The AL East ruled the trade deadline, while most of the cellar dwellers failed to take advantage of the opportunity.
The MLB trade deadline came and passed Tuesday evening, and now that the dust is settling, some clear winners and losers emerge. The main winners are all of the fans, as we witnessed a far more active deadline than expected. Given the small number of clear sellers, many observers were worried the trade deadline would be tepid compared to recent seasons, but that was not the case. Most players in the rumor mill ended up in new cities, and many unexpected players changed hands, as well.
The AL East Runs the League
The AL East is annually the best division in baseball, as the five teams have deep pockets, brilliant front offices, or both. All five made a number of prominent moves to buy or sell. The Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees made blockbuster additions, and the Boston Red Sox finally committed to winning. Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays took advantage of a seller’s market by trading away many interesting players for huge prospect returns.
Of the 59 trades made in the last week, 27 of them involved a team from the AL East, and a couple of them intradivision trades. The Red Sox acquired C Danny Jansen from the Blue Jays, while the Rays dealt SP Zach Eflin to the Orioles. The buyers addressed their needs to some extent, as the Yankees got 2B Jazz Chisholm to fill multiple positions. The O’s went for a triple double by trading for two starters, two relievers, and two right-handed hitters. Boston did not make any splashy moves, but they did deepen the bullpen
On the flip side, the front offices in Toronto and Tampa must be happier about the state of their organizations than a week ago. The Jays got a comically large return for rental starter SP Yusei Kikuchi, while the Rays decided to hold a fire sale when other teams wouldn’t. They added more prospect talent than anyone else and might still make a wild card run, because that’s how the Rays operate.
The White Sox are a Total Embarrassment
I am ready to say it, the White Sox have already failed their rebuild. Much like the Oakland A’s of the last three seasons, the Pale Hose evidently does not know which players to target when making a trade. The White Sox had some of the most appealing trade chips, but they held onto two of them and got an underwhelming return for the others. This was their best opportunity to improve the farm system, and they totally botched it.
The ChiSox made one of the biggest deals of the deadline by sending SP Erick Fedde and OF Tommy Pham to the St. Louis Cardinals and RP Michael Kopech to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-team trade. But all they got for those three players was a post-hype OF Miguel Vargas, two mid-level prospects, and a PTBNL. Fedde alone was worth more than that as one of the top starters available, but that was the whole return for three players, not just one.
To make matters worse, the White Sox did not trade SP Garrett Crochet or OF Luis Robert. These are two high-end talents with plenty of team control left, so they should bring back exciting returns, but that apparently did not materialize. Now, it is possible that the White Sox simply did not receive an offer strong enough for either one. Crochet complicated his own case by demanding an extension after a trade, while people have wildly different opinions on Robert’s value. The White Sox should only accept a star-level return for either, and perhaps no one offered that.
Many of the other clear-cut sellers also had quiet deadlines, which is a separate issue for them. Nonetheless, the White Sox are somehow in a worse position than they were three days ago. Yikes.
Florida, Florida, Florida
I already mentioned the Rays did well this week, but they weren’t the only Florida team to take advantage of a seller’s market. The Miami Marlins are the only losing team that tore up their roster to improve for the future, and improve they did. Both teams in the Sunshine State stocked up on a wide range of younger players, from low-level fliers to MLB-ready contributors.
Tampa and Miami both have the San Diego Padres to thank for overpaying for relievers. The Friars gave up four prospects each RP Jason Adam and RP Tanner Scott, including their three best pitching prospects. The Rays received former first rounder SP Dylan Lesko, while the Marlins now have former comp pick SP Robby Snelling and second rounder SP Adam Mazur. These guys are pretty risky prospects, but they have a ton of upside, as well.
That’s not all, though. The Rays are betting a lot on a bounce back from 3B Christopher Morel, but their other returns are really promising. They received two exciting teenagers for OF Randy Arozarena and three safer contributors for Eflin. Tampa will continuously churn over their roster to remain competitive and low budget.
The Marlins are trying to do the same thing except through a full rebuild. But that will now bear fruit sooner than expected, as the farm system and big league club are in much better positions than last week. One of the notables include flashy power hitter 1B Deyvison De Los Santos, who is already in AAA after ripping through AA at 21 years old in the Arizona Diamondbacks system. The Marlins should also be thrilled to received 2B Connor Norby and OF Kyle Stowers from the Orioles. Both of them are plug-and-play hitters who have already debuted and make the Marlins better today, let alone in two years.
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