Ok first off sorry for the long absence it beens a stressful two weeks with moving states and getting everything else in my life together.
TRADE DEADLINE RECAP
With 29 of the 30 teams (D’backs didn’t) making moves at the deadline I’m going to discuss the levels of this trading deadline from teams that went all in on this year to teams who sold for the future. Obviously if you have been keeping up with the MLB this was one of the most exciting and monumental trade deadlines in the recent history with all-stars like David Price, Cole Hamels, Johnny Cueto, Ben Zobrist, Troy Tulowitzki and Yoenis Cespedes moving cities.
Teams who made Major moves to win the 2015 World Series
Toronto Blue Jays: This team was the story of the 2015 MLB Trade Deadline and it wasn’t even close. Before the trade deadline this team had the best offense in the majors and a mediocre pitching staff with no clear cut ace. But GM Alex Anthopoulos changed all that with the acquisitions of a top 5 pitcher in the league David Price and the best shortstop in the MLB Troy Tulowitzki. Yes the Tulo move was a strange one but you can’t question adding that bat to that already fantasy like lineup but the David Price move was ideal when looking towards the postseason. If you can add a game 1 postseason starter even for half of a season its a good move. But some moves that didn’t get as much attention was the moves of stocking up the bullpen with veteran arms of LeTroy Hawkins and Mark Lowe but also the speedy center fielder Ben Revere who had a career year last year.
- Kansas City Royals: The best team in the AL record wise and within the past year and a half has been the Royals and they got a lot stronger this deadline. They did give up 5 of their top pitching prospects within their two deals of getting ace Johnny Cueto and super utility man Ben Zobrist but this was a much needed move. While Kansas City’s bullpen is one of the best bullpens in MLB history they were lacking a dominant ace and their offense has been shaky at times so these moves were perfect. Johnny Cueto has more starts this year pitching into the 8th inning (8) then the entire Royals starting staff (6) so they needed a workhorse to save their bullpen some innings. Also Ben Zobrist can play about 6 different positions which is any managers dream. They are running away with the AL Central and they should be in October barring a major collapse so they made big strides in finishing off the season better than last years World Series loss.
- New York Mets: The Mets have the best young pitching staff I have ever seen headlined by Harvey, DeGromm, Syndergaard, Matz, Wheeler (currently on DL) and the wily veterans of Colon and Niese. But with this lights out, hard-throwing rotation they have the 27th ranked offense in the MLB but the normally quiet front offense went out and addressed the problem at hand. They landed Yoenis Cespedes who is the best left fielder in baseball and will add a lot of pop to the middle of that line up. The Mets also landed quality veteran bats Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe. While the Cespedes move will most likely be a rental move the front office did great by not giving up any of their young arms.
- Houston Astros: The last of the teams in the first group of major moves is the Houston Astros because of their main moves of getting All-Stars Scott Kazmir and Carlos Gomez. First off, the Kazmir move was huge for them because they needed rotation help because outside Dallas Keuchel the rotation is very young and unproven. But with the Kazmir move and even getting Mike Fiers from Brew Crew they got a lot better in terms of there postseason chances. By getting Carlos Gomez they solidified their Center Field position and helped the middle of that order. With the young nucleus of Altuve, Correa, Springer, and Gomez they have a bright future compared to the last decade of bad bad baseball.
Teams that made Minor moves to win the 2015 World Series
- L.A. Dodgers: The Dodgers have 2 of the top 5 pitchers in baseball but as the Dodgers could tell you best 2 pitchers won’t directly lead to postseason success. Greinke and Kershaw can carry the Dodgers to the playoffs every season but every season they meet the St. Louis Cardinals in the playoffs and lose to a more complete team. With that being said the Dodgers went out and got former All-Star Mat Latos and a good young lefty pitcher in Alex Wood. These weren’t the marquee pitchers on the market but they will be valuable come September and October. While I don’t know how Latos and Wood will pitch from here on out but they are a huge upgrade and very much needed.
- Pittsburgh Pirates: While the Pirates didn’t blow anyone away with their moves at the deadline but they did help themselves by getting All-star reliever Joakim Soria, World Series winner Michael Morse and young lefty pitcher J.A. Haap. The pirates have a dominant starting staff led by Gerrit Cole and Francisco Liriano but they did get hurt with the A.J. Burnett injury so the J.A. Haap move makes a lot of sense. The Soria move always makes sense because in order to win in October and November you must have a good to great bullpen. Also the offense has been average this year but adding a bat like Michael Morse is a smart move because he has postseason experience and a tremendous amounts of power. The Pirates will be a team to be feared during the stretch run of the baseball season.
- St. Louis Cardinals: While the Cardinals have the best record in baseball by 6 games they have many holes that need to be filled before the playoffs role around. With that being said the Cardinals have the best rotation in baseball and the best bullpen in baseball ERA wise by a wide margin. The Cardinals have been bit by the injury bug as hard as anyone their bullpen is overused on a regular basis. Before the July 31st deadline hit the Cards acquired bullpen arms of Steve Cishek and Jonathon Broxton. They also added the switch hitting power bat of Brandon Moss who doesn’t seem like that big of an addition at their terrible first baseman spot. The Cardinals have the best record in baseball but I can’t say for certain they are the best team talent wise in baseball after the deadline.
- Chicago Cubs: The Cubbies are relevant for the first time since 2008 and the city of Chicago is buzzing. Even as a Cards fan I love seeing Wrigley packed on midweek game because meaningful games are meant to be played on Chicago’s north side. With all of the young hitting the Cubs addressed some pitching needs that have been prevalent and they went out and got the veteran Dan Haren and bullpen arm Tommy Hunter. The Cubs will add a starting pitcher this offseason who is a borderline ace and when you pair him with Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester the Cubs should be serious contenders for the next decade or so.
- San Francisco Giants: The Giants are a quiet very good baseball team and they got better this deadline by going and getting Mike Leake from the Reds who is having a dominant July. When the playoffs start no team in the league wants to see the Giants in the postseason because besides the Cardinals no team has more postseason experience than the Giants who win it every other season. Even with the loss of the panda this offseason this team is still very dangerous if they can either pass the Dodgers in the NL West or sneak into a wildcard spot just like they did last season.
Washington Nationals: The Nats have had more pressure on them this season than any other team in the league because of their expensive offseason and their superstar Bryce Harper’s rise into the elite of the MLB. While the offense has sputtered they need to get healthy first and foremost but within the last 2 weeks Zimmerman, Werth and Rendon are back into that lineup and Strasberg is close. At the deadline the Nationals went out and got Jonathon Papelbon who is back to his elite level of closing baseball games. With a back end of the bullpen featuring Papelbon and Drew Storen the Nats will be dangerous with a lead going into the 8th inning.
- Baltimore Orioles: The O’s were in a scary place on July 31st deadline because they didn’t know if they were going to be contenders for the World Series this season and they still went out and make some small improvements. They went out got a very good outfielder in Geraldo Parra and prospect Junior Lake. While Lake won’t factor into this season Parra will be inserted into the top of the lineup and expect to contribute everyday which he should do. The Orioles have a large amount of talent and it will be interesting to see if they can get hot and make a push towards the playoffs.
Other Trade Deadline Winners
- Philadelphia Phillies: The Fighin’ Phils have been the worst team in baseball during the entirety of the 2015 season and in order to make any deadline fun you must have the teams that will sell. Thats exactly what the Phillies did this deadline by moving former all stars Cole Hamels and Jonathon Papelbon. They also traded Ben Revere who is a good piece for a contending team. The Phillies knew they were out of the playoff race before the season started and they took advantage of that situation by adding 8 prospects and building towards the future.
- Texas Rangers: Speaking of Cole Hamels the Rangers got their 1-2 punch that every team wants when they acquired Cole Hamels to pair with superstar Yu Darvish when he returns next season. While the Rangers were hot earlier in the season reality set in and they have came back to earth and they should be ready to compete with the rest of their division next season when they get healthy. They have a good offense and now a dominant top of the rotation so they will be here to compete starting next April.
- Cincinnati Reds: The Reds are very similar to Phillies in the mindset that they were sellers during this deadline and while they did keep some players that some thought would be traded like Jay Bruce and Aroldis Chapman they did get rid of some talented players. The Reds are in the bad situation of being in the NL Central right now with teams like the Cardinals, Pirates and Cubs playing so well but they did manage to trade starting pitchers Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake to contending teams. While they only moved 2 players they got 5 prospects for the 2 starters and 3 of those prospects could be in the rotation by next season. I also expect the Reds to trade Chapman this offseason for more young talent.
Trade Deadline Losers
- San Diego Padres: As good as the Blue Jays were at the deadline the Padres were that bad. When GM A.J. Preller added All-Stars James Shields, Craig Kimbrel, Matt Kemp, Wil Myers and Justin Upton this offseason the entire MLB took notice and they immediately became contenders and had high expectations for the 2015 season. But after they have struggled the entirety of the season they stated that the following players are available for trades at the deadline Kimbrel, Shields, Upton, Tyson Ross, Jedd Gyorko, Ian Kennedy and Will Venable. But to everyones shock they traded none of these players but instead traded for veteran lefty specialist Marc Rzepczynski who is a good piece but won’t change a season. If the Padres continue to struggle this season and even next season Preller will be gone for a good reason. Overall just a terrible time for a team to have a quiet trade deadline because they can’t afford to keep these players next season.
- New York Yankees: The Yanks quietly sat back and watched their division rivals the Blue Jays and Orioles get better by adding quality pieces to start making a postseason run. While the Yanks do lead their division they don’t have the talent in the starting rotation to coast into September especially with Michael Pineda getting hurt and C.C. Sabathia being a 300 pound waste of space. The Yanks did get Dustin Ackley to help with their offensive deficiencies at second base and one of the corner outfield spots. While they could still win the AL East or a wildcard spot they needed to make a move to help the rotation or solidify the bullpen even more.
- Chicago White Sox: The White Sox were similar to the Baltimore Orioles during this trade deadline because they were getting hot at the wrong time by winning out of the all-star break but still looking up in the standings to make the playoffs. One name that was said to potentially be traded was Jeff Samardzija who is pitching tremendously but the White Sox kept him in hopes of a postseason run. While it is unlikely the White Sox make the postseason they should have made a move to either get a lot better or trade some assets for the future of the franchise.
- Arizona Diamondbacks: The D’Backs are the only team in the Major Leagues to not make a trade this deadline. With 31 trades happening during July alone the front office of the Diamondbacks not making one single move is incomprehensible. With a team that isn’t competing for a playoff spot they could have traded some of their veterans for some young prospects. Also a side note the fact that GM A.J. Preller of the Padres said the only way for the D’Backs to get Craig Kimbrel was to trade Paul Goldschmidt is absolutely absurd because Paul Goldschmidt is a top 5 position player in the MLB.
Ok so there is an update on whats going on in the baseball world and as a baseball fan this was a tremendous trade deadline with all the stars moving teams and it is always good to see teams going for it all. It should prove to be a great stretch run into the Playoffs into October with as many as 14 teams battling it out to see who the 10 teams that make it will be.
The Cisco Chronicles 
