There are some obvious winners and losers coming out of the MLB trade deadline.
By Blake Dowson
The MLB trade deadline was pretty fun right there at the end. It seemed like there were around 10 trades that happened at 2:59 p.m., with around 30 players getting the news that they will have to wear a different hat and a different jersey.
With each trade deadline, there are winners and losers. There are contending teams that make the necessary moves to make themselves World Series contenders, and on the other end of the spectrum, there are basement dwellers that do nothing to help rebuild the franchise.
Here are The Daily Iowan’s winners and losers from this year’s trade deadline, which ended at 3 p.m. (CDT) Monday.
Winners: New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians
This is a balanced list, with two buyers and two sellers. Each one of these teams made moves that better the franchise; some will see that success this year and some in years to come.
The Yankees were sellers for the first time under the Steinbrenner regime, which is amazing to think about. The Bronx Bombers (though they can hardly be called that this year) turned their bottom-third farm system into a top-five farm system in a matter of days, trading away Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, Carlos Beltrán, and Ivan Nova.
Their top prospect list looks vastly different now, with such guys as Clint Frazier and Gleyber Torres heading the list. Although Yankees GM Brian Cashman has had no experience in selling, it sure looked like he knew what he was doing.
I’m sure the Padres are thinking, “What just happened?” right about now, because just two off-seasons ago, they were the biggest buyers.
Regardless, they did a good job of flipping the talent they did have on the roster (Andrew Cashner, Drew Pomeranz, and Matt Kemp) for prospects who can help in the future.
The Texas Rangers were part of the fun winners club, adding talent to the major league roster to help the squad win a World Series this year.
Trading for All-Star catcher Jonathan Lucroy is the biggest news coming out of Arlington, and for good reason, with Lucroy hitting .300 this season. He serves as a huge upgrade over Robinson Chirinos, who is hitting .192.
Texas also got reliever Jeremy Jeffress in the deal to help solidify its bullpen and traded with New York to get Beltrán, who will serve as the designated hitter.
Cleveland paid a steep price to get Miller from the Yankees, but it’s impossible to blame the Indians for making the move. They were the best team in the American League before the trade, and they are even better now. It’s a no-brainer adding one of the top-three relievers in the game when you are in a pennant race.
Losers: Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Philadelphia Phillies, Miami Marlins
Cincinnati is confusing. The Reds should be in total sell-off mode, getting rid of all assets at the major-league level to load up for the future. That’s not fun, but it needed to be done.
Yes, they traded Chapman, Todd Frazier, and now Jay Bruce away, but players such as Zack Cozart and Brandon Phillips are still on the roster. There was interest in both players — why are they still there?
The Kansas City Royals should have been sellers this year. After two-straight appearances in the World Series that sounds preposterous, but in a small market such as Kansas City it’s reality. The Royals would have been smart to trade away players such as Edinson Volquez and Ian Kennedy.
Instead, they stood pat. Not a good move.
It was the same story with the Philadelphia Phillies, who are in the middle of a major rebuild. They, too, had pieces to move, and they, too, did not move them. It doesn’t make sense. Jeremy Hellickson and Jeanmar Gomez should no longer be wearing Phillies jerseys, yet they are.
Miami did its best to try to ramp up its roster in an effort to snag one of the wild-card spots, but it doesn’t seem they were the right moves. They needed a starter, which they addressed in trading for Cashner. But Cashner has been a replacement-level starter this year, not someone that gives your rotation a shot in the arm down the stretch.
To make matters worse, Miami sent its top prospect, Josh Naylor, to San Diego in the trade. The Padres came up winners, and the Marlins losers, and this trade is the center of that.