SUMMER STRONGER NOW
Yankees, Dodgers, Braves, Red Sox, Brewers better after impact deals
With the majority of MLB transactions filed and official with the office of the commissioner in New York and the trade deadline — without waivers — passing at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, the final-day trade count stood at 13, involving many big names and leaving a handful of winners among the post-season contenders. The unofficial trade count for the two weeks prior to the deadline showed 40 majorleague deals.
With 14 teams still considering themselves contenders and 16 others seemingly looking to the future, the balance between buyers and sellers seemed to swell the number of trades — and earnest conversations that never quite reached fruition.
If the major-league season had ended on July 31, these would be the playoff matchups:
In the AL, overall leader Boston would play the winner of the wild-card game between the Yankees and Mariners, and the Astros would host Cleveland.
In the NL, the Cubs, with the league’s best record, would play the winner between the Brewers and Diamondbacks, and the Phillies would be home team against the Dodgers.
Other teams still consider themselves in the race: The A’s are two games out of a wild card. The Braves are a half game out in the NL East. The Rockies are a half-game out of the wild card and one game away from the division lead. The Pirates made bold moves even though they are 31⁄ 2 games behind the second NL wild card. The following are the five perceived winners at the deadline, although that could change in August when waiver deals are still possible, just like the one that delivered Justin Verlander to the Astros and changed all perceptions on Aug. 31, 2017.
NEW YORK YANKEES
The powerful Bombers were concerned about the rotation and depth of an already deep bullpen. They addressed both issues by acquiring veterans who will not back down at crunch time in October. For Jays left-hander J.A. Happ, Cards right-hander Lance Lynn and Orioles closer Zach Britton — plus Cards minorleague first baseman Luke Voit — the Yankees gave up nine players led by infielder Brandon Drury and lefty Chasen Shreve. Happ will likely miss a turn with a strange bout of hand, foot and mouth disease.
LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Los Angeles always likes to acquire veteran pieces at this time of year, even though some of them might seem redundant. The Dodgers, barely hanging onto first place over the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies, added one of the best players in baseball — left-side infielder Manny Machado — plus Twins second baseman Brian Dozier and Jays middle reliever John Axford. For Axford, this move to L.A. must be heaven. A film major at Notre Dame, he will now be rubbing elbows with the Hollywood crowd and has a chance to advance to the playoffs for the third time. Dozier has had a down year, but has a history as one of the most offensive second basemen in the game.
ATLANTA BRAVES
This is one of the surprise stories of 2018, as the Phillies and Braves have moved to the top of the NL East, pushing the Mets and Nationals down to also-rans. Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos was not as bold as he was in 2015 with the Jays, but he filled holes with a pair of O’s — starter Kevin Gausman and setup man Brad Brach — along with Rays lefty Jonny Venters and Reds utilityman Adam Duvall.
BOSTON RED SOX
The Sox were already leading all of baseball in win percentage, but still went out and added second baseman Ian Kinsler and dynamic starter Nate Eovaldi — who, when healthy, has among the nastiest stuff in baseball. Kinsler beefs up the infield defence and adds a veteran presence.
MILWAUKEE BREWERS
The Brew Crew is another feelgood story that needed to keep up with the others and add veteran savvy to a young and athletic roster. They added reliever Joakim Soria from the White Sox. In the infield, they traded for Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas and surging O’s second baseman Jonathan Schoop. They need to find a position for Travis Shaw, but they will.
Honourable mention goes to the Pirates with their acquisitions of dynamic Rays starter Chris Archer and Rangers closer Keone Kela, who moves to a setup role. The Rays did their thing, gathering prospects in exchange for veterans Archer, Eovaldi, Matt Andriese, Venters and catcher Wilson Ramos.