The 2012 baseball non-waiver trade deadline has come and gone. Twitter managed to…. not explode, some teams got marginally better, and still others packed it in to fight the good fight another year. Let’s rank the trade deadline Winners and Losers.
WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER
If your team makes this list, you should be happy that you have a GM who appears to understand the object of the game is to win (either eventually or now).
1) Dodgers: Some will say they lost out on the starting pitcher that they really needed (Ryan Dempster), but pundits will still look back very positively on L.A.’s trade deadline. They added Hanley Ramirez, as talented of a guy as there is in the game, and Shane Victorino, who I love to watch play. Victorino, Kemp, Ethier and Ramirez should make a very good 2-5 in Don Mattingly’s lineup. They also added Brandon League and have turned themselves from a surprising team to a downright good team.
2) Tigers: I absolutely love the additions the Tigers made with Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchez. Both of these guys should help the Tigers win right now; wasting another year of Justin Verlander’s prime is not in the cards for this team. They got two impact guys in the same trade. Well done.
3) Angels: Anytime you acquire a guy with Zack Greinke’s repertoire, you win. Greike may choose not to stay in Los Angeles for personal reasons, but for now, the Angels have gone out and made their team scary good. If Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, and Mark Trumbo don’t scare you, then Dan Haren, Jared Weaver, Zack Greinke, CJ Wilson, and Ervin Santana should. The Angels added that all important 5th starter for October. And it’s Zack Greinke.
4) Marlins: The Marlins weren’t going to win this year (they’re 14 games back in their division) and they got better for next year. Yes, sending Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchez to Detroit wasn’t the best idea, but they got top-of-the-rotation talent in Jacob Turner. They also got a good starting pitcher for Hanley Ramirez, who at this point in his career is a .260 hitter with 20 homerun power. I know people will say that the “fire sale” wasn’t a good idea because of the ostracization of the fan base, but I discount that because I think they can be really good next year. Don’t discount what Justin Ruggiano has done, or the spark the Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Reyes bring. They’ve got a better team going into 2013 than they did going into this year.
Loser Idiots
If your team is on here, your GM should consider his next career, or just go home.
1) Chicago Cubs: While I like the Cubs addition of Arodys Vizcaino, and I imagine they did their homework on the two guys they got from Texas in the Ryan Dempster deal, I can’t help but think they should have done more. This is a team with some talent at certain positions, but is in no position to win now. Exploiting those talented guys to make the organization better is the task of the front office, and I’m not sure that happened. Where is the deal for Matt Garza? Where is the exciting haul for Dempster? I’m just unsatisfied.
2) Philadelphia Phillies: This really comes down to their decision to resign Cole Hamels. They completely messed this up. They’ve now alloted an insane amount of money to their pitching staff with no promising, young cheap positional players in the mix. Then, the realization that they need to shed payroll apparently hit them, and they got rid of two outfielders. They had to get younger and cheaper, but they wouldn’t have had that problem if they had made the right decision with Hamels (who would have commanded quite the haul had he been traded).
3) Giants: This isn’t so much about their getting Hunter Pence like I wrote about here, but more an issue with their giving up Zach Wheeler last year for the Carlos Beltran rental. People don’t forget.
4) Houston Astros: Speaking of don’t forget. Don’t forget that the Astros just gave up their few quality Major Leaguers for lower quality minor leaguers. They continue to think their AA team is the one that is supposed to be good.
5) Blue Jays: I really don’t like the Blue Jays moves. Trading talented outfielders for talented relievers doesn’t make sense to me. I know organizational depth is a major factor in Alex Antholopos’ thinking, but remember the insignificance of most relievers to the overall win total of a given team.
Stat of the Day: Greg Maddux had 20 straight seasons in which he won at least 10 games. 20 straight seasons.
-Sean Morash
