MLB trade deadline delivers fireworks
Five former All-Stars are dealt in frenzied final hours
With a midafternoon crescendo, a finalhour flurry and a collective exhale, baseball’s nonwaiver trade deadline came and went Tuesday. And even then, it wasn’t actually over, as a last-second deal — the Baltimore Orioles capping their summer fire sale by sending second baseman Jonathan Schoop to the Milwaukee Brewers — wasn’t made official until minutes after the 4 p.m. EST deadline.
At the end of a frantic, frenzied day, which itself came at the end of a busy month of dealmaking, the competitive landscape had been remade across both leagues, as the 2018 season enters its final two months.
Some of the biggest trades of the entire summer came in the final hours leading up to the deadline, with five former AllStar players dealt in the two hours leading up to the deadline.
Along with Schoop, who joins a crowded infield picture in Milwaukee, those AllStars were Washington Nationals closer Brandon Kintzler, who went to the Chicago Cubs in a curious move by the thirdplace team in the NL East; former Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos, who went from the Tampa Bay Rays to the Philadelphia Phillies despite currently residing on the disabled list; second baseman Brian Dozier going from the Minnesota Twins to the Los Angeles Dodgers; and right-handed starter Chris Archer going from the Rays to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Fueled by a healthy dose of pennant rac-
es — four divisions saw their first- and second-place teams separated by three or fewer games entering Tuesday, and both leagues’ wild-card races are free-for-alls — as well as an extreme case of stratification, with a relatively equal number of horrendous teams eager to sell and superteams eager to buy, this year’s trade market was active, robust and fruitful.
All told, 29 of baseball’s 30 teams — everyone but the San Francisco Giants — made moves during the month of July.
Teams that looked like certain sellers a month ago (the Pirates) suddenly became aggressive buyers, while teams that looked like firm buyers a month ago (the Nationals) suddenly became tentative sellers.
“It’s not about sending messages,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle, whose team recently ran off 11 straight wins to alter its trajectory, told reporters in Pittsburgh. “That, I think, is the most overrated term you can use in baseball. It gives us a better opportunity to deliver, and that’s what everyone is looking for — the fans, us, everybody.”