Belated-Winners, Losers at Trade Deadline
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by Aprisco
So it's a given that the Braves were the big winners at the trade deadline, right? Wrong. Just because you get the best player available at the trade deadline, does not mean that you did the best at the deadline. When viewing the moves at the trade deadline, the key is did you address a need that will help you get into the playoffs or win the World Series and what did you give up? If that's how you grade trading deadline transactions, then the Braves were not the winners. Who did the best? Well, here's my list:
1) The Padres- Now the Padres moves won't blow you away, however, this is one of the few teams in competition for a playoff spot that was happy with their pitching but have a HORRIBLE offense. They got themselves two productive bats: Rob Mackowiak (237 abs, .278, 6HR, 38RBI) and Morgan Ensberg (233 abs, 10HR,35 RBI) and also added Milton Bradley whose hitting .360 with 15 RBIs in 21 games since becoming a Padre plus they gave up nothing on their 24 man roster. A little more offense is all this team needed to be a dangerous playoff threat, they also will need to get Chris Young back on field.
2) The Phillies- They made it obvious that they want to make the playoffs by immediatly picking up Tadahito Iguchi from the White Sox as soon as Chase Utley went down. Nobody is as good at second base as Utley, but Iguchi is a nice complimentary player, a good two hitter in a solid lineup that will help them tremendously. Then they addressed a need picking up Kyle Lohse from the Reds. Lohse was 6-12 with a 4.58 ERA, a pitcher I never liked but with the Phillies' lineup and their tremendous need for healthy starting pitchers (Freddy Garcia and Jon Lieber remain on the DL), Lohse should help. Plus they picked up Julio Mateo, a reliever with a live arm, from the Mariners whose only problem is with the law (domestic violence charge). Hey when you're trying to win you have to pull out all the stops and everyone deserves a second chance. They gave up relatively little in terms of prospects which is a bonus.
3) The Braves- Ok, I put them third but not because of Mark Teixeira. The Braves best acquisitions were also getting Ron Mahay and Octavio Dotel from the Rangers. The Braves big need was starting pitching and they failed to address that need, but knowing that their starting pitching is weak, the Braves did the next best thing and added bullpen depth. Mahay had a 2.77 ERA in 39 innings with Texas. While Dotel has been shaky, 23 innings, 24 hits, 11 walks and a 3.91 ERA, he can eat up an inning here or there and with the Braves offense, their bullpen does not need to be perfect. As for Teixiera, the Braves offense is good enough without him, this move was made more for the future. Andruw Jones may leave via free agency at the end of the year and Chipper Jones is on his last legs. The Braves will lock Teixiera up long term and make him, Jeff Francoeur and Brian McCann the cornerstone of their franchise. The Braves gave up their three top prospects to get Teixera, that might turn out to be too much. Teixiera may not be the player that hit 43 home runs and drove in 144 RBIs in 2005, last year he was at 33 and 110 and his numbers are similar to that this year. Most people believe that Jarrod Saltalamacchia will be a future all-star and Andrus, a young shortstop is also considered a possible future star. Plus, the Braves gave up two pitching prospects. They could have held on to Saltalamacchia and played him at first or moved McCann to first, but I guess they wanted the more experienced Teixiera.
4) The Dodgers- Their bullpen is weak and they weren't really playing Wilson Betemit. Proctor may not be great but he is an innings eater, will take the ball everyday and the Dodgers needed bullpen depth. The Dodgers did not get the bat they needed however. They will hope that youngers Matt Kemp, James Loney and Andrew Ethier continue to grow into major league starters.
5) The Mets- Luis Castillo is a nice two hitter with speed and a solid glove at second. Jose Valentin cannot go on forever, however, the Mets did not address their huge problem which is their pathetic bullpen. The Mets will have trouble winning close games if they cannot bridge the gap to Wagner.
Neither a winner or a loser:
1) The Red Sox- Their bullpen is already the best in baseball, they did not need Eric Gagne, plus you wonder what his presence may do to the young psyche of Papelbon, but the Red Sox gave up little to get him, certainly less than what the Rangers wanted from the Yankees (Melky Cabrera or Ian Kennedy, an A prospect). The Red Sox are not really high on Kason Gabbard, who does not throw hard and was not a big prospect, plus they gave up Murphy, an outfield prospect, but held on to Jacoby Ellsbury, the outfield prospect they really like. Reports are that Gagne does not have the great velocity on his fastball to compliment his breaking ball either.
2) The D-Rays- What in the world is this organization doing? So many playoff contenders were after Ty Wigginton, it would have been easy to drive his price tag up and get a lot for him. Instead they traded him to another non-playoff contender (Houston) for a middle relief pitcher (Dan Wheeler). This trade will have no impact on the D-Rays unless they unload Wheeler at the trading deadline next year when they are out of playoff contention. The D-Rays actually believe they are a strong bullpen away from competition...then you wonder why they are in last place every year.
3) Rangers-They didn't want to pay Texiera so they will get a cheaper version for a few years in Saltalamacchia, until they don't want to pay him either. They also get Kason Gabbard which is a mild upgrade over their awful starting pitching.
4) The Twins-Traded Luis Castillo to the Mets. Now I don't think the Twins can make the playoffs, but technically they are very alive for a wild card spot and the Tigers, Indians, Yankees and Mariners are not unbeatable. They traded a veteran player having a good year for nothing that will help them this season. Plus, they also pissed off Torii Hunter and Johan Santana, both close to free agency, in the process.
What were you thinking?
1) The Yankees- Admittedly Scott Proctor is not always good, that's because Joe Torre uses him every game. Who's going to eat those innings now, Kyle Farnsworth? Wilson Betemit plays 2nd, short and third, so when exactly is he going to play? How about DH? Are you going to sit Johnny Damon and Jason Giambi when he gets healthy? He can pinch hit but who amongst the Yankee starters are you going to pinch hit for? This move made no sense other than to rid themselves of the hot-headed Procter.
2) Astros- Hmm, Ty Wigginton has some pop, plays third base. They made room for him by trading Morgan Ensberg who has some pop and plays third base. They traded Dan Wheeler, a good middle relief pitcher, to Tampa when almost every playoff contender needs middle relief...uggghhh
3) The Pirates-- In a year in which the Pirates have absolutely no chance of making the playoffs, they add Matt Morris, who is signed for this year and next at roughly $9 million per year. His numbers: 7-7, 4.35 ERA, in July: 28.2 innings, 48 hits, 27 earned runs, 0-3, 8.48 ERA. I repeat, then you wonder why certain teams are always in last place.
Why Weren't You Doing?
1) The Tigers, Indians and Angels
Apparently these teams are perfect because they did nothing at the trading deadline and none are guaranteed playoff spots. All three needed to improve their bullpens and did nothing. Detroit is struggling with starting pitching after Justin Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman. Kenny Rogers and Nate Robertson have been disappointing of late, plus their offense has tailed off but made no moves whatsoever. With the Yankees and Mariners playing well expect at least one of these teams to miss the playoffs.
2) The White Sox- This team has been a huge disappointment and could have unloaded any number of players with Jermaine Dye, who is a free agent after the season, at the top of the list. Yet, they were only able to deal Iguchi (who I would've kept) and Rob Mackowiak.
3) The Brewers- Desperately needed starting pitching to make up for the loss of Ben Sheets and the gradual decaying of Chris Capuano and Jeff Suppan to hold off the Cubs but could only get overrated middle relief pitcher Scott Linebrink from the Padres (3-3, 3.80 ERA, 45 innings, 41 hits, 14 walks).
