The Winners & Losers of The MLB Trade Deadline



Will Price lead Detroit deep into the postseason? Photo Credit:USA Today

 

The trading deadline came and went, it did not disappoint in the sheer volume of trades that were made. Not all trades though made teams winners on this annual big event in baseball. We had our fair share of winners and losers after this trading frenzy. Just who were winners and losers? Find out below.

 

By: Michael Hanley

 

Let us first deal with who came up smelling like a million bucks after 4 PM on Thursday.

Winners

Detroit Tigers- This was the obvious choice as Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski was able to once again work his magic and score the top pitching arm available on the market in David Price. This is a massive addition to their starting rotation which could use the help. Verlander has not pitched like the ace we grew to knew over the past few years. Drew Smyly and Anibal Sanchez have been disappointments at the back end of the rotation. Price gives Detroit a legitimate ace at the top of their rotation to move with. Now the trio of Price, Porcello and Scherzer give Detroit a great trio to go to battle with in the postseason. They also did not have to give allot up to get Price, as many expected a team would have to in order to get Price. They gave up Austin Jackson to Seattle, the aforementioned Drew Smyly & also Willy Adames to the Rays, not exactly losing their top prospects in their farm system. This setups Detroit for another solid run in the playoffs.

Athletics- Acquiring Jon Lester is another power move by GM Billy Beane and his all in bid this season on his team. Lester deepens what is already considered the deepest rotation in all of baseball. Oakland’s starting frontline of Kazmir, Gray and now Lester is nearly unrivaled compared to everyone else’s top three pitchers in their respective rotations. Cespedes will be a player they miss with the cannon for an arm he had getting all those outfield assists to his ability to slug home runs and spray hits all over the field. Opportunities like Oakland has this season do not come around every year especially for a small market team like they are, you have to applaud the effort of them recognizing that and making the moves to take full advantage of their big season.

Red Sox- Boston was the most active club by far of this trading deadline. They accomplished allot in getting younger, more athletic in key positions on the current roster and in the minor leagues. Starting with the outfield, adding Yoenis Cespedes from the A’s and Allen Craig from the Cardinals  gives them an instant upgrade over the other options Boston has had to play with this season. They now have a power bat and great fielder in Cespedes to rely on and have cCaig who can play a very solid outfield and be a good bat in the lineup.  The Red Sox also got stronger prospect wise, with Eduardo Rodriguez being the top prospect they got in exchange for reliever Andrew Miller. Rodriguez has electric stuff and is looked at as a future top piece of the rotation for Boston down the line. Quite a makeover job already done by GM Ben Cherington.

Angels- Though they did not throw their hat into the David Price sweepstakes, the Angels already had improved themselves a few weeks ago when they acquired closer Huston Street from San Diego and relief pitcher Jason Grilli from the Pirates  to seal the back end of their bullpen. Though getting Street did force them to part with some of their top prospects down in their farm system, it is well worth the trade as Street has proven to be as solid of a closer as any in all of baseball. Grilli also has been an upgrade for Los Angeles as he has filled a need in that bullpen and complimented Street well.They have a powerful and deep lineup, a starting rotation that is consistent and performs up to standard & now a bullpen that is rock solid, can understand why they stood pat at the deadline.

Cardinals- Adding a veteran pitcher for the stretch run is never a bad move and that certainly can apply to the trade of receiving John Lackey from Boston. Lackey is an experienced starting pitcher who has plenty of experience being in pennant races and in big postseason games. He will help that injured riddled rotation out and give them an arm that can be solid and give the team a great chance of winning every time he toes the rubber. Also St. Louis is not taking on allot of money from Lackey’s contract. In fact, he is said to want to play out his deal, including the $500,000 salary he is scheduled to make next season, offering the Cardinals flexibility with their payroll for next season.

Padres- For a team that fired their general manager earlier in the season, has had a dreadful year on the field and has three front office people running the baseball side of things, San Diego made a nice haul prospects wise. Just in the Huston Street trade alone the Padres got back great value in acquiring some of the top prospects the Angels had to give in their system. Add to that receiving a promising young outfielder in Abraham Almonte for  trading Chris Denorfia to the Mariners. Whoever comes in as General Manager next will be the benefit of a replenished farm system and some pieces to build around at the major league level.

And now time for those teams who are wishing that they could go back in time and redo the trading deadline day all over again.

Losers

Phillies- A team that for so long this season has been the center of almost all trade possibilities to not be able to unload one of their older, big contract ladened veterans has to be a massive disappointment to GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and the whole organization. There were conflicting reports on Philly asking for the moon and stars for everyone of their players, especially Marlon Byrd. The Phillies themselves though, thought  some of the offers they received were laughable. Whatever the truth is on that, it still does not takeaway from the fact that Philly still has the same, old team that has led them to a 49-61 record  this season and no financial flexibility moving forward. Plus, they still have a farm system bereft of young, elite talent that they can count on developing moving forward. Even one trade would have improved that department but it looks as if the Phillies are going down with the players that, yes had their great former glory days back five, six years ago in their prime, but now are slowly driving the franchise to a very low point in their recent history.

 

Giants- The only saving grace for San Francisco is that their arch rival in the NL West, the  Dodgers, did not acquire David Price or any other big name player at the deadline. The Giants acquisition of Dan Uggla failed miserably and they missed out on fixing their second base issue that has haunted them all season long. They could have alleviated an offensive need by going after Emilio Bonifacio, who would have slid nicely into the leadoff spot or could have batted second and provided some hits at the top of that lineup that could use an infusion of offense especially as the stretch run gets underway.

Rays- Tampa Bay’s front office has rightfully gotten the reputation of being able to get the maximum amount of value for each trade they have made in recent years. This David Price trade though, looks to be one that they could have gotten allot more than what they ended up getting.  The prospect package of Drew Smyly, Nick Franklin and Willy Adames is not near the top level prospects that many in baseball thought Tampa Bay could get for one of the best pitchers in the game right now. These three players could wind up helping the Rays in future years but it is not a group that is looked at as one that will change the fortunes of the franchise to be World series contenders again. The Rays left allot to be desired after all the talk throughout the season of them getting  top prospects that would change their fortunes around in a big way.