MLB standings ordered by record since trade deadline: Dodgers leave D-Backs in dust

Well, the Dodgers have done it again at the MLB Trade Deadline!

What exactly is it that they've "done"? Hell if I know! But that's why I'm out here and they're in there, cooking away while I Google "Sweetgreen near me."

This summer, the Dodgers stumbled to the Aug. 1 finish line, failing to put the finishing touches on an Eduardo Rodriguez trade (and also failing to ask nicely whether or not he had any interest in being in Los Angeles). That left their deadline haul done and dusted, including infielders Amed Rosario and Kiké Hernández, as well as returning reliever Joe Kelly and "maybe he's a reliever, maybe not" Lance Lynn. Not exactly The Avengers.

Luckily for LA's brass, the Dodgers' chief competition did next to nothing at the midsummer mark. The San Francisco Giants took the corpse of AJ Pollock off the Mariners' hands (free of charge!), and the Arizona Diamondbacks, suddenly scuffling, added Tommy Pham and Paul Sewald (a move that somehow made the Mariners better). Unless LA's moves turned out to be subtraction by addition, they'd probably be fine.

But this fine?! Each of the Dodgers' additions has somehow starred, while the Diamondbacks remain winless after the midsummer line of demarcation, which includes LA's two-game sweep this week.

MLB Standings: Dodgers' trade deadline has made all the difference

Once trailing Arizona, the Dodgers now lead the Diamondbacks by 11 games and the Giants by four. Over half the games included in that gap between LA and AZ were gained after the deadline. How about THAT food for thought?!

Surely, if you've made it this far, you'd like to see the statistics piled up in the early going by the Dodgers' scattershot additions. You're in luck! The numbers are here and they're spectacular.

Hernández and Kelly looking more comfortable after returning home was predictable, but how about Rosario, one of the worst regular players in MLB, suddenly racking up RBI like he's Prime Jeff Kent?!

This initial post-deadline bump might not last, but for the moment, the surging Dodgers are very much enjoying being in a powerhouse bubble. Maybe next year is the season the Diamondbacks finally directly challenge LA's supremacy? For now, yawn. Andrew Friedman pushed all the right buttons, and Pham's 3-for-21 stretch isn't enough to bridge the gap.