Some men do their best work when the impending threat of a deadline looms over them. Others become general mangers of baseball teams.
The Rangers Get Matt Garza, Nobody Else
The Trade: Matt Garza to the Rangers; prospects to the Cubs
The Winner: The Rangers, a little
With Matt Garza in tow (for the next two months at least), the Rangers are putting together a scary-good rotation. The trouble is: what they really needed was a hitter.
The Rangers' offense has been painfully bad recently. They could've used an upgrade at first base, DH, or in the outfield. And their second-best hitter, Nelson Cruz, is one of the names likely to receive a suspension from MLB as part of the Biogenesis scandal. Unlike the Tigers (see below), the Rangers failed to cover themselves for the possibility of losing Cruz for the rest of the reason. On the other hand, the lack of a trade does leave the window open for a potential Manny Ramirez call-up at some point, so maybe the jury's still out here.
The Diamondbacks Dump Ian Kennedy
The Trade: Ian Kennedy to the Padres; Joe Thatcher, a prospect, and a draft pick
The Winner: The Padres; Ian Kennedy
This was a truly puzzling trade by the Diamondbacks. Granted, Kennedy is in the midst of an awful season (5.23 ERA), and maybe the D'backs know something we don't. But facts are facts: Ian Kennedy is an above-average starting pitcher under contract for two more seasons ... and Arizona just traded him away when his value was lowest in exchange for Joe Thatcher (a lefty relief specialist), a minor league reliever, and a draft pick. That looks terrible on paper, and it's difficult to justify.
For Kennedy, though, this is a fantastic career move. In Arizona, he was at risk of getting bumped to the bullpen thanks to a crowded rotation. Now, he might be the Padres' best pitcher. Not to mention the fact that he's moving from hitter-friendly Chase Field to massive Petco Park, where his career numbers have been phenomenal. A nice buy-low snag by the Padres.
The Red Sox Get An Ace With a Three-Way Trade
The Trade: Jake Peavy to the Red Sox; Jose Iglesias to the Tigers; Avisail Garcia and prospects to the White Sox
The Winner: The Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox have designs on winning the American League East, yet up until a few days ago their best starter was either John Lackey or Felix Doubront. That wasn't going to work. With Clay Buchholz's injury troubles and Jon Lester's inconsistency, the Red Sox needed a starter. Jake Peavy isn't Cliff Lee, but he's much cheaper and instantly becomes Boston's best pitcher. His 4.28 ERA is misleading -- his strikeout and walk numbers are right in line with where they were last year, when he posted a 3.37 ERA. The Red Sox also control Peavy through next season.
The most significant piece Boston had to surrender in the deal was 23-year-old shortstop Jose Iglesias. That was perfect maneuvering, because the Red Sox obeyed two of the most basic guidelines for any market: they sold high, and they dealt from a position of strength. As recently as early July, Iglesias was hitting well over .400 and hurtling toward the Rookie of the Year Award. That's not someone you normally trade away. But Jose Iglesias is not a good hitter. That ultra-high batting average he had in the first half of the season was artificially inflated by infield singles and sad little ground balls that found holes. In the month of July, he crashed back to Earth with a .204/.247/.217 batting line. In 2012, Iglesias had eight hits in sixty-eight major-league at-bats (that's a .118 average). His career minor league slash line is .257/.307/.314. Jose Iglesias is not a good hitter. The Red Sox traded him at the apex of his value. Plus, they potentially have an in-house replacement for Iglesias on the left side of the infield: top prospect (and top name) Xander Bogaerts. The 20-year-old shortstop is tearing up the minor leagues and could be this season's Manny Machado if the Red Sox call him up. Iglesias was expendable.
Because the deal was a three-team trade, the White Sox didn't receive Iglesias for Peavy. It was the Tigers who interceded themselves into the deal and grabbed Iglesias, sending power prospect Avisail Garcia to Chicago in return. This is the first instance of a team making a personnel move in anticipation of the impending Biogenesis drug suspensions (what the Rangers failed to do with Nelson Cruz). It's been widely speculated that Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta will be hit with a suspension, perhaps knocking him out for the rest of the year. Iglesias can't replace Peralta's bat, but he's a massive defensive upgrade (and a possible long-term option at the position). Nice anticipation by Detroit.
As for the White Sox? You can't question the decision to trade Peavy, because he's worthless to a rebuilding team. It just feels like they should've gotten more for a year-and-a-half of an ace than Avisail Garcia and three low-level prospects. That being said, it's tough to criticize the return on a trade when we don't know what the other offers were.
The Orioles Make Marginal Upgrades
The Trades: Orioles acquire Scott Feldman, Francisco Rodriguez, and Bud Norris from the Cubs, Brewers, and Astros (respectively)
The Winner: Somebody, maybe
Rather than make one big splash, the Orioles chose to make three smaller upgrades around the edges of their roster. In doing so, they didn't give up much and avoided mortgaging their future. But then again ... you get what you pay for. Feldman's ERA in his five starts with the Orioles is 5.12; Norris' strikeout rate has plummeted from last year (down to 6.4 per nine, which won't play well in the AL East); and Francisco Rodriguez's 1.09 ERA with the Brewers was probably a product of fairy dust (he's already surrendered two home runs in three innings in Baltimore). None of these pitchers are game-changers. All are nothing more than decent. In other words, they'll fit in with the rest of the Orioles pitching staff just fine.
The Astros Turn Nothing Into Something
The Trade: Jose Veras to the Tigers; a prospect to the Astros
The Winner: Astros
Here's a timeline of events leading up to this trade:
1. Astros sign veteran middle reliever Jose Veras for just over $3 million
2. Astros place Veras (who had 5 career saves at the time) in the closer role
3. Astros allow Veras to accumulate 19 saves and establish himself as a "proven closer"
4. Astros trade Veras to Detroit for a legitimate, young outfield prospect
5. Billy Beane applauds from a distance
This whole thing was handled masterfully by Houston. A few months ago, Veras was an old, average middle reliever that anybody could've signed for pocket change. Houston snagged him, watched his value climb as he picked up some saves, and flipped him for a player who might actually have a promising future. It's a play right out of the Billy Beane handbook and the Astros executed it perfectly.
The Phillies and Mariners Do Nothing, For Some Reason
The Trades: None
The Winner: Certainly not the Phillies or the Mariners
The Phillies and Mariners are both at least 13 games back of first place, but rather inexcusably, neither team cashed in on their trade chips before the deadline. On the Mariners' side: hitters Raul Ibanez, Michael Morse, and Kendrys Morales will all be free agents at the end of the season. There were undoubtedly teams interested in renting their services, like the offense-starved Rangers and Yankees. So why didn't the Mariners trade them? This was a missed opportunity to pick up some future value for guys who won't be around in two months. The same applies to the Phillies -- if they had any opportunity to dump Michael Young, Carlos Ruiz, or even Jonathan Papelbon on someone, why didn't they jump at the chance? Here's a case of two teams being too stubborn and/or proud to officially wave the white flag on an already-lost season.
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