Winner: Los Angeles Dodgers
Andrew Friedman and Dodgers management had stayed quite for a while, almost to the point where it didn't look like they were going to do anything. They had the best record in all of the game heading into Monday, sitting at 74-31. Now they just got better. How you ask? Tony Watson and Tony Cingrani don't exactly blow you away, there's enough there to be a big help for a lefty coming out of the pen and help bridge the gap to Kenly Jansen in the 9th. Then the whopper came with the Dodgers getting Yu Darvish from the Rangers just before the buzzer. Further, the consensus is that the top prospect on the move was Willie Calhoun and that he was only the Dodgers' fourth-best prospect. It helps out an already loaded rotation, which by the way will be without the top pitcher in the NL in Clayton Kershaw till at least the middle of September at least. Yu has been an ace since coming over and he will look to make an impact and earn a big contract by the time the winter rolls around. Now the Dodgers can potentially run out a playoff rotation of Clayton Kershaw, Darvish, Alex Wood and Rich Hill. If all are pitching up to their potential, that's a tall order for anyone in the playoffs, especially against a team that's loaded with position players and has Kenley Jansen at closer. Yes folks, the best team in the game just got a whole lot better.
Winners: New York Yankees
The Yankees had been good for most of the year, even with the holes in the starting rotation, the pen and first base. Now those holes have been fixed. Lets go back a little bit first. Last year, Cashman got rid of a lot of his older talent for young prospects. Then, just last week, he trades away some of those young prospects in order to add relievers David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle along with third baseman Todd Frazier. So far its worked out OK adding those guys into the mix. Now throw in adding Jaime Garcia for almost nothing from the Twins. Then the icing on the cake was adding another rental player of sorts in Sonny Gray from Oakland. Gray, who is 6-5 with a 3.43 ERA and just eight home runs allowed in 97 innings, could generate enough value to be the difference between winning the AL East and winning a wild card, and that’s why this deal looks like the most important of this trade deadline. If the Yankees can avoid that wild-card game (or win it), a postseason rotation of Severino, Gray, Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia and Jaime Garcia is good enough when combined with that power-packed bullpen to get the Yankees back to the World Series for the first time since 2009. This team is far from perfect, taht's for sure. But thanks to Cashmans moves, at least on paper, its good enough to be a real dominant force in the American League over the final two months of the year.
Winners: Chicago Cubs
Things didn't look very good for the defending champs by the All Star Break. They sat two games under .500 and looked to be just barley staying above water. Then they start making moves. They first go out and land Jose Quintana, then go out and grab late-inning, shutdown lefty in Justin Wilson along with a quality veteran catcher in Alex Avila to tandem with Willson Contreras. Some might point to the Cubs having emptied a lot of their farm system in the past few years, but they have a World Series ring and seven big-league position players age 25 or younger and under team control through at least 2022 (this includes Kris Bryant). Would those people feel better if guys like Contreras, Albert Almora, Ian Happ and Addison Russell were in the minors so the Cubs would have a few good prospects in the rankings? Please. The Cubs' window is wide open, like it has never been before. They have solid footing to be back in the mix again this year, and for years to come for that matter.
Winners: Arizona Diamondbacks
Lets face facts, it looks like the Dodgers are pretty much a lock it seems to win the National League West this year. While I say that, I wouldn't totally sleep on the Arizona Diamondbacks just yet foilks. Sure they are 14 games back from the Dodgers in the West, which almost rules that out by this point in the year I feel. The D-Backs do hold a half game lead for the top wild card spot in the National League, and are only going to get better once JD Martinez gets more comfortable in the desert. They didn't give up a lot to get Martinez's bat into the middle of that lineup, and that'll play huge down the stretch. Especially in a wild-card game situation, one swing of the bat could change everything.
Losers: Houston Astros
Losers? With the 2nd best record in all of baseball and a 16 game lead in the AL West? Well to a degree, yes they are. Let me explain. Yes, Houston acquired lefty Francisco Liriano and will use him out of the bullpen. There are zero concerns about the position players, who should be able to remain healthy throughout the year. But what about the rest of the pitching staff? Dallas Keuchel is a clear-cut postseason ace. He's also been on the disabled list twice this year. Lance McCullers had a 9.64 ERA in four July starts and is now on the disabled list for the second time this year. Behind them, the options to start playoff games are Charlie Morton, Brad Peacock, Collin McHugh and Mike Fiers. Meantime, the Astros failed to secure deals for the likes of Quintana, Darvish and Gray (CBS Sports). Look, it is still possible that Houston could be one of the teams left standing in the American League by the time the ALCS rolls around, it is very possible. See the Yankees had question marks and they went out and addressed them. Houston didn't exactly go out and do that, leaving one to wonder about the Astros.
Losers: Boston Red Sox
On paper, the Red Sox should have been running away with the American League East. They had the horses to do that, but David Price hasn't quite panned out this year, as he's once again back on the Dl with an elbow issue, which has been bothering him all year. Now things have slipped a little for the boys from Beantown. The minor league system is thin because of moves made by Dave Dombrowski, as he has traded 24 prospects since he took over the Red So. The only deal he made was for reliever Addison Reed. Things can still turn around for Boston, as they can get the young bats to start heating up again and hope David Price returns to form. The thing is, the Yankees got a lot better, while Boston couldn't really do much to improve their ballclub. So it will be very interesting to see how things play out over the final two months of the season in Boston.
Loser: Texas Rangers
Think back to a year ago. Texas was in a fight for a division crown and they gave up highly regarded outfield prospect Lewis Brinson to get Jonathan Lucroy. The season ended with a disappointing sweep in the division series to the Toronto Blue Jays, and now they sit four games under .500, gasping for breath in the wild-card race. Lucroy wasn't hitting very well in Texas this year, and was traded to the Colorado Rockies for a player to be named. The Rangers gave up a lot to get Lucroy, didn’t win in 2016 or 2017 and didn't get anything for him. Oh yeah, then there's the fact that they got rid of Yu Darvish too, trading him away to the Dodgers. They got back solid prospects for him, which may not be so horrible in the long run, but it would have been nice for the Rangers to acquire a top-50 guy even for a rental such as Darvish.
Loser: Baltimore Orioles
They bought in talent at the deadline and din't get any better. The Orioles entered Monday 6 1/2 games out in the AL East, sitting fourth. They were 5 1/2 games out of the second AL wild card, but there are three teams between that spot and they are tied with still two others. SportsLine gives the O's a 4.9 percent chance of making the playoffs and projects them for 75.7 wins (CBS Sports). So what does Baltimore do? They traded for starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson and shortstop Tim Beckham. Um what the what? If they are trying to make a late push for the playoffs, they sure as hell didn't do a lot to improve the team. I can't see how these deals make any bit of sense for Baltimore at all. Really just seems like a waste of a trade if you ask me.
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