The Major League trade deadline came and went Monday afternoon, giving fans a much-needed burst of excitement before we get to the dog days of summer.

The Cardinals did about all they could, giving up a mid-level prospect for Chicago White Sox left-handed reliever Zach Duke.

Duke, who has a 2.63 earned-run average this season, should bolster a Cardinals bullpen that has struggled most of the year.

The Cardinals weren’t in a position to do much else.

The club would need a minor miracle to catch the Chicago Cubs in the division race, so its season will likely come down to a one-game playoff in early October.

That isn’t conducive to big-time deals for highly    regarded prospects.

But it doesn’t mean other teams didn’t have their share of excitement.

It also doesn’t mean every team played it the right way, either.

I’ll fully admit that grading a trade two days later isn’t the best way to do this, but it’s early August and football doesn’t start for a month, so why not?

Here are the deadline winners and losers as of now: 

Texas Rangers: The Rangers added Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy and New York Yankees outfielder Carlos Beltran without giving up any of their top prospects.

Lucroy is hitting .299 with 50 RBIs this season, while Beltran has a .304 average to go with his 64 runs batted in.

As of Tuesday, the Rangers had a comfortable 5.5 game lead over the Houston Astros in the American League West, and a 1.5 game lead over the Cleveland Indians for homefield advantage.

Plenty of teams helped their situations at the deadline, but nothing like the Rangers.

New York Yankees: While it made plenty of sense for Texas to pick up Beltran, it made just as much sense for the Yankees to unload the veteran and his expiring contract.

For the first time in nearly over 20 years, the Yankees were sellers at the deadline.

They played the part perfectly, sending all-star relievers Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller to the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians, respectively, for a total of eight players in return.

Shutdown closers have become en vogue recently, and you can argue (correctly, in my opinion) that they have become overrated, at least in the way most managers use them.

Cubs Manager Joe Maddon might be the only manager in the Major Leagues that would use Chapman effectively.

While most managers (We’re looking at you, Mike Matheny) wait until a “save situation” to deploy their closers, Maddon’s forward-thinking could make Chapman more valuable.

Thursday, for example, Maddon threw Chapman in in the eighth inning and the fireball thrower got four outs to record his first save with the team.

Losers 

Cleveland Indians: As noted, the Tribe gave up four prospects for Miller, who has a 1.39 earned-run average in 45 innings this season.

A sub-two ERA for any pitcher is valuable.

But the number holds less value for a closer, who usually doesn’t pitch until his team has a lead in the ninth inning.

With a four-game lead over the Kansas City Royals in the division, we’ll assume for this exercise the Indians were playoff-bound with or without this deal.

In that case, the team gave up four prospects for a guy who — at best — will pitch one inning per playoff game the Indians lead in the ninth.

Fans of the 2006 Cardinals (Or 2015 Royals) know better than most how much of a crap shoot the postseason is. 

Sending away four prospects for a guy who could have a limited impact in October doesn’t make sense. 

It was a similar deal to the Cubs’s trade for Chapman, but comparing the two franchises seems silly.

Chicago has the money — as well as a proven front-office — to make risky moves.

Cleveland is, well, Cleveland.