The prizes of this year’s market, when all was said and done, were Jack Flaherty, Yusei Kikuchi, Tanner Scott, Jason Adam and a handful of other late-game relievers who can eat the innings contenders are so desperately trying to fill. The reason for the relative lack of star power moved was, in hindsight, simple: In a year defined by injuries to front-line starters and relievers, contending teams were so in need of pitching that those who had it to sell were asking for the moon.

In many cases, they got it. The Toronto Blue Jays received three big-league-ready prospects for a few weeks of Kikuchi. The Miami Marlins got three of the San Diego Padres’ top five prospects for closer Tanner Scott, and the Tampa Bay Rays got three more top ­Padres youngsters for Adam.

The Baltimore Orioles had to cough up one of their better prospects, Connor Norby, alongside promising outfielder Kyle Stowers for starter Trevor Rogers, who owns a 4.53 ERA but will be under team control for two more seasons. The Orioles made several moves to bolster their roster for the stretch run, also adding starter Zach Eflin as part of their rotation remodel, trading for former Philadelphia Phillies relievers Seranthony Domínguez and Gregory Soto (in separate deals) and acquiring Eloy Jiménez from the White Sox and Austin Slater from the Cincinnati Reds to offer some right-handed-hitting outfield options after trading Austin Hays for Domínguez last week.

As contending teams go, that qualified as a substantial haul. The New York Yankees added infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr., but they did not add a starter even though they needed one. They acquired late-inning relief option Mark Leiter Jr., traded away reliever Caleb Ferguson and brought in reliever Enyel De Los Santos from the Padres. The Phillies got the right-handed platoon option they needed in Hays, the closer they needed in former Angel Carlos Estévez and another reliever in Tanner Banks. The Los Angeles Dodgers stockpiled infield depth in Tommy Edman and ex-Ray Amed Rosario, along with ­Michael Kopech and Flaherty.

The first-place Cleveland Guardians, meanwhile, retooled on a budget: They acquired Lane Thomas from the Washington Nationals and Alex Cobb from the San Francisco Giants in moves that cost relatively little in money and fair returns in prospects, addressing major needs in both deals. Their top American League Central competition, the Kansas City Royals, also made major improvements by acquiring relievers Hunter Harvey and Lucas ­Erceg and swingman Michael Lorenzen. The Seattle Mariners tried to fix their anemic offense by trading for Randy Arozarena — one of the biggest stars moved this week — and Justin Turner, and they added to their bullpen with Yimi García and Ryne Stanek.

The biggest deal in hype and quantity was the three-team deal the Dodgers, the White Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals made that resulted in Kopech and Edman joining the Dodgers and Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham becoming Cardinals. The Rays and Marlins orchestrated large-scale sell-offs that netted them multiple top prospects. The Blue Jays, who chose to sell only expiring contracts rather than tear things down completely in the midst of a disappointing season, dealt Kevin Kiermaier to the Dodgers, Trevor Richards to the Minnesota Twins, Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Turner and García to the Mariners, Nate Pearson to the Chicago Cubs and Danny Jansen to the Boston Red Sox in moves that will help bolster their depth ahead of another attempt to contend in 2025.

But in sum, the star power exchanged at the deadline was limited, particularly compared with years past. There was no Juan Soto deal seizing the spotlight, no future Hall of Famers such as Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander on offer. On the flip side, no prospects ranked in Baseball America’s top 100 were dealt, the first time that has happened since at least 2014.

As has been true since MLB expanded its postseason to 12 teams in 2022, more teams in reach of playoff spots meant fewer true sellers, and fewer true sellers meant fewer opportunities for buyers to pry stars away from their current teams. It showed.

Now, any additions that teams need to help them get to and get through October will have to come from inside the organization. Few contenders will be selling out jerseys for new big-name stars. This deadline was defined more by moves made to plug weaknesses, not suddenly establish new strengths.

Perhaps, in time, a contender will prove that this deadline changed its fate dramatically. But the whole event might best be summarized by the fact that, as of 6:01 p.m. Tuesday, exactly who that team might be simply was not clear.