With the deadline in the rearview mirror, we’ll look back at each AL East team’s trade activity over the past month.
Baltimore Orioles
- Acquired two players to be named later from Braves for LHP Tommy Milone
- Acquired IF Tyler Nevin, IF Terrin Vavra and a player to be named later from Rockies for RHP Mychal Givens
- Acquired LHP Kevin Smith and a player to be named later or cash from Mets for RHP Miguel Castro
Boston Red Sox
- Acquired RHP Nick Pivetta and RHP Connor Seabold from Phillies for RHP Heath Hembree and RHP Brandon Workman
- Acquired IF Hudson Potts and OF Jeisson Rosario from Padres for 1B Mitch Moreland
- Acquired a player to be named later from Cubs for LHP Josh Osich
- Acquired a player to be named later and international bonus pool space from Rockies for OF Kevin Pillar
New York Yankees
- Acquired RHP Addison Russ from Phillies for RHP David Hale
- Acquired C Rob Brantly from Giants for cash considerations
Tampa Bay Rays
- Acquired RHP Edgar García from Phillies for a player to be named later
- Acquired cash considerations from Giants for INF Daniel Robertson
- Acquired OF Brett Phillips from Royals for INF Lucius Fox
- Acquired LHP Cody Reed from Reds for RHP Riley O’Brien
- Acquired two players to be named later or cash considerations from Cubs for 1B/DH José Martínez
- Acquired cash considerations from Giants for LHP Anthony Banda
Toronto Blue Jays
- Acquired 1B/DH Dan Vogelbach from Mariners for cash considerations
- Acquired RHP Taijuan Walker from Mariners for a player to be named later
- Acquired LHP Robbie Ray from Diamondbacks for LHP Travis Bergen
- Acquired INF/OF Jonathan Villar from Marlins for a player to be named later (reportedly OF Griffin Conine)
- Acquired RHP Ross Stripling from Dodgers for two players to be named later
any word on the Stripling PTBNLs? seems like that trade could either be a huge steal or a big loss for TOR.
Could be neutral. TIL four PTBNLs have been traded for themselves in the past.
It’s actually 2 players to be named much later.
As a Dodger fan I would love to know but it won’t be announced until the end of the season.
There is no chance the return for Stripling is anything special. Stop already.
They were going to get Renfigo and a mid prospect from the angels for him and Joc in the offseason. So that alone sets the ceiling especially since Stripling hasn’t pitched well this year the Dodgers will not be getting much.
At the same time though he has been a quality regular in the past who is not that expensive. The Dodgers don’t just give those kinds of guys away for nothing, especially during a year they want a ring.
Kendall Williams so far
So the Red Sox added five young players (I’m not counting Pivetta) to their overall talent pool in exchange for players that were somewhat expendable for next season. Not too shabby.
I guess it shows what kind of Market it was this deadline. Didn’t get much for Pillar and couldn’t move Jackie Bradley jr. Barnes wound up staying as well so teams weren’t really going all out to add experienced Talent for the final run.
I’m not sure it was as much they COULDN’T move JBJ.
It may be that after looking at the upcoming FA market (and the internal options) that Bloom expects to try to sign JBJ this offseason.
Likely the offers required significant cash and gave very minimal returns. Add it all together the calculus might be there’s more to be gained from player relationship keeping JBJ to make a offseason signing easier.
Also, in the wake of the most recent protests, plus JBJ’s dual roles as the Red Sox’s only African American ballplayer and the impetus responsible for the red so cancelling the TOR game, the always social justice image conscious Henry may have nixed sending JBJ out of town for a poor return because of potential optics.
Barnes will be back in 2021 as an arb-3 player. Could be bloom didn’t want to blow up his last decent closing option for next year? Not sure, but I bet there was offers.
Excellent analysis.
Yes, great post !!
The good news is that, with a half-season of normal Barnes performance in 2021, he’ll be just as valuable at the trade deadline then as he probably was now. I suspect they were hearing PTBNLs that were pitched at the level of Barnes having a subpar season, so waiting made sense, esp. after moving Work and Hembree and with a PTBNL already in hand for the lesser Osich (and still another for Pillar, but that’s not a pen consideration).
There were a number of comments from management about working out a deal to retain Bradley for next year. His trade deadline value was hard to swallow….$2 million for September was a lot, teams saw him as too pricey and RS did not see much return. Personally, if the RS are actually thinking about signing a FA CF I would prefer Pillar over Bradley.
Seabold looked good at the minor camp 3 innings 6 strikeouts. Houck look good as well….the games are being aired on #simcity.
Blue Jays got Villar from the Marlins, just a quick edit I caught
Good Job!
Badda Bing!
Thanks, fixed!
Jays won the trade deadline.
Recap: Jays add more mediocre arms, Tampa Bay still playing mad scientist with guys…..seriously, no idea what their plan is, Yankees apparently don’t have money to make upgrades after the Cole contract, Orioles were the smartest team in the division (for once), and Red Sox didn’t sell enough.
Most of the guys we can trade them in the offseason it’s really just JBJ who we can’t trade anymore.
I disagree the red sox didn’t sell enough.
Eovaldi got hurt.
Perez is no ace, FA SP looks rough this offseason, and, the rotation is also rough already. You really need to exercise his option in 2021 and he wasnt lights out.
Bogey you shouldn’t want to trade. Vaz is hard to replace without heirs in the pipeline and JTR will be grossly overpaid this offseason. Benny has never seen his value be lower, not the time to trade.
Everyone else is basically making league minimum, has no real trade value, or was named Matt Barnes.
Not sure who else you wanted to see traded, but, not much of anyone else made sense.
Everything you say here is spot on. I’m hoping that Perez’s last shaky start was a reflection of being bothered by the blister, because it would be a great boon for him to be serviceable next year at 6.5MM.
Villar will help as long as they stop playing Shaw and Panik. That will be a huge upgrade. The usual Shatkins stuff. Mediocre moves designed to make you think they are willing to spend some of the cheap owners cash. This group values prospects more than it values wins.
Guessing the Rays didn’t like anyone that much at the deadline.
Anthony – quick edit: the Red Sox actually owe the phillies a PTBNL for the pivetta/seabold trade (or addtl cash)
I like the Blue Jays moves. Walker has been looking good, and if they use Stripling in long relief I think he’ll be an asset. Not sure about Robbie Ray. Villar is a decent placeholder until Bichette is back. Vogelbach is kinda meh, but they didn’t give up anything for him.
Heading into September, Toronto is only 1 game back of the Yankees — and the two teams have a full 10 games coming up against each other. Could be a fun race between them for 2nd place in the AL East.
What kind of kick in the nuts would it be for the Yankees to miss the expanded playoffs entirely after dropping all that money on cole?
Oh as a Jays fan I have been keeping an eye on the standings and thinking the exact same thing !!
To have the Jays playing in Buffalo NY and they be the reason the big bad Yanks miss the expanded post season would be one for the ages.
What would make it sweetest:
TOR plays in Buffalo and steals the NYY AL berth?
Somehow the dysfunctional Mets could also make it in with TOR while the NYY are left looking from outside?
That the postseason gets expanded to have half of MLB gain berths but the mighty NYY can’t get the job done?
That the kings ransom in FA spending led by golden boy Cole doesn’t get it done?
It’s unusual that winning pct will be the name of the game in 2020. Normal years 21-20 and 20-19 records would be considered “tied”… this year, the team playing less games wins out.
As for me, my red sox are out of it. Not expecting much from my braves either. So, I’ll sit back, stir the pot, and keep track of interesting stories like this.
Here’s one to think about. Will MLB intercede with a thumb on the scales if the NYY are looking to miss the playoffs? Would the commish not require NYY to make up as many missed games as some other div 2nd place or overall wild card teams to preserve a winning percentage advantage?
In order for the Yankees (or Blue Jays) to miss the playoffs, they’d have to be beaten out by the Tigers or the Orioles. The competition is incredibly easy.
Yankees will probably make the playoffs but might not go all the way. Incredible that one team could have so many injuries in 2019 and 2020.
Paging fanboy NYYank4life. All the “not worried about the lowly Rays” commentary. Care to retract? Deadline passed and Cashman didnt write any checks?
You know there is ointment for that kind of burn.
The Rays are a good team and the Yankees are finding out just how good they are….that being said, the Rays made an awful lot of moves for a team at the deadline so not sure they felt their level of play was sustainable with the crew they had….whether they do with the crew they now have….we’ll just have to see.
The deadline passed for the Yankees not making any moves was because of;
– the returns teams were asking were deemed unacceptable by the Yankees either by future or current need.
– even if the returns would possibly work, the salaries of the players in play, in the 2020 shortened season without fans, and with the current Yankees payroll, was deemed by the Steinbrenner’s to not be worth it.
We may disagree with Hal, but he owns the team and its his call!
Rays trades are not made necessarily based on need this years. They sell expiring assets to gain more years of team control. It is how they stay competitive on a tiny budget. Many of the trades are not about this year. I am glad to see the Red Sox starting to think ahead instead of about the next two months (or the previous 4).
I’m not quite sure where this love affair with Strippling comes from. Yes, the Dodgers have a great FO and organization; that doesn’t mean EVERY player they have is exceptional. The guy’s a 5th starter/swing man on a competitive roster, and that’s about it.
BOS and BALT could have been more aggressive; but it’s understandable they weren’t, considering everything that’s going on. NY just has to get healthy, and may get “in” whether they do or not. There’s no profit in winning for TB; there’s no punishment for losing; that makes their decision making easy and pressure-less.
TOR got a little bit better, and could sneak in as the #7/8 seed. Beyond that, it was a rather boring day.in the AL East.
Thank g-d Cash is smarter than everyone else….lets see where we stand come end of October. if its another year of failure under his watch- the time has come to try someone new.
He is judged on WS appearances and rings only (by his own admission too!). You do the math and if you defend him, explain to me how with more resources than g-d he has accomplished his goals.
my grades per team:
Orioles – B – received solid assets for several players. probably could have traded Iglesias as well.
Red Sox – B – received some solid assets for rentals, but probably could have sold off a few more.
Yankees – D – Probably should have tried to add at least a SP like Minor.
Rays – C – didnt really do any real deals and probably didnt need to.
Jays – A-C – depends a lot on who the Stripling and Walker PTBNL are, but otherwise got lots of talent for little prospect cost.
Flip that Jays grade to a D, for dumb.
How will Bloom replenish the now worse bullpen with these guys gone? We don’t have one reliable pitcher in the bullpen and that can take years for teams to build off and make better.
I think @darkside’s Yankee grade is a bit high.
After last season’s deadline I am not surprised the Yanks were (again) non-participants. Cashman has become really rigid with “value”.
Both in trades and with free agents. Can’t point to Cole as an exception as that was an ownership decision. With how many buyers were flooding the market that (again) wasn’t going to work. In one way I admire his discipline. In another sense it comes across as a bit impetuous.
This is the new Yankee way, though. There’s no longer any sense of urgency to a single season. Like it – or not – Cashman seems more than happy to just try and earn a seat at the craps table every year.
This is certainly not as bad as what a lot of team’s fans go through.
I’m not insensitive to that.
It *is* a different mindset for the Yanks, though. Guys like Bradley and Givens didn’t exactly command hauls. It looks like those guys were moved for a slightly elevated rate.
Cash didn’t wanna pay to play. He’s a good GM. He’s just grown very conservative the last few years.
Ah, well. It’s September First! MN opens up some upland seasons & WI opens some waterfowl today.
Guess I’ll drown my “sorrows” in spent shotgun shells. Gosh…I feel better already.
😉
he’s a good GM because he can spend more on payroll, scouting, player development, coaching, and analytics than anyone else can, and by a large margin too…… so yeah he’s better than say Van Wagenen, but there are limits here…..