MLB Power Rankings: Rating the Post-Deadline Anger of Each MLB Fanbase

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Do they even want to win in the Bronx in 2011?

The July 31 trade deadline has come and gone with a surprisingly active transaction wire, which means that lots of fans in lots of cities have a lot to talk about today.

But surely no fanbase is as befuddled as the New York Yankees fan base, in light of the Yankees' uncharacteristically passive attitude towards the deadline. The Yanks unexpectedly failed to make any moves prior to the deadline, meaning that they are content to press forward with major question marks.

Yankees fans are no doubt amongst the least happy fans in baseball today.

Lets have a look to see where they rank amongst all MLB fanbases in terms of their overall dissatisfaction with their team's trade deadline performance. 

30. Philadelphia Phillies

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The Phillies had one and only one need before the deadline: a right-handed bat to plug into the fifth hole in the order to provide protection for Ryan Howard.

In Pence's first game after being traded to the Phils, Howard reached base five times and nearly hit for the cycle.

In his second game, Raul Ibanez, hitting sixth behind Pence, hit two homeruns and a double, including a game-tying homerun with Pence on base in the eighth and then doubled in the 10th that scored Pence with the game-winning run.

Mission accomplished.

29. Cleveland Indians

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Cleveland Indians fans have to be positively giddy today.

Not only did the Indians rook the Rockies out of their deceptively fabulous ace, but they also committed addition-by-subtraction by convincing the San Francisco Giants that Orlando Cabrera would somehow benefit their club, when in fact, Cabrera is a shell of his former self and has actually hurt the Indians this season.

28. Atlanta Braves

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The Atlanta Braves have the second best record in the National League and had two glaring problems with their team that they killed with one stone.

Michael Bourn gives this team a legitimate leadoff hitter and stabilizes the defensive lineup by provide All Star caliber defense in center field.

The hundreds of fans in Atlanta who follow the Braves closely are very happy today.

27. Pittsburgh Pirates

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On the one hand, the Pittsburgh Pirates have not been buyers at the deadline since Bill Clinton's first term, so that fact alone has the Pirates fans dancing in the streets.

On the other hand, though, Derrek Lee and Ryan Ludwick? The Pirates snagged a couple of former NL Central stars to help make their run at the NL Central crown, but one has to wonder whether an inexperienced front office may have flubbed this one.

Lee hasn't hit in three years, and Ludwick is three years removed from his one really good but, at the same time, overrated season.

26. Kansas City Royals

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Obviously not buyers at this point, the Kansas City Royals have one of the best farm systems in baseball and had nothing to really sell off.

They did part with Mike Aviles, in the middle of a hilariously bad season, and Wilson Betemit, who was simply holding down Mike Moustakas's spot at third base.

In return, the Royals obtained four minor leaguers to add to their already stacked farm system.

Hey, a trade deadline that passes without the Royals selling one of their few stars is a good one for K.C. fans.

25. Texas Rangers

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In acquiring Koji Uehara from the Orioles and Mike Adams from the Padres, the Texas Rangers have demonstrated to their fans that they are all-in for a return trip to the World Series.

The Rangers may have given up a couple of future stars in the form of Robbie Erlin and Joseph Wieland, but that is the cost of securing the Rangers' one weak spot.

24. San Francisco Giants

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The Giants won the Carlos Beltran Sweepstakes, and only gave up one prospect to do it, while getting the Mets to agree to cover much of Beltran's remaining contract.

Good move.

The Giants also sought to bolster their defense by acquiring Orlando Cabrera, which is a real live disaster.

Yikes.

23. San Diego Padres

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Actually, if you are San Diego Padres fans, you have got to be liking what you've seen this deadline season.

Mike Adams, while a dominant reliever, isn't the type of player you build a team around.  He is 32 years old, and he is a Petco Park aided middleman.

In return for Adams, though, the Padres got two ridiculously talented minor league pitchers in Robert Erlin, whose career minor league strikeout-to-walk ratio in three seasons is 8.57-to-1 (257 strikeouts, 30 walks), and Joseph Wieland, who, through 129.2 innings this season split between Single-A and Double-A, has 132 strikeouts and 15 walks to go with a 1.80 ERA.

What were the Rangers even thinking?

Meanwhile, in their other prominent deal, the Padres sent Ryan Ludwick, a 32-year-old with a .238 average and .674 OPS (read: addition by subtraction) to the Pirates for a player to be named later.

That's pretty good return for some low-ceiling players. 

22. Milwaukee Brewers

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The Brewers did their damage well before the deadline, acquiring Francisco Rodriguez from the Mets.

Right before the deadline, they snatched up both Felipe Lopez and Jerry Hairston, Jr., which on any other team would be terrible acquisitions, but on the defense challenged Brewers, these will be valuable role players.

21. Los Angeles Dodgers

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They got rid of Rafael Furcal in exchange for minor league outfielder Alex Castellanos.

Then they parted with Trayvon Robinson in a three-way deal which netted them catcher Tim Federowicz and pitchers Stephen Fife and Juan Rodriguez.

Federowicz is a defensive specialist, while Fife and Rodriguez are minor prospects.

20. Detroit Tigers

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The Tigers paid big for a couple of guys who owe their success to Safeco Field as much as anything else. Doug Fister and David Pauley could very much fall off the cliff in Detroit.

19. Florida Marlins

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The Marlins' two top trading blocks would likely have been Hanley Ramirez and Javier Vazquez, both of whom are having terrible seasons, so the Marlins would have been selling low.

Staying put was not so bad.

18. Arizona Diamondbacks

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Diamondbacks fans have to be happy just to be buyers at this point in the season.

What they are buying, however, is not so interesting.  Jason Marquis should, in all likelihood, get positively lit up playing at Chase Field, while Brad Ziegler, well, fanbases don't exactly get charged up over middle relievers.

That the Deebs gave up Brandon Allen, amongst others, in these deals makes them very high risk.

17. Oakland Athletics

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The A's has shipped Brad Ziegler to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Jordan Norberto, who has averaged over a strikeout per inning in his minor league career, and Brandon Allen, a big power-and-on-base first baseman.

That seems like a good haul for a solid middle reliever, and both of these players could have success at the major league level in Oakland.

16. Toronto Blue Jays

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Edwin Jackson in; Zach Stewart out.

Edwin Jackson out; Colby Rasmus in.

Did the Blue Jays just trade away two quality pitchers to get Rasmus?

This seems like low-impact, unsensational paper-moving.

These are not moves that the Toronto fanbase is likely to be moved one way or another about.

15. Washington Nationals

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The Cincinnati Reds shipped Jonny Gomes to the Nationals for Bill Rhinehart and Chris Manno in a deal that is not clearly a buying or selling move for either team.

Of course, it is probably a little soon to trade Jayson Werth, so other than that, the Nationals fanbase is probably happy to stay put and wait for Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper to make their arrivals next season.

14. St. Louis Cardinals

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The St. Louis fanbase has reason to be uncertain about the Cardinals moves.

They did land Edwin Jackson from the White Sox via Toronto, which is a great deal when one considers that Jackson will be moving from the AL to the NL and will be under the tutelage of Dave Duncan.  At the same time, they gave up Colby Rasmus and a slew of relievers to get him, and they are now the latest stop on the Corey Patterson Tries to Play for Every Major League Team tour.

Then there is the Rafael Furcal move.  Really?

Here's something funny about Rafael Furcal: In the last three seasons, he has either been awesome or healthy.

In 2007, he posted a .270/.333/.355 in 138 games.

In 2008, he was a tremendous .357/.439/.573...in 37 games.

In 2009, he played 150 games and had 680 plate appearances, and managed only a .711 OPS.

In 2010, in 97 games, he hit .300 with an .826 OPS.

Then there's 2011.  This season, Furcal has neither been healthy nor good, batting .197 with a .520 OPS in 37 games.

This is a deadline deal by a team in it to win it? 

13. New York Mets

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New York Mets fans actually have plenty to celebrate here on August 1.

Not only has the Carlos Beltran era come to a merciful end, the Mets added Zack Wheeler to their farm system rather than getting nothing in return when Beltran becomes a free agent.

At the same time, the trade deadline has come and gone without Jose Reyes being dealt out of town, giving Mets fans hope that the future of their team very much includes one of the most dynamic players in baseball.

12. Baltimore Orioles

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What do you do with an aging first baseman whom you signed in the offseason but from whom you've received little production?

Flip him to the Pirates for Aaron Baker, a minor league lefty first baseman with a power-bat and developing on-base ability.

What do you do with an aging pitcher whom you signed from Japan as a starting pitcher but, failing that, has become a dominant 36-year-old middle reliever?

Flip him to the Texas Rangers for Tommy Hunter, their much-heralded but struggling pitching prospect, and hope a change of scenery is all he needs to become a major league star.

The Orioles shipped out their soon to be obsolete resources and got younger and more talented in the process.  

Well done.

11. Seattle Mariners

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The Seattle Mariners took Doug Fister and David Pauley, two pitchers whose success is almost completely dependent upon Safeco Field, and flipped them to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for prospects.

The Mariners received Casper Wells, an outfield prospect who has shown power in the minors but is still developing. Charlie Furbush, a 6'5" left handed pitcher who struck out 183 batters in 159.0 innings at three levels in 2010, and Francisco Martinez, a light-hitting third baseman who has made 27 errors at Double-A this season.

In their other major deal, the Mariners sent oft-injured and overpaid Erik Bedard to the Boston Red Sox in a three-team deal that netted them Dodgers prospect Trayvon Robinson and Red Sox prospect Chih-Hsien Chiang.

Robinson is a five-tool guy who currently has hit as many as 26 homeruns and stolen as many as 47 bases in the minors.  Chiang is a Taiwan import who is currently killing it at Double-A Portland to the tune of .338/.399/.647, with 18 homeruns, 76 RBI and 36 doubles in 87 games.

The Mariners have moved out disposable pitching and gotten younger and stronger on offense in the process.  Time to get excited about 2012.

10. Chicago Cubs

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What the hell is Carlos Zambrano still doing here?

Sure, Kosuke Fukudome is finally gone (and good riddance), but what is this psychopath still doing here?

To say nothing of Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez and Ryan Dempster.

What's a brother got to do to get a fire sale around here?

9. Colorado Rockies

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The Colorado Rockies gave up a guy in Ubaldo Jimenez who had demonstrated conclusively that pitchers will never be able to have sustained success in Coors Field (if he can't, who can?).

So Ubaldo is out--no sense wasting that talent in place where it cannot succeed--and in comes a flurry of mediocre-to-good Cleveland Indians prospects.

Included amongst those are Alex White, the Indians No. 1 pick in the 2009 draft who currently has a 2.37 ERA in two seasons of minor league ball, Joe Gardner, their third pick in 2009 who has struggled in 2011 and Matt McBride, a solid first base prospect who has yet to spend a full season at Triple-A despite being 26 years old.

Not so sure the Rockies killed it here, especially considering the fact that Ubaldo is instantly an AL Cy Young candidate for 2012.

8. Tampa Bay Rays

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The good news is that none of the Rays' stars have been shipped away.

The bad news, of course, is that the Rays have a winning record and did not make any moves to put themselves into a position to make a run at the end of the season.

7. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

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No offense, no bullpen...no moves.

Way to charge up the fanbase.  I guess the Angels are just waiting for Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells' contracts to run out.

6. Cincinnati Reds

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The Cincinnati Reds shipped Jonny Gomes to the Nationals for Bill Rhinehart and Chris Manno in a deal that is not clearly a buying or selling move for either team.

I think the Reds probably expected more this season, and this trade deadline is probably a sorry reminder to Reds fans that this team is going backwards.

5. Chicago White Sox

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Edwin Jackson, we hardly knew ye.

The White Sox get Jason Frasor and Zach Stewart in return for Jackson, neither of whom is likely to have any impact on the White Sox anytime soon.

This is not clearly a win-now move.

4. Houston Astros

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The Houston Astros had exactly two major league stars on their team in Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn. Those players are now both gone, and in their stead is an army of prospects from the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies.

So, it is wait until the year after next for the Astros, whose games from now to the end of the season will no doubt be ill-attended by a less than stimulated Houston fan base.

3. Minnesota Twins

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It is one thing to not make any moves whatsoever.  If the Twins want to hold on to the current team and get ready for 2012, OK.

But could they really not find any takers for Delmon Young?

This has got to be a sad fanbase today.

2. Boston Red Sox

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In desperate need of starting pitchers, the Red Sox couldn't pull off a deal for Rich Harden (couldn't pull off a deal for Rich Harden) and instead ended up with Erik Bedard.

Is this the best we can do?

By the way, Bedard has a 6.99 career ERA in Fenway Park.  

Good luck with that.

There is an underwhelmed fanbase in Boston tonight.

1. New York Yankees

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Perhaps the New York Yankees have resigned themselves to the wild card this year.

It is not like anyone else in the American League is primed to give the Yankees a run for the wild card.

At the same time, the Yankees are not without needs, and letting the trade deadline go by without making a move is so...un-Yankee-like.