Ken Rosenthal rips MLB contenders after Trade Deadline: ‘Are you trying to win the World Series?’

While 2025’s MLB Trade Deadline had a lot of activity, some contending teams were not aggressive enough for Ken Rosenthal. On Foul Territory, shortly after the deadline, Rosenthal shared his thoughts.

Rosenthal’s main issue was that not enough teams seem to be focused on what he thinks should be the ultimate goal, a championship.

“The goal of every team should be to win the World Series,” Rosenthal said. “And the teams that didn’t go all out, that’s the question I have for them — the contenders. ‘Are you trying to win the World Series?'”

Rosenthal then looked at the Detroit Tigers, who, as of Thursday, are tied with the Toronto Blue Jays for the best record in the American League. In the days leading up to the deadline, the Tigers bolstered their pitching staff, most notably acquiring Chris Paddack, Randy Dobnak, Paul Sewald and Kyle Finnegan.

While Rosenthal was not blown away by Detroit’s activity, he acknowledged that the Tigers did seem to be focused on winning it all.

“It’s modest, relatively speaking. But it’s not bad. And it reinforces what has been their strength, the pitching. Are they going all out? No. But at least they’re making moves to try to win the World Series.”

And while not naming anyone specifically, Rosenthal noted that other teams didn’t make moves with the same end goal.

“Some of these other teams are not looking at it like that,” he said. “And that’s the problem. I know the playoffs are random. I know with an expanded postseason, they’re even more random. But the goal of this sport should be to be the last team standing. I don’t know that enough teams look at it that way.”