MLB Trades 2015: Breaking Down Teams Who Netted Biggest Deadline Gains

The MLB landscape looks substantially different after an assortment of trades developed before Friday's nonwaiver deadline.

With a championship in sight, a surprisingly intense buyer's market unfolded. Title hopefuls tossed caution to the wind, raiding farm systems for superstars, many of whom will soon hit free agency. Although risky endeavors, a World Series victory would make it all worth it.

Not every contender needed to pull off a blockbuster deal. The San Francisco Giants filled their biggest hole without any major fireworks by acquiring Mike Leake, as the club confirmed early Friday morning. While not a brand-name superstar, Gerardo Parra has performed like one this year before getting shipped to the Baltimore Orioles, who announced the move with a few hours to spare.

Those squads went for a simple, low-cost repair. A trio of American League clubs took a different approach, each landing a significant star and more. Welcome to a weird universe where the Kansas City Royals and Houston Astros are going for it all while the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels stand pat.

Toronto Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays would still occupy this space even without Troy Tulowitzki, a luxury upgrade to baseball's most ferocious lineup. They really needed a starting pitcher to accompany those bats, and they located an awesome one in David Price, as CBS Sports' Jon Heyman first reported. 

Before landing Price, Mark Buehrle constituted Toronto's staff ace despite a minuscule 4.50 strikeouts per nine innings and 3.86 fielding independent pitching (FIP). Its new southpaw, however, hoists a 2.53 ERA and 3.01 FIP. Since 2011, the year before winning the AL Cy Young Award, he ranks third among all starters in WAR:

Rank	Pitcher	WAR
1	Clayton Kershaw	32.2
2	Felix Hernandez	25.2
3	David Price	23.7
4	Max Scherzer	22.4
5	Cole Hamels	21.0

Six games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East, the squad has a better chance of making the postseason as a wild card. Now, there's no question over who should take the mound for a winner-take-all game. It's easy to see why third baseman Josh Donaldson is so excited:

The Blue Jays weren't done after Price, closing out the trade window with another move, announced on their Twitter page, which will garner far less attention:

Along with its poor rotation, a shaky bullpen deserves blame for Toronto standing at 53-51 despite an AL-best plus-104 run differential. Through 36 innings, Mark Lowe has registered a 1.00 ERA and 47 strikeouts.

General manager Alex Anthopoulos paid a lot for a veteran relief pitcher with a 3.80 career ERA, but Lowe provides a massive short-term upgrade if he can sustain his current success. 

Houston Astros

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

Had Houston stopped after acquiring Scott Kazmir last week, few fans would have thrown a fuss. After all, the Astros aren't supposed to win the World Series for another two years. He's not a Price-level ace, but Kazmir has performed like one so far with a 2.10 ERA.

Yet after years of a meticulous rebuild resolved sooner than anticipated, they're not content to simply have a chance of capturing the AL West. Per Heyman, they acquired two more big-time contributors from the Milwaukee Brewers:

They can thank the New York Mets for not snatching up Carlos Gomez, a 29-year-old center fielder under contract through 2016. Even during a down year, he has a .739 OPS and 1.5 WAR. As ESPN Stats & Info noted, he offers considerable defensive value:

Don't discount Mike Fiers, either. The 30-year-old righty has registered a 3.89 ERA and 121 strikeouts through 118 innings. Dating back to last year, he has amassed a 3.22 ERA and 197 strikeouts over 189.2 frames.

Just like that, Houston has a deep rotation and another big bat on an offense leading the league in home runs. It's no longer an overachieving club waiting for the bottom to fall out.

Kansas City Royals

The Royals already have stored an AL-high 61 wins in the bank. Eight games ahead of the Minnesota Twins, they could have stood pat and skipped into October. Yet once they arrived, they would have struggled to return to the World Series without anyone resembling a front-line starter.

Enter Johnny Cueto. Although his current 3.08 FIP represents a career best, the 29-year-old is on par to post an ERA below 3.00 for the fifth straight season.

Year	ERA
2011	2.31
2012	2.78
2013	2.82
2014	2.25
2015	2.70

While the Royals' defense and bullpen remain stellar, their starting staff recorded a 4.32 ERA prior to Cueto's debut Friday night. His arrival gives them the ace they missed when James Shields defected to the San Diego Padres last winter.

The offense packs a heavier punch this season, but Alex Gordon's groin injury left it searching for more. Almost All-Star Omar Infante isn't quite helping offensively, either, holding a .567 OPS. Able to handle a corner outfield spot and/or second base, Ben Zobrist represents a perfect addition.

Both moves have the organization giddy for another pennant push. First baseman Eric Hosmer relayed his excitement to Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star:

Kansas City exceeded expectations by making it to Game 7 of the World Series last year. This season, however, it will enter the playoffs with a win-or-bust mentality.

Note: All advanced stats courtesy of FanGraphs.