The 2012 MLB Non-Waiver Trade Deadline came and went yesterday. It had moments of excitement, moments of tiredness and moments of utter boredom, and then moments of rushing around the office to fulfill obligations that one really should have known better than to schedule for such a day. However, through it all, we, as baseball fans, emerged holding a more accurate picture of the rosters that will compete for this year’s World Series.
Of course, changes can still happen, and certainly more trades will occur in the coming weeks, but none in such a flurry that occurred over the last 24 hours, and none without a player first having to be put on waivers. After the 4:00 PM deadline passed, we spoke with a couple of bloggers about the adjustments their teams made and talked a little bit ourselves about some other trades in a very special Trade Deadline Edition of the Getting Blanked Podcast, available right here, right now:
And, if audio isn’t your thing, here’s a recap and capsule review of every trade that occurred on the day of the deadline, for your reading and viewing pleasure.
Jon Daniels: “We’d like Ryan Dempster, please.”
Jed Hoyer: “Okay, we’ll take your best prospect, and Kyle Hendricks.”
JD: “No.”
JH: “Your second best prospect?”
JD: “No.”
…
JH: “You’re seventh best prospect?”
JD: “Okay, but no Hendricks.”
JH: “Hey, wait a minute. How’s Neftali Feliz doing? Is he coming back soon?”
JD: “I’d also like to throw in Kyle Hendricks.”
JH: “That’s what I thought.”
The Giants shore up every aspect of their offense with the addition of Pence, not so much to keep in line with the Dodgers, but rather as a means of improving on the inconsistent options that continue to bring them mixed results.The Phillies acquire a jack of all trades, master of none in Schierholtz, a solid prospect in Joseph (who many envision as a Major League regular) and a young pitcher without much in terms of pedigree but who has seen some success this season at the A level. But the real question in the minds of most Philadelphians relates to how well the newly acquired players can act in commercials for local delis.
No question, the Dodgers improve their situation in the outfield, which is both a comment on what Victorino offers and what Los Angeles was receiving before making this trade. No question, the Phillies save some dollars on a player they would’ve lost anyway to free agency, and no question, get a solid pitching prospect matched with a no question, Major League ready reliever who, while effective, no question, might also give up a long ball or two. No question, the deal makes sense for both sides.
I’m not too sure about this one given all the praise coming Joseph’s way since the deal was made. Broxton will offer the Reds more strength in their bullpen, an area in which the team really didn’t need any more strengthening, and the Royals receive two young pitchers that aren’t like to be blocked in any ascent through the system that they’d like to make.
Another question this trade asks is will the Reds find two diminutive players to fit in Broxton’s pants (presumably a contract stipulation). A quick look reveals only three players on the active roster under six feet tall.
The Dodgers shore up their bullpen without taking much of anything away from their system, while the Mariners add some prospect depth with players that while lacking pedigree are putting up good numbers this season.
The Braves round out their rotation for a playoff push with Maholm while acquiring an excellent bench bat against left-handed pitching and a solid defensive replacement in Johnson. The Cubs rid themselves of what are essentially extraneous pieces (considering their current position in the standings) for an injured pitcher who not that long ago was considered a top prospect and a 25-year old piece of bullpen depth. I don’t think we’re going to understand the significance of this trade in particular until a little bit later in life.
Both teams take gambles one-time prospects who never fulfilled expectations, but have recently found a measure of success, or appear close to finding a measure of success, at the Major League level. If the choice between those two options is an every day outfielder and a relief pitcher, I’ll take the every day player, uh … every day.
The Red Sox believed they needed a left-handed reliever, and so they spared every expense imaginable to get themselves one. I did not miswrite that.
The Rangers toss Yorvit Torrealba to the curb and a acquire one of the few catchers in baseball that are having a worse season offensively. There’s an extra year of control on Soto, but a raise on $4.3 million for a back up catcher value would have me thinking about non-tendering before anything else.
Mujica isn’t the reliever the Cardinals wanted, but he is the reliever that the Cardinals deserve. I actually got to see Zack Cox first hand on a recent trip to Memphis, and I can tell you that of all the Minor Leaguers I’ve ever seen, he was one of them.
If anyone could explain this trade to me, I’d appreciate it immensely. You can reach me at dustin.parkes@thescore.com. Qualls was available to anyone who wanted him at no cost whatsoever only a month ago. Meanwhile, I suppose the Yankees might have some use for McGehee with Alex Rodriguez injured and Mark Teixeira out for a few days, but is he really an upgrade over what they already have? And, even if that’s not the case, why would the Pirates help they Yankees out like this?
Residual guilt from all the good they’ve gotten from A.J. Burnett?
What’s more difficult to believe: that Sanchez was as he good as he was in 2011; or that he was as bad as he was in 2012? The Pirates are betting that 2011 was closer to the first baseman’s true talent level, and they’re doing so with an early draft pick between the supplemental round and the second round.
The Seattle Mariners acquire Eric Thames from the Toronto Blue Jays for relief pitcher Steve Delabar.
The Mariners further crowd their mediocre outfield with more mediocrity in Thames, whose ongoing mission is to avoid bases on balls while swinging and either missing completely or making terrible contact. Delabar has tonnes of fastball and little of anything else. This should result in a ton of whiffs and dingers, whiffs and dingers, and whiffs and dingers.
It may be difficult to these long-time Minor Leaguers to adjust to new settings, but change is inevitable … except from vending machines.
GIF love to @DHM and bluejaysgif.tumblr.com.
I agree. Snider for a relief pitcher…I’m gonna assume that AA assumed that screwing Snider around for 2 years was too much to get past.
And that this was better than losing for nothing on waivers next year.
The Blue Jays were never really at risk of losing him to waivers next year. At the very worst, he could have been a bench player for the Blue Jays. He is a left handed batter with some power and plays good defence… Holy Christ, the Blue Jays had Ben Fransisco fill the role of bench player this year and Corey Patterson last year. Surely to fuck Snider could have filled that role at the very least so as not to be placed on waivers. No?
I think they were getting Upton in a 3-way sending Garza to Arizona and prospects to Chicago. Fell through because of Garza’s medicals…
I think the Indians pick-up of Lars Anderson is going to be the under-the-radar move that pans out in a couple years….
He was pretty funny in ‘Road Trip’, plus he’s been on both ‘Lost’ and ‘Breaking Bad’. That’s the only way I can make sense of it.
It annoys me that Snider is gone, he was starting to really heat up for the jays. Its no doubt that Pittsburgh definitely won this trade, but the blue jays did indeed get a great pitcher. Now
they can have Lyon in the 7th, Lincoln /Oliver in the 8th, and Jansen to close. They’ve got a good pitching staff coming together.
Sad to see Snider go. Meets don’t clash!
Wish the Jays could have got Garza or Johnson. Would have been awesome!
–Oshawa Ollie