MLB trade deadline winners and losers: Texas sized move
The trade deadline almost always throws up some interesting trades that get everyone talking, but this year nothing spectacular really happened. Roy Oswalt’s trade would have been that trade if it hadn’t been drawn out for over a month.
Of course there were some big names moved, Cliff Lee and Oswalt being the main guys, but they weren’t blockbuster moves. Lee and Oswalt were both available for trade and you knew one way or another they would get moved. A blockbuster trade happens when either the player being traded for wasn’t on the market and so an extra premium had to be paid, or when a high profile name is on the market but a large price is still paid because of the player’s talent. Blockbusters can only happen with high-profile players. You can’t really say that happened this deadline.
But that doesn’t mean the deadline wasn’t exciting, here are the winners and losers.
Winners
Texas Rangers
The Rangers didn’t do too badly considering the team is bankrupt and currently operating under Chapter 11. But you have to wonder how they were allowed to add $6million to their payroll, and surely answers will come soon. Player-wise they managed to get the best player available in Lee and that alone gives them a great shot at making the World Series. They then went on to add Bengie Molina, Jorge Cantu and Christian Guzman, all of whom can add to the team that already owned an eight game lead in their division. The Rangers did give up top first base prospect Justin Smoak to get Lee but getting any player that makes you an instant World Series contender has to be considered as a good trade.
San Diego Padres
Before the season started, the Padres were in the news not because they were going to be the team to beat coming into the season but because of Adrian Gonzalez, the slugger they were supposed to trade at the deadline. Instead, the Padres own the best record in the National League and made two moves that only make them better. They got Ryan Ludwick via a three-team trade and took Miguel Tejada from the Baltimore Orioles, adding some power to a team that is winning with pitching. In Ludwick, who has a higher OPS than Alex Rodriguez and Hanley Ramirez, the Padres got someone who will make them a threat in the play-offs, should they make it.
New York Yankees
Not a surprise the Yankees make the list. They’ve got the resources to buy during the harshest of recessions and so you should expect them to be on the winners list at every deadline. This time they got Berkman, Kerry Wood and Austin Kearns and if this was five years ago the pick-ups would be regarded as World Series winning moves. Now, however, they are regarded as gap fillers, which is exactly what the Yankees need to win another World Series.
Losers
Chicago White Sox
You set out to get a big bat and you end up with pitcher Edwin Jackson, the guy who threw a no-hitter and since has an ERA over seven. The White Sox thought they had an agreement with the Washington Nationals that would allow them to sign Adam Dunn from Washington if they acquired Jackson from the Arizona Diamondbacks and included him in the trade. That fell through and the White Sox struck-out on the three big bats they wanted –Dunn, Manny Ramirez and Lance Berkman.
San Francisco Giants
It was the same old story for the Giants at the trade deadline, look for a big bat but fail to get one. Reportedly they were interested in signing Dunn and Jose Bautista and pretty much every available big bat on the market.
Tampa Bay Rays
If the Rays are to catch the New York Yankees and make sure they keep ahead of the Boston Red Sox in the wild card race, they needed to sign a designated hitter. They were in the hunt for Dunn but failed to get him and to make matters worse the Yankees signed Berkman to play DH for them. This could be the Rays’ last year where they are actually good and can challenge in the American League East and the decision not to acquire a big bat has to be classed as a failure.
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