Greinke deal makes Astros biggest deadline winners
Jesse Yomtov
With a flurry of moves as time expired, Major League Baseball’s 2019 trade deadline was saved from being a complete dud.
The Astros’ trade for Zack Greinke was a jaw-dropping one, giving one of baseball’s best teams yet another top starter. Good luck against Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Greinke consecutively in the postseason.
Elsewhere, the Nationals and the Braves shored up their troublesome bullpens by each dealing for multiple relievers.
But what about the other big boys? Shockingly, the Yankees – in desperate need of another starter – did nothing.
Same thing for the Red Sox, who could have used more arms in their bullpen. Here’s a look at the winners and losers of the deadline:
Winners
Astros: They won the day by beating the buzzer with the trade for Greinke.
With Verlander and Cole, the Astros now have a startlingly amazing big three and might be the favorites to win their
second World Series title in three years.
They had to part ways with a number of their top prospects for the 35-yearold but managed to hold on to prized Kyle Tucker.
Houston also added starter Aaron Sanchez and reliever Joe Biagini in a deal with the Blue Jays, giving the team even more pitching depth.
Nationals: It would probably be much easier to just address relief pitching in the offseason rather than completely turning over the bullpen just about every July.
That said, Washington did a great job Wednesday, acquiring three relievers: right-handers Daniel Hudson and Hunter Strickland, and lefty Roenis Elias. The three are not particularly sexy additions, but all should provide valuable innings to Washington’s bullpen down the stretch.
Indians: They got quite a haul for Trevor Bauer, setting them up to contend this year and down the road. Cleveland is counting on the loss of Bauer being offset by Danny Salazar’s return, hopefully followed by Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco.
Yasiel Puig is going to be huge in the coming months, and while Franmil Reyes might profile as a designated hitter long term, it’s not every day you can get a 24-year-old on pace for 40 home runs.
Braves: Atlanta probably would have liked to add a right fielder with Nick Markakis injured, but the Braves managed to address their biggest flaw in a big way. The shaky bullpen is going to get a huge boost from Shane Greene, Mark Melancon and Chris Martin.
Others who did well: Cubs, Phillies, Diamondbacks.
Losers
Yankees: What happened here? The rotation is the team’s biggest (only?) issue, and we expected them to be in on the top starters. Losing out on Marcus Stroman seemed to pull the rug out from under them, and then the cost for Madison Bumgarner and Robbie Ray was higher than they were willing to pay. It’s even more painful considering the Astros added Greinke.
Red Sox: Dave Dombrowski proves again that his modus operandi is not improving his team’s bullpen. The price might have been too high for Felipe Vazquez and Edwin Diaz, but Boston really should have added an arm or two.
Twins: They have seen an 11-game American League Central Division lead disappear in recent weeks and were expected to make a bigger splash to solidify themselves as a World Series contender. Minnesota did upgrade in the bullpen, getting Sam Dyson from the Giants after adding Sergio Romo from the Marlins earlier in the week, but that might not be enough.
The rotation as a whole is still a question mark, and while admittedly the price on starters was quite high, they might regret not paying up.
Mets: On the surface, yes, they upgraded their rotation by landing Stroman. At the same time, they decided not to trade Noah Syndergaard or Zack Wheeler, indicating that they’re going for it.
If that’s the case, why not go out improve elsewhere? The bullpen is a mess, and they really could have used another outfielder. Strange business (as usual) for the organization.