Breaking Down the Early Impact of MLB's Biggest July Trades
The days leading up to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline are some of the most anticipated of the entire Major League Baseball season, and this latest edition did not disappoint.
There were blockbusters early and right up until the deadline. Teams made them while in the thick of divisional and Wild Card races as well as on the fringe of postseason discussions.
Every one of these deals has already affected the playoff races, and some are no more than a week old. Then again, that is exactly why these teams pulled off these kinds of trades. That they are making instant impacts should not stun anyone.
Not all the trades, however, have been entirely positive, and some have been more important than most imagined.
Johnny Cueto and Ben Zobrist to the Kansas City Royals
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So far, the results have been uninspiring, for the most part.
But the Royals' trades for Johnny Cueto and Ben Zobrist before the non-waiver deadline are more about the relative long-term results this season and not so much the ones in the week after the deals. This is a team set to win the American League Central title, so as long as the two acquisitions round into form by October, the immediate results will be forgotten.
Neither guy has been a bum since joining the Royals. Far from it, actually. Zobrist entered Saturday with three home runs in eight games and a .924 OPS. His .324 OBP and .208 BABIP should rise as the sample size grows, but what is certain is he provides the Royals with a versatile piece who can play just about anywhere.
Cueto has given the Royals two quality starts. He's pitched 13 innings and allowed five earned runs while walking four and striking out nine. Those are hardly ace-like numbers, but that does not change the fact that he is a legitimate No. 1 starter on a roster that did not have one before him.
"Johnny Cueto is obviously an impact talent," Kansas City general manager Dayton Moore told Vahe Gregorian of the Kansas City Star after the deal.
The Royals are 3-5 since the trades took effect—Zobrist debuted July 30—but these moves will be graded after the postseason as the team has its trip to the playoffs just about locked in.
Troy Tulowitzki and David Price to the Toronto Blue Jays
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These trades have been hugely impactful for the Blue Jays as the team surges toward its first postseason berth since 1993.
The Troy Tulowitzki deal came first, on the Tuesday before the non-waiver deadline, and on its own seemed odd. It was more offense piled on top of what was already the American League's best lineup, and while Tulowitzki provides better defense at shortstop than Jose Reyes, who was shipped back to the Colorado Rockies, the move failed to address Toronto's biggest flaw: starting pitching.
The addition of Tulowitzki at the top of the lineup, however, has made a potent offense downright frightening. Since the trade, the Blue Jays are 9-0 when Tulowitzki starts. They are also slugging .505 as a team, hitting .297 and scoring 5.9 runs per game.
On his own, Tulowitzki is hitting .270/.386/.486 with an .873 OPS, two doubles, two homers and 11 runs. He's done this as the first hitter in the lineup, a space he occupied only once in his 10 seasons in Colorado.
"He's really fit well into the leadoff spot," Sportsnet baseball columnist Shi Davidi said on MLB Network on Friday. "He's helped set the table, put immediate pressure on pitchers leading into Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. He's also played tremendous defense.
"On top of that, everyone seems to regard him as a positive presence. The Blue Jays have worked really hard to change a bit of the culture in that clubhouse, and really fits that gamer, all-in-to-win mode that they've tried to develop and nurture."
Days after dealing for Tulowitzki, the Blue Jays made that trade seem wiser when they acquired David Price. Price has had as much of an impact as a starting pitcher can have in one start. He went eight innings, allowed one run on three hits and struck out 11 in his team debut Monday in Toronto, a setting he called "hands down the best atmosphere I've ever pitched in." Price makes his second start for the Blue Jays on Saturday against the Yankees.
"It's more than the city of Toronto; it's an entire country with Canada," Price said on MLB Network on Friday. "It's been crazy. I never envisioned things getting to this point, but I'll definitely take it."
Together, Tulowitzki and Price have raised the ceiling for the Blue Jays. They were .500 before Tulowitzki entered the lineup, and now, with October fast approaching, Toronto looks like a legitimate threat in the AL.
Yoenis Cespedes to the New York Mets
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Yoenis Cespedes rang the closing bell on what was a crazy and, for some, emotional final week before the non-waiver trade deadline for the Mets. And he has lived up to all the excitement his arrival created.
The Mets are 6-0 since Cespedes arrived from the Detroit Tigers in a trade that never would have happened had New York signed off on a deal a couple days earlier that would have brought it center fielder Carlos Gomez. The Milwaukee Brewers were set to receive injured pitcher Zack Wheeler and infielder Wilmer Flores, who learned of the potential trade during a game and was wiping away tears on the field as a result.
Cespedes is hitting only .269/.296/.385 in those six games, but he tied a franchise record Monday with three doubles. He's yet to hit a home run, but he has given the Mets a legitimate threat for the No. 3 spot in the lineup.
The electricity surrounding the Mets amid their revived playoff hopes has Cespedes, whom New York has to release within five days after the World Series, considering a long-term relationship with the club.
"This is something I can't control; I don't know what the front office is thinking about," Cespedes told reporters through an interpreter Tuesday, per Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News. "But, from what I have seen so far, I would love for everything to work out and I stay with the Mets for a long, long time, because I like the atmosphere."
The Mets have one of the best rotations in the National League, and with Cespedes in the heart of their lineup, they are looking more and more like a complete club with legitimate World Series chances.
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Scott Kazmir, Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers to the Houston Astros
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For the most part, the two trades that brought in this trio have been a win for the Astros, who trailed in the American League West by a game when Scott Kazmir made his first start and now lead the division by 1.5.
Kazmir has allowed one earned run in his three starts (0.44 ERA), and Houston has won two of them against the Kansas City Royals and the Los Angeles Angels, the team the Astros were chasing when Kazmir debuted. He has been exactly what the team wanted when it acquired him from the Oakland A's, especially with fellow starter Lance McCullers struggling and being sent to the minors recently.
Carlos Gomez took an 0-for-5 in his debut, but since then he has hit .300/.323/.467 with a .789 OPS, two doubles and a homer in six games going into Saturday. He's also already provided some sweet defensive highlights in center field.
"I'm fine anywhere, but I love here," Gomez told Chandler Rome of MLB.com. "Those guys make me feel sexy.
"I feel more like an Astro now. My first game coming to the plate from this side, I felt weird. Now I'm feeling better coming here, getting to know a little about everybody."
Mike Fiers, acquired from the Brewers in the same deal that nabbed Gomez, still has something to prove, but his ugly debut is excusable since the Astros curiously used him in relief on the day before he was supposed to make his first appearance as a starter. He allowed six runs on seven hits and three walks in a five-inning stint, but he'll get a chance to right the ship Sunday when he starts in Oakland.
The Astros, who are 7-7 since Kazmir's debut, were aggressive at the non-waiver deadline, and while the jury is still out on Fiers, the other two pieces have already had a great impact.
Cole Hamels to the Texas Rangers
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Cole Hamels had been the biggest, most expensive and most discussed trade target for a year before the Philadelphia Phillies finally found a deal suitable to them and sent him to the Rangers in a trade completed hours before the deadline.
After a no-hitter in his final start with the Phillies, Hamels' Rangers debut was anti-climactic. He allowed five runs and two home runs in 7.2 innings and Texas lost. He made his second start Friday in Seattle and gave up four runs—including three homers—in six innings.
The Rangers are 3.5 games out of the second Wild Card spot, but the Hamels deal was as much about next season and beyond as it was an improbable playoff push this season. Even still, Texas has won seven of nine to make the postseason a realistic possibility.
If Hamels does not produce like the ace the Rangers need this season, the trade has them in the AL West conversation for the next few years, especially with a healthy Yu Darvish potentially joining him in the rotation. That is when Hamels is more likely to have the biggest impact.
Mat Latos, Alex Wood and Bullpen Help to the Los Angeles Dodgers
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The Dodgers could have bullied their way into landing an ace before last week's deadline. They had the prospects and money to do so.
But the first-year front office, led by team president Andrew Friedman, did not build its vaunted reputation by bullying. It did so by making shrewd and calculated moves for teams that lacked payroll flexibility. So instead of selling off highly coveted prospects, the Dodgers used their financial might to maneuver a deal that allowed them to keep those prospects while still filling the short- and long-term needs of the current club in a three-team, 13-player trade.
They acquired Mat Latos from the Miami Marlins, Alex Wood, Jim Johnson, Luis Avilan and top prospect Jose Peraza from the Atlanta Braves. They filled two holes in their rotation and added to a bullpen that is unreliable outside closer Kenley Jansen. They also picked up an infielder they believe can play second or third base for them in the near future.
"To sit here right now and have addressed the biggest areas of need for us in terms of our rotation and bullpen, to have added future pieces while preserving our top guys in our system, is a really good outcome," Friedman said during a conference call last week. "Obviously, we're really happy with the outcome—not only for what it does for our club in 2015 but the position it puts us in going into the winter, into next season and beyond."
Latos debuted Sunday and pitched six innings of one-run ball. Wood allowed four in 6.1 innings Tuesday. Johnson has been ineffective in his first two innings, allowing three runs and two homers, and Avilan has also allowed a run in his only inning.
So far the trade has hurt the Dodgers as much as it has helped. Aside from Latos, the other pieces at the major league level have disappointed, although Wood's troubles came in one blow-up inning in which reliever Joel Peralta allowed a grand slam to tack three runs on to Wood's line.
In order for this deal to be worthwhile this season, Latos has to continue to be effective, Wood has to avoid the trouble he found in Philadelphia and the relievers have to get outs in high-leverage situations. If more than one of the four pitchers falter, especially one of the starters, the deal is going to be panned as a bust.
Jonathan Papelbon to the Washington Nationals
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This trade was all the Nationals could manage before the non-waiver deadline, and it was met with resistance in their own clubhouse since Jonathan Papelbon was supplanting incumbent closer Drew Storen, who had done absolutely nothing to lose the role.
"I've talked to [general manager Mike Rizzo] about it. I've talked to my agent. We've had some ongoing discussions," Storen said, per Chris Johnson of MASNsports.com. "Until those have progressed, I'm just gonna leave it at that and no-comment for now."
Starting with the day the trade was completed, the Nationals are 4-7 and have lost their lead in the National League East to the New York Mets.
Papelbon has saved two games and allowed two runs, one earned, in three innings. He's also allowed a home run. Meanwhile, Storen had allowed only a walk over five innings as the setup man until Friday's blowup in which he allowed four runs in a loss to the Colorado Rockies.
The Nationals this season have had a disappointing rotation and been slowed by injuries. Acquiring Papelbon was their attempt to build a dominant back end of the bullpen, which had a lot to do with the Kansas City Royals' run to the American League pennant last year.
As long as Papelbon gets and keeps himself right down the stretch and Storen returns to dominance, the deal will be regarded as effective—regardless of how anyone feels about the situation.
Mike Leake to the San Francisco Giants
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This looked like a potential steal for the Giants, especially since the rival Los Angeles Dodgers did not manage to land an ace at the deadline. Mike Leake had been flat-out dominant in his four starts before the trade (0.60 ERA in 30 innings), and in his first outing with the Giants he pitched 6.2 innings and allowed two runs.
He took the loss, but still it was a solid start. The Giants, however, won't see his second one for a while. Leake was supposed to start Friday, but he was scratched and put on the disabled list with a hamstring strain.
Because the DL stint can be backdated to Monday, the team is hoping Leake won't miss more than one more start since he is eligible to return Aug. 18.
"No guarantee," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said, per John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. "In a couple of days, we'll make a call."
If Leake's hamstring does not heal enough for him to pitch by then, it is a massive letdown for a team that since the start of the month has lost 2.5 games in the race for the second Wild Card spot.
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