Yankees are making sure there are no excuses for missing the World Series.

And the Houston Astros, who have the second-best record in the AL, didn’t sit still and acquired outfielder Trey Mancini from Baltimore to fill the void left by Michael Brantley’s injury; Puerto Rican catcher Christian Vázquez before Jason Castro’s operation and added Will Smith’s arm to their pitching staff, although they sent Jake Odorizzi to the Braves.

Aside from those trades, which seem to be the main ones made, other big names who changed uniforms were pitcher Noah Syndergaard, who went from the Los Angeles Angels to the Philadelphia Phillies, and Eric Hosmer, who was part of the Soto to the Padres but through a clause in his contract he vetoed his transfer, so he was traded to the Boston Red Sox.

The Minnesota Twins, who lead the AL Central division, added pitching by adding Puerto Rican reliever Jorge López, who is going through perhaps his best season in the Majors, and right-hander Tyler Mahle from the Cincinnati Reds. Another good addition to the bullpen is that of Michael Fullmer. The Twins face close harassment from the Cleveland Guardians, for which they showed a commitment to making the postseason.

surprises? The Mets weren’t going for left-handed relievers, as their division rivals the Phillies (Syndergaard, Brandon Marsh, David Robertson) and the Braves (Raisel Iglesias, Odorizzi, Robbie Grossman) injected arms into their ranks. The Mets added Darin Ruf and Mychal Givens.

The Boston Red Sox were not defined if they were buyers and sellers. In the middle of a season to forget, it was not possible to identify if they acquired pieces to improve this year or if they did it to rebuild. They acquired Tommy Pham and got rid of Vazquez and reliever Jake Diekman.

The St. Louis Cardinals, second in the National League, didn’t add much either to compete in their division, in which they have the Milwaukee Brewers above them, who didn’t do much either.

Aside from Vázquez and López, third baseman Emmanuel Rivera moved from the Kansas City Royals to the Arizona Diamondbacks.