The MLB Trade Deadline Thread

[Turd Ferguson]

The Trade Deadline in Major League Baseball is an event. It's one of my most favorite times in baseball, because there is so much unpredictability involved, and it's fun to see which teams are interested in what player, and how baseless reports can be at times. I feel that the Trade Deadline is worthy of its own thread, so here we go. Use this thread to talk about possible trades that might go down, and construct your own (IN REASON!!) deals.

In other words, posts like:

YEAH I THINK DA YANKEES SHOULD TRADE CHAN HO PARK FOR ALBERT PUJOLS AND DEN TRADE JORGE POSADA FOR STRASBURG BECUZ THE NATIONALS NEED A CATCHER

Should not happen. Use sound reasoning and judgment when constructing potential trades.

So before you decide to post your proposed trade, use these resources:

http://mlb.com - Depth Charts

http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/ - Cot's Contracts - The best MLB salary/contract information on the internet.

http://www.fangraphs.com/ - Fangraphs - The best resource on the internet to see how baseball players are really performing.

As far as news goes:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com - The best collection of links and baseball news on the internet. Constantly updated, and the writers on the site know their stuff.

Sellers and Most Likely Players to be traded:

Seattle Mariners - It's been a disappointing season for them. Cliff Lee is the biggest player that is available, and is likely gone with his future being a rental for a contender. David Aardsma has developed into a damn good closer, and someone will overpay to get him. Jack Wilson will probably be dealt as well. They're likely stuck with Milton Bradley.

Baltimore Orioles - Will most likely try to move older players in an effort to rebuild. Ty Wigginton, Brian Roberts, Luke Scott, Kevin Millwood, Jeremy Guthrie (someone will overpay for him) and Miguel Tejada are the likely culprits to be moved.

Arizona Diamondbacks - Most likely everyone is available except for Justin Upton and Mark Reynolds.

Chicago Cubs - Stick a fork in them. They have a lot of older players, but they're all grossly overpaid. Most likely won't get something done unless they assume a lot of salary. They're stuck with their albatrosses like Fukudome, Zambrano, and Lee.

Pittsburgh Pirates - No real pieces that are useful to contenders. Maybe Ryan Doumit might bring back something in value?

Kansas City Royals - Another disappointing season and considering Dayton Moore is a terrible GM, he'll probably get nothing meaningful in return for David Dejesus, Alex Gordon (who will probably blossom elsewhere), and nobody would want Gil Meche or Jose Guillen without them assuming a lot of salary, which won't happen.

Cleveland Indians - Still rebuilding, might trade Austin Kearns (who is having a nice career rejuvenation).

Houston Astros - They're done, and Roy Oswalt is expensive. Lance Berkman's having the worst season of his career, is expensive, and wants his contract renewed by whoever trades for him. Good luck with that, Lance.

Milwaukee Brewers - Need to reassess. Not going to get much further without retooling, and might need to trade Prince Fielder while they can still get value out of him.

Washington Nationals - Enjoying a rise to respectability, but need to trade some veterans to bring in more younger pieces that will help them compete. Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham would go a long way in bringing back really good value.

More teams will fall out of it as the month goes on, but here's a starter.

 

[Baller]

Cliff Lee, is the wildcard in all of this, as if the Mariners feel they are out of contention come July 31, Cliff will be traded somewhere. I don't feel the Yankees are the ones who go after him as they feel they can wait till the offseason and just sign him then, as they don't want to give up more prospects.

The Mets could be after him as they need one more starting pitcher and they can make a legit run at the Braves and the Phils, as of right now they have an average starting rotation at best.

The team who could be a surprise to trade for him, but I think has a legit shot at him is the Minnesota Twins. The Twins are in a great division race with Detroit and now the surging Chicago White Sox. Minnesota needs that true ace in the staff, as Scott Baker is not the best number one starter in the world, and Carl Pavano can only be as good as he has been for so long. Minnesota needs that ace to get them over the hump and could make them a serious threat come postseason time.

 

[Megatron]

I really wish that my Tigers would try to make a run for Oswalt or Lee, seeing as our rotation then would be set with Verlander, Oswalt/Lee, Scherzer, Bonderman, and Porcello, but those odds aren't on my side. I think Lilly from Chicago would be a great fit, like how Kenny Rogers was for us in 2006 - a lefty veteran - and could push us across. I don't think that would be stretching way out there either. Offer some talents like Wilkin Ramirez (who probably will never get his shot up in Detroit) Don Kelly (who has some utility purpose) and a middle of the road prospect, I'd go for it.

However, what we need more then starting pitching is some relief help. Valverde has been much better then advertised, so our 9th is set, but otherwise it looks like:

Set Up: Ryan Perry
MR: Phil Coke
MR: Daniel Schlereth
LR: Eddie Bonine
LR: Brad Thomas

Not very promising. If we could get a good 7th-8th reliever (3.25 ERA, 1.40 WHIP) (preferrably 8th) we should go for it. I'm much more confident with Perry & Coke in the 7th then 8th, so a set-up man would be nice, now that Zumaya is done for the season. Dombrowski isn't afraid to make a move, and there will be many teams that are willing to make a deal.

SS also could use some help. Santiago's been hitting the ball better as of late, but I heard that Ryan Theriot on the Cubs is on the market, and he's a better hitter then Santiago and Danny Worth, so that could be a possible option.

Overall, I think middle relief should be our primary goal to achieve, then a decent hitting SS, then a 3rd/4th pitcher. I really believe that Dombrowski will make a move, and I'm confident he will try his best to give us a chance at making a run to the playoffs.

 

[gd]

As a Pirates fan, Dotel and Doumit seem to be the guys most likely to move. They've been giving Bobby Crosby a lot of playing time lately as well, simply so they can trade him, but he's shit, so we probably won't get much in return. There's also been some talk about Duke and or Maholm as they're both solid, somewhat young starters, but likely aren't going to get much better.

I odn't think it'll be a full out salary dump this year for us as we do have some solid young pieces to hold on to (Tabata, Walker, McCutcheon, Alvarez, etc.). Dotel is the only one that's certainly gone, as he fits the mold of the veteran closer that we seem to sign every year and trade 4 months later, which I'm fine with. Sure we could get something decent back for him and Evan Meek is more than ready to take over the closers role.

 

[Digging4Plunder]

Bump this up real quick because the Yankees lost the Cliff Lee deal at some point today. (Been at work so i'm not quite sure what happened).

Names being tossed around are the Rays, Reds and Rangers. If the Rays or Rangers get him, I believe that locks up divisions for either team. Rangers seem like they are one good player away from taking the West... and shit, mid post

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/news/story?id=5367615

Way to go Texas.. I'm not too much of a fan of baseball, but doesn't this make the Rangers a serious contender to at least make the ALCS?

 

[Megatron]

Bump this up real quick because the Yankees lost the Cliff Lee deal at some point today. (Been at work so i'm not quite sure what happened).

Names being tossed around are the Rays, Reds and Rangers. If the Rays or Rangers get him, I believe that locks up divisions for either team. Rangers seem like they are one good player away from taking the West... and shit, mid post

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/news/story?id=5367615

Way to go Texas.. I'm not too much of a fan of baseball, but doesn't this make the Rangers a serious contender to at least make the ALCS?

I read that one prospect the Yankees were offering had an injury and that's what backed the Mariner's off.

As for Texas, yeah they're clear favorites in the division and probably top 3 in the AL. For the longest time they haven't had pitching which had hurt them late in the season, but with Lee, Feldman, Feliz at closer they are clear threats. Especially since they have a top 5 offense to boot.

I've read rumors that my Tigers are talking about trading Porcello, who's floundering right now in the minors, for Dan Haren, which I am actually a fan of. Pitching is one of the problems of us and if you have Haren, along with Scherzer, Verlander, and Bonderman, would give us a pretty deep rotation, at least imo. Also heard talks about getting Drew from them as well. Nothing serious yet though. But if we can get those two and not give up anything significant (someone like Raburn and Sizemore I'll go for) I'd be happy.

 

[Big Sexy]

There's a new rumor going around that the Rays may trade Carl Crawford to the Angels. It may sound stupid at first considering the Rays currently have the Wild Card spot in the AL and are only 2 games out of the division lead. Not to mention Crawford is one of their best players and losing him could hurt their chances at making the playoffs, but the Rays know he is a free agent at the end of this year and they will not be able to afford him.

Two teams that will be interested in Crawford during the off season are the Yankees and the Red Sox and Tampa would love to keep him out of the division if at all possible. If the Rays can find a deal that would give them something good in return and allow them to still be able to compete in the playoff race this year then they have to at least consider it. I don't like the idea but anything is possible.

 

[Digging4Plunder]

Giving the whole "Rays can't afford him" bit, i'd say it's a great idea to go ahead and trade him. At least they will get something for him instead of just losing him. Teams do it all the time and even though it sucks because Crawford is a good player, sometimes you just got to do what you got to do.

 

[Megatron]

This thread should get some activity within the next week, since the trade deadline is this Saturday. For those who missed it, Dan Haren went to the LA Angels yesterday for Joe Saunders and 3 minor leaguers. I, for one, am disappointed that the Tigers didn't make a serious offer for Haren, as having a permanent #3 behind Verlander and Scherzer would've been great. However, the Angels did a good job out of getting Haren out of nowhere, esepcially since the Yankees were thought of as the frontrunners and the Angels weren't even in the discussion, at least from what I read. He should fill in nicely as the #2 behind Weaver, and, while I don't think the Angels will be able to catch Texas, especially with the Rangers having a 7 game lead currently. However, Haren should be able to help them give Texas a run for their money.

Also, reports are that Roy Oswalt has turned down the option of going to the Phillies, and that his desiring St. Louis. Honestly, the chances of him getting delt, now, seem highly unlikely, at least imo.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Roy Oswalt approved a trade to Philadelphia. Oswalt and $11 million will go to Philadelphia for JA Happ and a Pu-Pu Platter of prospects that probably won't amount to much. Good trade for the Phillies considering they didn't have to give much, and that the Astros had $11 million to just throw around to give Philly (who can certainly afford Oswalt), when they could be putting that $11 million into building a respectable farm system.

The Phillies are making a push to get back into it... gotta give them credit for that. Halladay, Oswalt, and Hamels is a scary 1-2-3. I think as of right now, especially with Utley coming back soon, they're looking like a favorite for the wild card... and they could get back into the Divisional race.

 

[Thriller Ant]

The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired right-hander Jake Westbrook from the Cleveland Indians in a three-team deal.

The three-way trade sends Cardinals outfielder Ryan Ludwick to San Diego, and at least one prospect to Cleveland, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney.

Westbrook had been the scheduled starter in the Indians' Saturday afternoon game against the Blue Jays in Toronto.

Like I said in the Sports Bar, I'm glad we picked up a pitcher, because we could use another starter. We need bullpen help too, but it is what it is. What I'm really not sold on is trading Ludwick. I know the Cards' outfield is a bit full (Holliday, Jay, Rasmus, Craig, plus utility guys who can plug in) but Ludwick had been our #2 hitter the past few seasons behind Pujols. I'm sure Westbrook will plug in nicely, especially now that he will be under the tutelage of Dave Duncan, the man who made winners out of Kyle Lohse, Joel Piniero, Jeff Suppan, and Jeff Weaver. But I'm afraid we won't be able to fill the hole left by Ludwick.

 

[Smooth Sexual Chocolate]

So the Padres just picked up Miguel Tejada from the Orioles for a double A prospect and a player to be named later. Tejada has been having a down year to date, but finding motivation playing for the 32-71 O's is probably a tough task; just last year Tejada had 199 hits 46 doubles and 14 homeruns, and a smooth .313 batting average. Tejada is going from the worst team in baseball to the best team in the nation league, hopefully that's enough to get his juices flowing again.

I really like the pick up, puts a legit threat in the 4 hole batting behind Adrian Gonzalez, and really expands the lineup nicely. I'm hoping the padres have one more have one more trick up there(HOLY SHIT, PADRES ACQUIRE RYAN LUDWICK FROM CARDINALS).

So literally as I was typing that last line I went to check MLB.com and low and behold, the padres pull off said trick, this is a HUGE, Ludwick and Tejada thrown in with Gonzalez; and lets not forget the best statistical pitching staff in all of baseball.

Still plenty of room on the Padres bandwagon, I'm sure all those media monkeys will be hoping on any second now.

 

[The Crock]

The Padres have looked great, a few solid pickups and I think that they have a shot at the world series. I don't think they can beat the Yankees, who picked up Austin Kearns and Lance Berkman. I also think that Westbrook wasn't worth giving up Ludwick and that they could have picked somebody up off waivers.

 

[Stormtrooper]

So the Yankees made another move, picking up Kerry Wood for a Player to be Named Later. The Yanks wanted to shore up their late inning bullpen, and if he can stay healthy (a big if, but for half a year it's possible), Wood is really good. Plus, the Yanks are only paying 1.5 million of his remaining contract.

 

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

Well, its been a great few days for my team, the Yankees. I really like all of the additions they have made this year at the deadline.

Austin Kearns: A right handed hitter who could be perfect for our bench. Even though he isnt putting up solid numbers, he is still a valuable player that can be very dangerous to other teams. He could be this years Eric Hinske for the Yankees. Not exactly a power hitter, but he can play the field very well, and come off the bench when need be.

Kerry Wood: This trade was made to counter the Rays getting Chad Qualls from Arizona. Qualls has an ERA above 8., and Wood has one above 6. However, with Joba being as shaky as he is, I wonder if Wood can become the Yankees 8th inning guy. I also wonder if he will succeed in that role.

Lance Berkman: The cou-de-gras for the Yankees this year. All-Star Lance Berkman. This one caught me off guard. Yet, I am very happy with the Yankees making this trade. Berkman is a guy who can become out full time DH, or can come off the bench if we need him too. He can also be used to give Texeira a day off if the Yankees want to. Lance Berkman is a solid addition to an already solid ball-club, and it is a great move for the Yankees.

I am very happy with the Yankees moves this year. Word is, even though the deadline is over, they still arent done.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

I like what the Red Sox did in acquiring Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Let's not forget that back when the Braves traded for Teixiera, Saltalamacchia was the centerpiece of the deal. He's had some problems, but I think a lot of them were mental, and he'll be brought along slowly in Pawtucket. He's expressed a lot of interest in coming to Boston in the past, and had expressed a major desire in working with and learning from Jason Varitek. There's still a lot of untapped potential in Saltalamacchia... and for Theo to give up a pitcher with major upside for him goes to show that he thinks he can reach it here.

I just wish that he sold high on V-Mart and Beltre. This season is a lost cause. We're not catching up to the Rays and Yankees. There's too many holes and I'm not sure they can get them filled with the waiver trade market. Wagner was a huge coup last season, but with ace relievers still at a premium, I'm sure it's going to be tough to get someone even close to that caliber. With the Salty trade, it shows that V-Mart is not in our long-term plans, and I'm sure Beltre is gone after this season in the first place. We'll get four draft picks out of them, but I would have rathered a top prospect who is proven in the first place.

I'm really glad that he didn't give up the farm in bad deals for the likes of Scott Downs and David DeJesus, who we were linked to over the last month.

 

[The People's Peep]

I must say, as a Yankee fan, I am very nervous to see what Kerry Wood brings.

His ERA is over 6, but he has been good for the Indians recently. I think I saw that he has an ERA around 3 since June. So if he can bring that to the team, then maybe he can be the solution the 8th inning problem they have had all year. Or maybe he gets Joba to step up his game and now we have a 7th and 8th inning guy, essentially making it a 6 inning game.

Another concern is Yankee Stadium. Is he going to be able to deal with the 314 down the right field line. I'm not sure if he is a ground ball or fly ball pitcher, but there could be a big problem if its the latter. Of course, this is only a concern if he stay healthy. Injuries have plagued his career and the most important part to his success in pinstripes is his health.

 

[Stormtrooper]

I must say, as a Yankee fan, I am very nervous to see what Kerry Wood brings.

His ERA is over 6, but he has been good for the Indians recently. I think I saw that he has an ERA around 3 since June. So if he can bring that to the team, then maybe he can be the solution the 8th inning problem they have had all year. Or maybe he gets Joba to step up his game and now we have a 7th and 8th inning guy, essentially making it a 6 inning game.

Another concern is Yankee Stadium. Is he going to be able to deal with the 314 down the right field line. I'm not sure if he is a ground ball or fly ball pitcher, but there could be a big problem if its the latter. Of course, this is only a concern if he stay healthy. Injuries have plagued his career and the most important part to his success in pinstripes is his health.

Don't worry about Kerry Wood TPP. He has been pretty good as of late (before the DL stint). All you need to realize is that Kerry Wood isn't replacing Joba Chamberlain, he replaced Chan Ho Park. Park was absolutely terrible. And Yankee Stadium isn't really playing like the homer-happy ballpark it was last year, so Wood will be fine.

The worst case scenario for the Yankees/Wood is Wood getting hurt, and if that happens, the guy they call up from the Minors is still better then Chan Ho Park, so it's a plus move.

 

[Cracka Jack]

Nice to see the Dodgers get a few good pickups. Ted Lilly hasn't exactly been great this year, but he should round out our rotation well, and Theriot is a solid infielder and should be able to take the place that Dewitt left open. Now I just hope that we can actually start winning some games before we truly fall out of this race (playing the Giants today, Padres are on a small losing streak, hope we can tighten up this race).