MLB Fastball 08.03.07: East Coast Trading
Posted by Neil Borenstein on 08.03.2007
With the MLB non-waiver trade deadline out of the way, I examine this years moves from the teams occupying the East division in both the American League and the National League. Who made the big moves on the East Coast? Check out MLB Fastball to find out!
East Coast Trading
The Deadline Deals From AL & NL East Squads
Eric Gagne gives the Red Sox even more depth in the bullpen.
The Major League Baseball non-waiver trade deadline came and past without a lot of fanfare. In fact, the NBA has had more fanfare over the one big deal it had during its offseason recently that sent Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics.
But some noteworthy deals were made on or prior to July 31. And though MLB Fastball hardly wants to be considered a column with an East Coast bias, many of those big moves made on or around deadline day focused around teams playing in either the American League East or National League East. In fact, one team in each of those divisions was involved in the two biggest deals around deadline!
With that, lets examine the moves made by the two East Coast divisions in Major League Baseball
American League East
In the American League East, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees were the only players on the transaction front.
The Red Sox made perhaps the second biggest move of the trade deadline occasion, acquiring former Los Angeles Dodgers and now ex-Texas Rangers closer Eric Gagne from the Rangers for Kason Gabbard, David Murphy and Engle Beltre. Gabbard started for the Rangers on Thursday in a losing effort against the Cleveland Indians, while Murphy and Beltre are both minor league outfielders. Gagne, who pitched a one-run ninth inning in the Red Sox' 7-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday, gives Boston an even deeper bullpen. Jonathan Papelbon is expected to retain closing duties; with Gagne getting the occasional save opportunity if they fall on consecutive nights and Papelbon needs rest. Gagne is expected to play a setup role primarily. Along with Hideki Okajima, Manny Delcarmen and Kyle Snyder, Gagne gives the Red Sox a tremendous bridge from starting pitchers to Papelbon and also gives the team one of the deepest bullpens across the Majors. This move is doubly effective considering the acquisition of Gagne, which at the root of it all wasn't necessary for Boston, blocked American League rivals the Yankees included from obtaining much needed bullpen help from the hottest reliever on the trading block.
The Yankees, who are eight games back in the AL East standings after a 13-9 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Thursday, were not extremely active on the trade front near the deadline. But they did acquire some much-needed depth on the bench with the addition of Wilson Betemit from the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Yankees did take a bullpen hit by giving the Dodgers reliever Scott Proctor, who had been slipping a bit with New York but was also a workhorse and favorite option of Joe Torre. But Betemit is essentially an infield utility player, able to play second base, shortstop and third base. He is also a good bat with some power. In fact, Betemit started for the Yankees at shortstop on Thursday and nailed a three-run homer as part of the Yankees' eight-run second inning. Betemit is also considered insurance just in case Álex Rodríguez does opt out of his contract and chooses to leave the Bronx. Betemit can never replace A-Rod's production, but he can fill in defensively at third base and be an adequate producer in the lineup with other players helping to fill the offensive void.
Though not nearly contenders, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays pulled off a deal that will probably have minimal effect on the team but will certainly benefit their bullpen. The Devil Rays dealt third baseman Ty Wigginton to the Houston Astros in exchange for relief pitcher Dan Wheeler, who has closer and setup man experience while playing in Houston. I'm not really sure who wins this deal since Wigginton does actually have a decent bat and could help spark some offense on Houston. Meanwhile, the Devil Rays get a solid late-inning reliever to help a pitching core that definitely needs some assistance. In the end, this deal really isn't going to mean anything major for either team. But two names of note were involved here in a swap and I do believe both teams will benefit in some capacity, even if it's just to gain some unnecessary wins to close out the rest of the season.
The Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles were absent from trading. There was virtually little for these two teams to do anyway. Miguel Tejada probably would have been on the block had he not injured himself this summer. But by the time he returned, it was too late for teams to really evaluate Tejada's value in time to pull off a move at the deadline. The Orioles could still do a deal in a waiver-period trade, with Kevin Millar another name of note that could be dangled out there to test the market. But I think the Orioles are pretty much going to keep their squad together for the time being and evaluate just what to do with their assets during the offseason.
I don't think any of the moves in the division will actually impact the teams' status surrounding the playoffs. Gagne hasn't downright guaranteed the Red Sox the AL East crown, and he will hardly be the biggest reason if the Red Sox do manage to hold onto the division. Betemit also will not be the spark plug to launch New York into first place in the division and he won't push them toward the AL Wild Card either. But these moves will help the causes of both organizations and will be important in the playoffs, where all these extra little pieces become extremely important.
National League East
The National League East was also pretty active, though the team out of Atlanta was doing most of the dealing.
First, however, on July 30, the New York Mets managed to fill a need when they acquired second baseman Luis Castillo from the Minnesota Twins for two minor leaguers catcher Drew Butera and outfielder Dustin Martin. Castillo is not all of a sudden going to guarantee the Mets the NL East crown, but he's going to bring a wealth of experience over to an infield that is already pretty solid with Carlos Delgado at first base and the youth movement of José Reyes and David Wright at shortstop and third base, respectively. Castillo is also around a .300 bat with some speed on the basepaths that should compliment Reyes very well, especially since Castillo is taking the reigns as the Mets' No. 2 hitter. Overall, it's nothing earth-shattering out of general manager Omar Minaya like I figured we'd get. But the addition of Castillo to the Mets' roster can only help the team even for as modest of a move as it is.
The real winner of the trade deadline in the NL East, however, was the Atlanta Braves. The Braves landed the big prize of this trading season in Texas' first baseman, Mark Teixeira. Teixeria was the hottest name circulating the trade block, with the Yankees a primary team of interest. But it was the Braves who managed to peak the Rangers' interest, most notably because of their top young catcher in Jarrod Saltalamacchia. He went to the Rangers along with minor leaguers Elvis Andrus (shortstop), Neftali Feliz (right-handed pitcher), Matt Harrison (left-handed pitcher) and Beau Jones (left-handed pitcher) in exchange for Teixeira and 36-year old left-handed reliever Ron Mahay. Though the Braves did lose a tremendous behind-the-plate talent in Saltalamacchia in this deal, they really didn't have a place for him in the lineup. He was playing first base since Brian McCann is the team's catcher. First base is now Teixeira's position. But now, Saltalamacchia should split time in Texas at catcher and as Teixeira's replacement at first base, the position he has played at in his first two games with the Rangers. With Teixeira, the Braves added a big bat to the middle of their lineup, which should help compensate for an underperforming Andruw Jones, or compliment it if Jones' production sparks up anytime soon. Teixeria has managed to start ticking right away with his new club, nailing a sixth-inning three-run homer in his Braves' debut on Wednesday against the Houston Astros. He also hit a fourth-inning two-run shot against the Astros in the Braves' extra-innings game on Thursday. Teixeira, who is earning $9-million this season, is eligible for salary arbitration during the offseason and can become a free agent after next year. I don't believe, however, that the Braves made this deal without the intention of keeping the 27-year old switch hitter around long-term. Teixeira's acquisition could spell the end of Andruw Jones' tenure in Atlanta, though I think it will just mean he has less of a bargaining chip on his shoulder and will sign for less to stay with the Braves. He's clearly not making the most of his contract year. He could learn a thing or two from Jorge Posada. Poor Scott Boras.
The Braves also improved their bullpen by acquiring one of the more sought after relievers in Kansas City's Octavio Dotel. The Royals' closer was being heavily shopped by the Royals, and all it took was starting pitcher Kyle Davies from the Braves to get him over to Atlanta. With Mike González out for the season and Rafael Soriano not coming out lately with reliable performances, the Braves need another late-inning relief arm to bridge the gap to close Bob Wickman. Dotel also provides some save insurance in case Wickman goes down or needs a game off from closing. Royce Ring, an acquisition from the San Diego Padres in exchange for Wilfredo Ledezma, will also give some bullpen depth, mostly in middle-relief duty.
The Philadelphia Phillies were also pretty active this year. After losing second baseman Chase Utley for what is considered to be around a month with a broken hand after being hit by a pitch, the Phillies wasted little time in trying fill the hole in Utley's absence. Philadelphia acquired Tadahito Iguchi from the Chicago White Sox for pitching prospect Michael Dubee. Iguchi will serve as the everyday second baseman for the Phillies until Utley's return, at which point he should receive some spot starts during the regular season and provide some depth on the bench if the Phillies manage to make the playoffs (yeah, I know who am I trying to kid here.) Iguchi has played extremely well for the Phillies since being added to the roster, hitting .381 in six games with three doubles, five runs, three RBIs, one homer and two stolen bases. He's certainly not Utley, but he's filling in quite admirably and should be given credit for making Utley's absence a lot more manageable with his offensive contributions.
The Phillies also brought in some pitching help to both the starting rotation and the bullpen. The Phillies acquired Kyle Lohse from the Cincinnati Reds for minor league pitcher Matt Maloney. Unfortuantely for both Lohse and the Phillies, he was knocked out of his first start with the Phillies against the Chicago Cubs on Thursday after suffering a right forearm contusion. I doubt he is going to miss much time, but this would be a real disappointment if the Phillies did lose Lohse for a significant amount of time after bringing him in to bolster the team's starting rotation. They are already feeling the burn from the losses of Freddy García and Jon Lieber
In the bullpen, the Phillies added Julio Mateo from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for minor league shortstop Jesus Merchan. Mateo hasn't been amazing for the Mariners this year in his few games of action and was suspended by the team since May 5 after being arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife (he should fit in quite well with Brett Myers.) But I think he could provide some dependable relief duty for the Phillies in middle innings throughout the remainder of the season after he gets some time in the minors to get back into game shape after having not played for almost three months.
The Florida Marlins and Washington Nationals remained silent throughout the trade deadline dealings. If anything, these two teams would be sellers, with Dontrelle Willis of the Marlins and Chad Cordero of the Nationals being the two players to likely attract the most interest. It's almost becoming funny that Willis, a perennial rumor target, is still with the Marlins. But I guess the asking price is just too much for teams, if there is an asking price at all.
The NL East is actually fairly tight, and I do believe these moves will make an impact. Both the Braves and Phillies are four games behind the Mets in the NL East standings, with the NL Wild Card 1.5 games in sight for both teams, as well. While I don't think the Phillies will be able to muster enough to get the job done at this point, though they will remain in the thick of things (hmmm this seems familiar), I think the Braves stand a solid shot at catching up to the Mets with all their new additions. The Mets do have enough to hold the Braves off, and I am still leaning toward a second consecutive Mets NL East victory. However, I would be far from surprised if the Braves were able to overtake New York and once again claim themselves as NL East champs after a one-year absence from the thrown.
Make sure you head on over to my 411 Blog, as I will have any reader feedback from MLB Fastball from recent editions of the column up hopefully by Sunday of this weekend.
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