Post Trade Deadline Roundup
Now that the smoke has cleared from the July 31st trade deadline, let’s do a quick roundup of the deals that went down in the National League, involving teams that are in the NL East and selected teams that appear to be in the Wild Card race.
Phillies
- Hunter Pence from Astros for Jarred Cosart, Jonathan Singleton, Josh Zeid, and a PTBNL
NOTE: Big haul for Pence, and according to various reports, the Phils offered less for Carlos Beltran.
Braves
- Michael Bourn (from Astros) for Jordan Schafer, Brett Oberholtzer, Paul Clemens, and Juan Abreu
- Wil Nieves from Brewers for cash
NOTE: Wow, much larger haul than I would have guessed for Bourn. Remember when he was a speedster who couldn’t reach base and struck out far too often for a leadoff hitter? He still strikes out a ton but at least he’s an on-base machine.
Nationals
- Zach Walters from Arizona in for Jason Marquis.
- Erik Komatsu from the Brewers for Jerry Hairston Jr..
- Jonny Gomes from the Reds for Bill Rhinehart and Chris Manno
NOTE: the Marquis and Hairston,Jr. deals imply the Nats were sellers, but the Gomes deal made them buyers as well. Additionally, they were rumored to be in play for a centerfielder such as Bourn or B.J. Upton. My guess is they are looking to finish strong and build some momentum toward 2012.
Marlins
- Mike Cameron from Red Sox for PTBNL or cash
NOTE: interesting that there wasn’t more action in Miami, though that could be because they weren’t sure whether to buy or sell.
Brewers
- Jerry Hairston Jr. from the Nats for Erik Komatsu.
- Felipe Lopez from Rays for cash
- cash from the Braves for Wil Nieves
- Francisco Rodriguez from Mets for two PTBNL
NOTE: K-Rod, obviously, was the big piece, and the additions of Hairston and Lopez will try to somehow replace the injured Rickie Weeks. I thought they would add one more bullpen arm, but once Weeks went down, filling that hole became a priority.
Giants
- Carlos Beltran from Mets for Zack Wheeler
- Orlando Cabrera from Indians for Thomas Neal
- Jeff Keppinger from Astros for Henry Sosa and Jason Stoffel
NOTE: Like the Brewers, the Giants were desperate for middle infield help. I’m a little surprised they didn’t make a deal for a backstop; might Ronny Paulino have been mentioned during the Beltran discussion?
Diamondbacks
- Brad Ziegler from A’s for Brandon Allen and Jordan Norberto
- Jason Marquis from Nationals for Zach Walters
- Ryan Langerhans from Mariners for cash
NOTE: the Marquis and Ziegler deals make me wonder what the Mets might have been able to get in return for Chris Capuano and/or Jason Isringhausen — not necessarily from the D’Backs but in general.
Cardinals
- Rafael Furcal from Dodgers for Alex Castellanos
- Octavio Dotel, Edwin Jackson, Marc Rzepczynski, Corey Patterson, and three players to be named later or cash from Blue Jays for Colby Rasmus, Trever Miller, Brian Tallet, and P.J. Walters
NOTE: I wonder if the Cards have traded Rasmus to the Mets for, say, Angel Pagan, Jason Isringhausen, and Chris Capuano?
Pirates
- Ryan Ludwick from Padres for PTBNL
- Derrek Lee from Orioles for Aaron Baker
NOTE: The Pirates needed to make at least one solid acquisition to stay in the race, but instead they made two questionable ones — the kind where you cross your fingers and hope the new player will recapture something from the past and be better than what you already have. I thought for sure the Bucs would wind up with Carlos Pena, but reports from Chicago were that the Cubs decided to hold on to the slugger. Why? No one is sure; I guess they plan to re-sign him for 2012. I also thought the Pirates would make a move for a catcher — for example, Ronny Paulino.
About the Author
Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers.
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for some the trades that did happen:
atl-i don’t think the braves trade for a souped up version of juan pierre will have much of an impact and the astros got fleeced once again-i agree with law’s take on it, definitely a case of quantity over quality in the prospects received.
phil-pence is solid, a great fit for the phils, amaro pulls another rabbitt out of his *** during the deadline period once again.
nats- just buying time till they dynamic duo arrive. the best move is the one they didn’t make-trading storen as part of a deal for twins’ span
fla.-really no one they would want to sell. lookin’ ahead to their new home next season.
as for the cards i can see why larussa would find his haul for rasmus (a dumb trade regardless) more appealing.
1) both jackson and rzepcznski are much younger than cap and izzy and 2) patterson is a few yrs older than pagan. larussa has a thing for older position players but conversely he seems to prefer younger pitchers. either way i think that trade punches his ticket out of stl.
i know you would’ve liked to have seen the mets back up the truck during the trade season but i think it’s wiser they didn’t.
I never thought about / noticed LaRussa’s preference for young arms. Interesting take.
I didn’t read Keith Law’s take on the Atlanta trade but I think that a) Bourn’s impact won’t be as noticeable until / unless McCann comes back; and b) the Astros did just fine in the return for Bourn, who could be peaking. I look at it this way: the Astros obviously are going nowhere this year, and likely not going anywhere next year, either, so it made sense to get some youngsters for Bourn now while his stock was high. How many teams were looking for a leadoff-hitting center fielder? I’m not sure, other than the Braves and maybe the Brewers. The ‘stros got Schafer, who has been a disappointment but still young enough to do something, plus three arms that are close to MLB-ready. I realize they aren’t spectacular arms but Oberholtzer could be a back-end starter and Clemens is a Parnell-type.
I think the mets and cubs had the same strategy. They felt that if they blew-up the ship the players would revolt. The cubs are going after a 1B this off season. They want Pujols or Fielder but couldn’t trade everyone because then they wouldn’t be able to attract free agents. Keeping Pena shows him they like him and IF they don’t sign the Pujols or Fielder they can still sign Pena. If Pena doesn’t get signed they get a sandwich pick. Kind of what the mets did with Cappy.
We’ll see what the Mets and Cubs will do this month.
Phillies and Braves had to go get something big since Beltran went to the Giants. I think all 3 teams got the correct guy. Also, Cards are ALL IN this year. Maybe they feel that they will not be able to sign Pujols or if they do, they won’t have the money to get anything else they need.
Trading your lights-out closer and your top run-producer wasn’t blowing up the ship?
No, it wasn’t.
Wright was out for two months; he comes back hitting and then shortly after (in return for a top pick, not some nobody), Beltran leaves. With Duda added too, the result is not some gigantic hole that can’t be filled short term. Who thought Beltran wouldn’t be out the better part of a month at least by now hurt, anyway?
Izzy can close short term too. Also, the contract provides an excuse if not explanation. It is not simply “blowing up” or “fire sale.”
Now, if you also toss out at least one starting pitcher (maybe more) plus a bunch of other players, it looks different. Cappy will keep you in games. If Misch is starting etc., you are not likely to get the same result.
Only in Flushing can your team trade two of their top four players and have fans believe it was for the good of the team.
Strange that most teams that are serious about making a run for the postseason ADD players like K-Rod and Beltran. But hey that Sandy Alderson is some kind of crazy genius, so I trust him!
I’m being nasty, I know. But what this comes down to is the Wilpons are in the biggest city in the world and running a team as if they are located in Omaha, Nebraska. And the fan base is buying into the hype machine. It’s pathetic.
Imagine what would happen to the fan base in the Bronx if the Yankees traded Mariano Rivera and A-Rod at the deadline. (Though, the Yankees are so loaded I suppose no one would even notice.)
The Mets weren’t serious about making a run to the postseason. We know this.
Given that, yes, it was for the good of their team. If K-Rod’s option could have somehow been redone, fine, but if not, it is not good for the team to spend all that money to keep a closer when you have at best a longshot chance.
If you only have a longshot chance, not getting Zach Wheeler would be a bad move. This is not just Queens air or something. We know the Wilpons are lousy owners but on this, this was a good move. Even good owners would realize this.
The comment about A-Rod and Mariano is silly. If this was 1999 or 2000, sure, this would be kinda like that. It isn’t. And, of course, Mariano doesn’t have that kinda of contract kicker.
It is realistic to think a postseason berth is unrealistic and don’t know what they had to get the tool(s) to beat the Braves (and maybe someone else) for that WC slot.
The Mets fan appreciates not doing something stupid. We’ve been down that road before. Well, this one does.
The pretty limited trading deadline transactions also suggest there wasn’t that big of a market for the Mets dregs and bits/pieces. The hope for some pearl in the swine in the prospects you will get back is traded by the clear result of yet another AAA ball team out on the field. What would you get for Capauno? Scouts see what we see — someone who seems to be running out of gas.
Meanwhile, it is just as likely — while having a credible team out there — you will pick one of those up on the waiver wire or some other way. See Beato.
Joe Janish,
Your thoughts about Jimenez to Indians?
Jimmy, check out the ESPN Sweet Spot article I wrote on Sunday about the Ubaldo deal:
http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/14399/with-a-major-move-indians-are-contenders
KRod was light’s out???
Could’ve fooled me.
But, to answer your question no it wasn’t. It was a couple of strategic moves to free up $$$ to re-up Reyes in the offseason and grabbing a top prospect for a type A Free Agent you’d wind up with zilch for after he left.
I just can’t see moving a bad contract and a player, albeit a star one, who wasn’t coming back next year as “blowing up the ship,” “backing up the truck” or a “fire sale” for that matter.
Yes, K-rod was “lights out” compared to most closers in MLB. But hey that’s just my opinion, and we disagree on most subjects so we may as well agree to disagree on this one too. How’s the Izzy and Parnell show doing, by the way?
And as I replied above to another commenter, teams in contention ADD players like Beltran and K-Rod, not subtract them. And once they did get rid of those two, what would it have mattered if they bounced a few more? There wasn’t anyone else — other than Reyes — who was coveted at the deadline and would have had even half the impact of K-Rod and Beltran. 90% of Mets fans noticed when those two guys were traded, and that same 90% wouldn’t know Chris Capuano or Jason Isringhausen if they showed up at their door selling girl scout cookies.
I’m pretty happy with what the Mets did at the deadline. Got rid of two players that had to be moved: K-Rod and Carlos. We wouldn’t have gotten much for Izzy because of his recent injury issues and I think Capuano has been overrated by many in the Mets blogosphere. A starting pitcher who can’t pitch into the 6th inning isn’t a particular valuable commodity as he would wear down the bullpen.
I wouldn’t mind keeping Paulino for next season in a platoon situation. He mashes lefties and is a decent catcher defensively.
Why did K-Rod and Beltran have to be moved? Because the Wilpons are broke and should be owners of the Newark Bears instead of the New York Mets?
So Gavin itsa better to get nothing for them and for guys like Hairston when they become free agents this Winter, and its better to get nothing for Pagan and Pelfrey when they get non tendered this Winter because they Mets (rughtfully so) aren’t giving them arbitration pay raises for the work. You either rebuild or you don’t. You don’t rebuild half way. The more bodies you bring in the more chance you find that lightning in a bottle. There is no lightning in doing nothing. Even the Red Sox and Yankees aren’t a 25 man roster with nothing but 1st round picks.
I wish the Mets had finished what they began. Felt like they started into the intersection hoping to beat the changing traffic light, hesitated, then pulled back to the security of the curb. Getting a strong return on Beltran was the main challenge, and Alderson aced it. Just wish he had continued in that direction by trying to move guys like Izzy; if that would have upset Pelfrey, well, perhaps someone oughta gently suggest that he focus first on improving his pitching before he takes on GM duties as well.
I like your comparison; kind of like a ’69 Chevy Nova.
Nice hart…..