Trade Deadline Review
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by Tyduffy
The Atlanta Braves were the big winners at the deadline, scoring a big-time bat as well as bullpen help. Mark Teixeira will add some premium punch to a potent middle of the order. A healthy Octavio Dotel will be able to provide quality relief in the late innings. They also added two left-handers, to a bullpen that had none. Of all the National League contenders, they filled the most holes. With the Mets still maintaining the illusion that they have a World Series caliber rotation, the Braves may be the team to beat in the NL East, despite currently occupying 3rd place, 3 1/2 games behind the leader.
Boston also managed to pull off a coup by bringing in Eric Gagne. Nearly every contending club wanted Gagne. Boston was one of the clubs on his no-trade clause list. Yet, the Red Sox still managed to bring him in and without giving up any of their top prospects. Offbeat? check. Bad facial hair? check. Beat up cap? check. He should fit right in with the rest of the Sox. It was probably worth it just to keep him out of New York. A masterful stroke if there ever was one.
The entire American League Central should be questioning themselves. The Tigers needed major bullpen help, but failed to add anyone. The Indians, one game back, stood pat as well. The Twins, still in the race at only 6 games back (with games remaining against Cleveland and Detroit), were sellers rather than buyers, dumping starting Second Baseman Luis Castillo to the Mets for two prospects. This sparked some outrage from Johan Santana who stated "It doesn't make any sense for me to be here." Kenny Williams also failed to move either Jose Contreras or Jermaine Dye from the ailing White Sox. The biggest dealer was the last place Royals, who got rid of closer Octavio Dotel. For the pundit predicted "toughest division in baseball," it was quite a poor showing.
In perhaps the worst move of the day, the Pirates traded for Starting Pitcher Matt Morris of the San Francisco Giants. The veteran hurler has a 7.94 ERA since mid-June and is owed $9.5 million next season. The Giants were desperate to make a trade (with no takers) and willing to assume a substantial portion of Morris' salary to facilitate a deal. Instead, the Pirates not only offered to take on the whole of his salary, but offered them a decent propsect in return as well. It's simply inexplicable. They could have gotten him for nothing and at half the price. Is GM Dave Littlefield more out of the loop than the average fan perusing ESPN.com? Did he stumble upon a scouting report on Morris from ten years ago? With moves like this, it is no wonder that the Pirates have been rebuilding since 1992.
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