Evaluating the teams that chose to do nothing or next-to-nothing during the trading season:
"JUST SOME TINKERING"
Washington Nationals: They didn't need to make a move, and so resisted the temptation. They're playing with house money right now...why mortgage the future for a marginal upgrade? If/when Stephen Strasburg gets shut down, in-house guys like Ross Detwiler and John Lannan can fill in capably. Plus, the team addressed its hole at catcher by acquiring Kurt Suzuki from the A's during the waiver period.
Score: 9
Baltimore Orioles: Like the Nationals, they're playing with house money. This season has already exceeded expectations; why go for broke? Sure, Joe Blanton would've been a nice addition to the rotation, but not at a prohibitive price. The O's move forward with Jim Thome as their only significant trade addition, and there's nothing terribly wrong with that.
Score: 7
Boston Red Sox: The Sox were rumored to be shopping Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett, John Lester, and even Jacoby Ellsbury at the deadline. When the dust settled, none of those players were moved, and Boston simply sent Matt Albers and Scott Podsednik to Arizona for another bullpen left-hander, Craig Breslow. That was the right thing to do. Even if this team goes nowhere in 2012, it can absolutely contend for the AL East title in 2013 (asuming Bobby Valentine is gone, of course). No need to break up this group just yet.
Score: 9
Arizona Diamondbacks: All they did was swap bullpen arms with Boston and get a marginal upgrade at third with Chris Johnson. A disappointing deadline for an underachieving Diamondbacks team that's just starting to get hot. Not making an aggressive move doesn't eliminate them from contention in the NL West, but it's not like the Dodgers and Giants (both of whom upgraded at multiple positions) are suddenly going to stop winning for Arizona's convenience.
Score: 5
"SITTING TIGHT"
New York Mets: Very strange decisions here. If they planned on contending in the second half, they should have traded for some desperately-needed bullpen help to patch the team's most gaping hole. If they planned on throwing up the white flag, they should have traded away a guy like Scott Hairston, who surely would've brought back something of value from a contending team in need of a lefty-masher. Instead, the Mets did neither. "Staying the course" wasn't really an option here.
Score: 3
San Diego Padres: It's hard to blame San Diego for keeping Chase Headley, the team's all-around best player. Why not trade Carlos Quentin and Huston Street, though? Both impending free agents are injury-prone and likely won't have a place on the next winning Padres team anyway. Instead, both were extended for multiple years. What good will that do?
Score: 4
Cleveland Indians: It's been an unfathomably ugly stretch for the Indians, so their decision to refrain from buying at the deadline looks smarter now. It's not like they would've gotten anything for Derek Lowe. And not trading away Shin-Soo Choo can only be a good thing.
Score: 8
Tampa Bay Rays: The Diamondbacks jettisoned Ryan Roberts, and the Rays grabbed him for a slight offensive improvement in the infield. That was the extent of Tampa's deadline action. To the surprise of some, they decided to stick with James Shields and B.J. Upton, and just ride this season out. After what happened last year, how can you blame them?
Score: 8
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