Next Gen Journal

By John Todd

The Major League Baseball Trade Deadline has come and gone. Without further ado, here is my take on the winners, the losers, and the Pirates.

The Biggest Winner

Some people claim that this is the Boston Red Sox or the Philadelphia Phillies, but the real winners were the St. Louis Cardinals. They landed Matt Holliday, who has gone on an offensive tear since he arrived in St. Louis. They sent the extraneous Chris Duncan to Boston for Julio Lugo, who, coming off two and a half disappointing (and for Red Sox fans like me, painful) years in Boston, has caught fire, hitting .375 with 3 triples. They also are, reportedly, not on the hook for any of Lugo’s salary. The Cardinals also snagged a solid player with the addition of Mark DeRosa earlier this season. All in all, the Cardinals managed a very good trade deadline; if this keeps up, they could be a force to be reckoned with in the National League.

The Biggest Loser

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim did nothing at the trade deadline. They certainly could have used some arms like Heath Bell or even Jarrod Washburn. Their pitching staff is not nearly as strong as it could be. It’s highly likely that they’ll face a short series with the Red Sox, Yankees, or Rays in the playoffs; their rotation is not strong enough to shut down any of those teams. They also have serious contention inside their division from the Texas Rangers, another team with a strong lineup. Another arm or two could have done wonders in helping the Angels towards success in October.

The  Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates get a category unto themselves, because that’s generally what happens when you trade 9 people from your opening day roster and 10 big leaguers in total. In return, the Pirates added a whopping 15 prospects, including former top Mets’ prospect Lastings Milledge, who was coming off an unproductive stint with the Nationals. To get all of these prospects, the Pirates sacrificed ¾ of their starting infield, 3 outfielders, 3 relievers, and a starter pitcher. The trades of starters Jack Wilson, Freddy Sanchez, and Adam LaRoche were all driven by expiring contracts. All in all, if a majority of the prospects work out, this could turn out to be one of the better trade deadline decisions of all time. If the team continues to be horrendous and these prospects don’t work out, especially Milledge, this could be one of the absolute worst trade deadlines for any team in MLB history. It is absolutely mind-boggling to think that any one could topple the sell off in San Diego ( the Padres traded a former Cy Young Award winner, a top notch set-up man, and a good outfielder as well as nearly parting with All-Stars Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell), but miraculously the Pirates managed to do just that.

A Few Other Teams to Comment On

The Chicago White Sox

The biggest risk-takers of the year (aside from the Pirates). If Jake Peavy succeeds in Chicago, his acquisition will prove to be an absolutely brilliant move, but trading for an injured player who’s received a lot of help from a friendly home ballpark is certainly a risk. It’s probably a move for the future; it doesn’t appear that Peavy will be back and available to pitch until September at the earliest. However, throwing Mark Buehrle and Jake Peavy to start off a short series could be a scary proposition for the team unlucky enough to face them. The only tandem scarier among A.L. contenders would be Josh Beckett and John Lester in Boston. The other two playoff teams would be hoping those 2 played each other in the first round, if the White Sox manage to sneak into the post season.

The Philadelphia Phillies

It never hurts to pick up the reigning Cy Young award winner. Cliff Lee and Pedro Martinez make the Phillies rotation one of the best in baseball. Martinez does carry some risk, though, so it will be interesting to see how he pitches when he reaches the big league level.

The Toronto Blue Jays

Verdict: disaster. Their astronomical asking price for pitcher Roy Halladay scared off pretty much everyone. It also robbed them of any chance available to shed outfielder Vernon Wells’ enormous salary.

I’ll hold off my totally biased comments on the Red Sox. Between the Roy Halladay sweepstakes dud, the Pittsburgh Pirates selloff, and the surprising Jake Peavy trade, this was a classic trade deadline.

John Todd is the NGJ Director of Business and Advertising and a student at Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego. He is an avid Red Sox fan.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.