Boom or Bust on MLB's Biggest Moves of 2014 Trade Season
When it comes to trades, there are three possible outcomes: Team A wins the deal, Team B wins the deal or, in rare circumstances, both teams walk away from the swap in better shape than they were before.
With the unofficial two-month 2014 MLB trade season (July 1 to Aug. 31) now officially in the books and many of the teams involved firmly entrenched as contenders or pretenders, now is as good a time as any to play one of our favorite games: Boom or Bust.
The way it works is simple: We look at the key player involved in each deal—prospects and/or established players who were traded to non-contenders are irrelevant for our purposes—and see whether his arrival in a new clubhouse worked out as planned.
While most deals have received a full grade, a handful received partial credit for a number of reasons, all of which will be detailed on the pages that follow.
Not every deal involving a "name" player was included in this exercise—only the biggest names involved were evaluated.
Let's take a look at how everyone did, shall we?
Deals That Missed the Cut
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While the players involved in these trades are all familiar names for even a casual baseball fan, there were simply too many deals that took place during baseball's trade season to include them all in this exercise.
These are the notable swaps that didn't make the cut, whether it was to avoid including one team numerous times or because other deals those clubs were involved in were bigger—both in terms of expectations and star power of the players included.
- Jonathan Broxton traded from Cincinnati to Milwaukee
- Asdrubal Cabrera traded from Cleveland to Washington
- Alejandro De Aza traded from Chicago (AL) to Baltimore
- Stephen Drew traded from Boston to New York (AL)
- Adam Dunn traded from Chicago (AL) to Oakland
- Jason Frasor traded from Texas to Kansas City
- Justin Masterson traded from Cleveland to St. Louis
- Brandon McCarthy traded from Arizona to New York (AL)
- Gerardo Parra traded from Arizona to Milwaukee
- Martin Prado traded from Arizona to New York (AL)
- Joe Thatcher traded from Arizona to Los Angeles (AL)
Partial Bust: Oakland Acquires Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija
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Chicago (NL) Received: OF Billy McKinney, SS Addison Russell, RHP Dan Straily and player to be named.
Oakland Received: RHP Jason Hammel and RHP Jeff Samardzija
The issues that plagued Jeff Samardzija in Chicago—a lack of run support, primarily—have followed him to Oakland. Despite delivering 10 quality starts in 14 appearances and pitching to a 3.13 ERA and 0.93 WHIP, six of those quality starts resulted in either a no-decision or a loss.
His win-loss record doesn't reflect it, but Samardzija has pitched like the front-of-the-rotation arm that Oakland thought it was trading for.
The same can't be said about Jason Hammel, who, predictably, hasn't been nearly as effective with the A's as he was with the Cubs. Over his nine-year career, Hammel's numbers in the American League (before the trade) were significantly worse than they were in the National League:
| American League | 22-29 | 5.00 | 1.48 | 3.6 | 6.8 |
| National League | 35-35 | 4.35 | 1.34 | 2.6 | 6.7 |
Hammel has delivered only four quality starts in 11 chances and figures to serve as a long reliever in the postseason—if Oakland can hold on to its ticket to the dance over the final week of the regular season.
Boom: Angels Acquire Huston Street from Padres
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Los Angeles Received: RHP Trevor Gott, RHP Huston Street
San Diego Received: RHP R.J. Alvarez, SS/2B Taylor Lindsey, RHP Eliot Morris, SS Jose Rondon
We know Mike Trout is fast, but the 23-year-old took hardly any time at all to answer a question posed by the Los Angeles Times' Bill Shaikin: What's different about this Angels team from past seasons?
"We got a bullpen," Trout replied. "We score some runs, and we can lock it down."
The additions of veterans like Jason Grilli and Thatcher certainly helped fortify Los Angeles' bullpen, but it was the acquisition of All-Star closer Huston Street that truly solidified things for the Halos and gave the team confidence that once it gets a lead, it's probably not going to give it back.
Street has converted 15 of 17 save opportunities for the Angels, allowing only four earned runs in 25 appearances and pitching to a 1.50 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. His arrival allowed manager Mike Scioscia to move Joe Smith back into his comfort zone as a setup man and the aforementioned Grilli into middle relief, a far less pressure-packed role than closer.
It's no coincidence that since Street's arrival, the Angels have gone 38-22 (.633), an improvement over the team's already impressive 58-38 (.604) record in the pre-Street era.
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Bust: Tigers Acquire Joakim Soria from Rangers
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Detroit Received: RHP Joakim Soria
Texas Received: RHP Corey Knebel and RHP Jake Thompson
Detroit needed to shore up the ninth inning of its beleaguered bullpen as the trade deadline neared, so Dave Dombrowski did what any good general manager would do—he went out and acquired the best closer still available.
Unfortunately for Dombrowski and the Tigers, Joakim Soria hasn't been anything close to that in a Tigers uniform. The 30-year-old missed nearly all of August with a strained left oblique, an injury that by itself makes this deal a bust for the Tigers.
When you throw in that he's allowed six earned runs and 13 hits over 7.1 innings of work—and that at least one baserunner has reached base in all but two of his nine appearances—things have gone about as badly as they possibly could have for the Tigers in this deal.
Boom: Yankees Acquire Chase Headley from Padres
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New York Received: 3B Chase Headley
San Diego Received: RHP Rafael DePaula and IF Yangervis Solarte
Chase Headley hasn't set the world on fire since joining the New York Yankees, and he's certainly not drawing comparisons to the likes of Graig Nettles among the Bleacher Creatures out in right field.
But the 30-year-old, who's a free agent at the end of the season, has provided outstanding defense at both corner infield spots, filling in at first base for Mark Teixeira when needed while raising his production level at the plate to respectable levels.
| New York | .251 | .359 | .724 | 11 (4) | 108 |
| San Diego | .229 | .296 | .651 | 20 (7) | 89 |
Perhaps even more important than his play this season is the fact that the trade may have bought the Yankees their third baseman for the foreseeable future, as Alex Rodriguez is expected to serve as the club's designated hitter when he returns from his yearlong exile.
“If I had never played in New York, if I hadn't come here and been in this clubhouse and experienced this past couple months, this wouldn't have been high on my list,” Headley told Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. “From the outside, New York, the media, all that stuff I hadn't dealt with before, that may have turned me off to a place that I have really enjoyed. It’s been a huge help.”
Partial Bust: A's Acquire Jon Lester from Red Sox
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Boston Received: OF Yoenis Cespedes and a competitive-balance draft pick
Oakland Received: OF Jonny Gomes, LHP Jon Lester and cash considerations
The popular myth is that this trade, the one that bought Oakland an ace at the cost of its cleanup hitter, was the move that began the team's maddening descent into oblivion. But that's simply not the case.
As Carl Steward of the Bay Area News Group writes, the beginning of the end came when the A's unceremoniously demoted Tommy Milone to the minor leagues to make room for Jason Hammel, whose struggles we've already looked at:
"The end result (of Milone's demotion) was that a strong clubhouse spirit was shattered. An integral part of the A's success from the point [Bob] Melvin took over as manager, Milone was on a 6-0, 2.62 ERA roll over 11 starts when he was tossed aside. Talking to a number of players that day about the logic of the left-hander being shipped out, there was a unanimous sentiment of disgust. The words "stinks" and "unfair" were uttered more than once.
In essence, Milone's banishment placed a doubt in every player's mind that, "Hey, that just as easily could be me. What good is 'play for today' if I'm gone tomorrow? And who's really managing this team, anyway, Bo-Mel or Billy?"
"
There's no question that removing Cespedes from the heart of the lineup did more damage than general manager Billy Beane anticipated. But Lester has done exactly what the A's hoped he would, delivering a quality start every time he takes the mound while pitching to a 2.20 ERA and 1.06 WHIP.
Oakland's record since the trade (18-29) is horrendous—but it has absolutely nothing to do with Lester himself.
Boom: Orioles Acquire Andrew Miller from Red Sox
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Baltimore Received: LHP Andrew Miller
Boston Received: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez
As the trade deadline neared, few players were in as great a demand as Andrew Miller, who had put together an All-Star-worthy season for Boston and was one of the few established southpaws on the market.
He's been even better since switching allegiances in the AL East and taken what was already a strength in Baltimore, the bullpen, and made it that much stronger:
| Boston | 3-5 | 2.34 | 0.90 | 2.8 | 14.7 |
| Baltimore | 2-0 | 0.98 | 0.55 | 1.5 | 15.2 |
Miller has allowed only two earned runs and 11 baserunners in 18.1 innings of work over 20 relief appearances for the division champs, making the task of getting the ball into closer Zach Britton's hands significantly easier for manager Buck Showalter.
Bust: Mariners Acquire Kendrys Morales from Twins
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Minnesota Received: RHP Stephen Pryor
Seattle Received: 1B/DH Kendrys Morales
Everything we needed to know about Kendrys Morales' return to Seattle can be best summed up in this tweet from Mariners fan Jose (@Jose8BS): "Cannot unsee the fact that Kendrys Morales swung at a pitch that went between his legs."
Morales, who spent the 2013 season in Seattle, was brought back into the fold to provide some punch and help give Robinson Cano some protection in the middle of the lineup.
Instead, Morales has hit only .209 with a .621 OPS and 77 wRC+, the latter being the same as Justin Smoak's.
Boom: Giants Acquire Jake Peavy from Red Sox
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Boston Received: RHP Edwin Escobar and RHP Heath Hembree
San Francisco Received: RHP Jake Peavy
Whatever you do, do not tell Jake Peavy that it's actually 2014 and he's pitching for the San Francisco Giants, for the 33-year-old clearly believes that it's actually 2007 and he's on the cusp of winning the National League Cy Young Award as a member of the San Diego Padres.
From MLB's Stat of the Day Twitter account: "Starting on 8/13, @JakePeavy_44 has gone 6-1 with a 1.13 ERA in seven starts, and @SFGiants are 20-11, for the second-best record in the NL."
That was tweeted out the day after Peavy's latest start against Arizona on Sept. 16, when he tossed 7.2 innings of one-run ball—his fourth consecutive start in which he allowed two earned runs or fewer.
His numbers with the Giants are nothing short of remarkable, especially when compared to how he performed with Boston before the trade:
| Boston | 1-9 | 4.72 | 1.43 | 3.3 | 7.3 |
| San Francisco | 6-4 | 2.16 | 1.05 | 1.8 | 6.9 |
Nobody thought that Peavy could possibly replace the injured Matt Cain in the Giants rotation, but he's managed to do just that.
Bust: Tigers Acquire David Price from Rays, Mariners Snag Tigers' Austin Jackson
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Detroit Received: LHP David Price
Seattle Received: OF Austin Jackson
Tampa Bay Received: SS Willy Adames, IF Nick Franklin and LHP Drew Smyly
It's been a tale of two David Prices in Detroit since the trade deadline. One looks like one of the game's elite arms, while the other looks like someone who shouldn't be anywhere near a major league rotation, especially a contender's.
In four of his nine starts for the Tigers, Price has allowed at least four earned runs, pitching to an 8.87 ERA and 1.88 WHIP. In his other five starts? An ERA of 1.37 and a WHIP of 0.84.
With Price under team control through 2015, this deal figures to come out as a major boom for the Tigers when it's all said and done. But there's no disputing the numbers—and that they make this deal far more bust than boom thus far.
As for Seattle's part in the swap, the Mariners haven't gotten the kind of production that they had hoped for out of the athletic center fielder.
Hitting only .247 with a .568 OPS and 62 wRC+ while with Seattle, Jackson is misplaced as the team's leadoff hitter. Despite successfully stealing 10 bases in 12 attempts for the Mariners, Jackson's woeful .284 on-base percentage ensures that he's not—and probably will never be—the table-setter that Seattle needed atop the lineup.
Partial Boom: Cardinals Acquire John Lackey from Red Sox
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Boston Received: OF/1B Allen Craig, RHP Joe Kelly
St. Louis Received: LHP Corey Littrell, RHP John Lackey and cash considerations
John Lackey's numbers in a St. Louis uniform—3-2 with a 4.50 ERA and 1.39 WHIP—don't scream "this guy is awesome!" at first glance, but digging a bit deeper tells a different story.
The 12-year veteran has put forth a quality effort in six of his nine starts (it could be seven of nine, but Lackey was ejected in the third inning of his start Sept. 10 for arguing balls and strikes), pitching to a 2.20 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in those games.
Lackey has dealt with a sore shoulder and a bit of a "dead arm" during his time in St. Louis, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, but the 35-year-old regained some velocity on his fastball in his last outing against Cincinnati, per Brooks Baseball, a hopeful sign that his arm issues are behind him.
Unless otherwise noted/linked, all statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs and are current through games of Sept. 20. All trade details courtesy of CBS Sports.
Want to talk baseball? Hit me up on Twitter: @RickWeinerBR
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