Studs and Duds: Reviewing The MLB Trade Deadline

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Studs

Boston Red Sox:

Key Acquisitions- Victor Martinez and Casey Kotchman

Red Sox were able to get a great a versatile player in Victor Martinez. He is able to play both catcher and first base. His numbers have been fantastic this year, especially for a catcher and if it wasn’t for Joe Mauer, he would be the best catcher in the American League. This trade also gives them insurance for Mike Lowell. If he happens to get hurt again, they can play Victor at first base and move Kevin Youkilis at third. There is also a good chance that he will wind up being their everyday catcher next year, the catcher they spent a lot of time looking for the past couple of years.

As for Casey Kotchman, it gives them a good defensive first baseman and just an all around solid player off the bench. This is also a cheaper option for the Red Sox.

The Red Sox did give up some nice prospects, but they still hold on to their stud Clay Bucholtz and their farm system is still in pretty good shape. Overall, they did a great job during the trade deadline.

Philadelphia Phillies

Key Acquisition- Cliff Lee

The Philadelphia Phillies needed another good starter in their rotation to help them make another World Series run, and they got a very good one in Cliff Lee. The reigning Cy Young winner from the American League now comes over to the National League and should make the Phillies the favorites to repeat as champions in the National League again.

Phillies did part with a solid package in Marson, Donald, Knapp, and Carrasco, but it was well worth it for a former CY Young winner, even though I feel Knapp could be a steal within this trade. Cliff Lee will give the team the best ground ball percentage, which bodes well for playing in a ball park like Citizens Bank. Plus he has a good strike out to walk ratio, over three, and he has a very good home run per nine, right around .5. This was a great deal, especially considering the package they would have to give up to get Roy Halladay.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Key Acquistions- Tim Alderson, Kevin Hart, Jose Ascanio, Josh Harrison, Lastings Milledge, Charlie Morton, Jeff Locke, Gorkys Hernandez, Argenis Diaz, Hunter Strickland, Jeff Clement, Ronny Cedeno, Nathan Adcock, Brett Lorin, and
Aaron Pribanic.

Many people have been quick to bash and criticize the moves made by Neal Huntington. However, these are the same people who probably don’t value a good prospect when they see one. I absolutely love what the Pirates did this season. Yes they traded away a “key” guy in Nate McClouth, whose defense is overrated with UZR being negative, which means his range is below average for a centerfielder. His OPS is below .800 and he is only getting on base at about a .340 clip, which isn't awful, but could be better. So for the Pirates to snag some pretty solid prospects in Charlie Morton, Jeff Locke and Gorkys Hernandez, I would say they got fair to good value for their supposed star.

Charlie Morton has had good command and is a ground ball pitcher and should be a nice four or five starter for the Pirates. Jeff Locke has a ton of potential and he could find his way into the Pirates rotation in the future. Locke has pretty good stuff, but has struggled a bit with his control this year. Finally, Gorkys Hernandez is another very good prospect, who was ranked in the top ten of the Braves farm system. This gives the Pirates nice speed and good depth in the minors in terms of outfielders, to go alongside Jose Tabata.

There was a trade with the Washington Nationals. Lastings Milledge has all the potential in the world to be an all around player and the Pirates are obviously taking a chance here, but a good chance. See they don’t necessarily need Nyjer Morgan and by taking the chance in Lastings, they could come out geniuses in this trade, especially with Lastings bat coming around in the minors.

Then you have the crazy trade with the Seattle Mariners. They were able to ship Jack Wilson and Ian Snell for Jeff Clement, Ronny Cedeno, Brett Lorin, and others. Jeff Clement is likely to move to first base, which is a position that the Pirates could use, although Garrett Jones has been playing well there. However, Jones can play some outfield if need be. Clement may see some time at catcher, but it is unlikely due to his poor defense. Clement has good power though and could be a key asset for the Pirates in the years to come.

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