Assigning contender status is subjective, but I’m going to say that the following teams are not in the playoff mix: the Orioles, Royals, Indians, Mariners, Braves, Nationals, Reds, Astros, Pirates, Giants, and Padres. The Blue Jays and Athletics just missed the cut as fringe wild card contenders. With those 11 non-contenders in mind, let’s take a look at players not traded at the ’08 non-waiver deadline.
- Orioles: Aubrey Huff, Ramon Hernandez, Brian Roberts, Jay Payton, Jamie Walker, Kevin Millar, Chad Bradford, George Sherrill. Millar and Payton are free agents after the season, but there probably wasn’t much of a market for either. The rest are under team control through at least ’09, so Andy MacPhail still has time to find the right deal; read his comments here. Hernandez is an August trade candidate.
- Royals: Jose Guillen, Mark Grudzielanek, Ron Mahay, David DeJesus, Miguel Olivo. Moving the Guillen contract would’ve made sense, but we don’t know whether that was on the table. Kind of surprised to see Grudz still around. Mahay could be an offseason move, but the Royals might just want him for ’09. DeJesus’ name will probably come up at the Winter Meetings.
- Indians: Paul Byrd, David Dellucci, Jamey Carroll. Only Byrd was thought to generate a bit of interest. He could go in August.
- Mariners: Adrian Beltre, Jarrod Washburn, Raul Ibanez. The Ms still have time to move Beltre and Washburn if they feel so inclined. Ibanez is a possible Type A free agent, so the Mariners asked for a lot. Jayson Stark spoke to teams who characterized the Ms demands as "outrageous" in general. Geoff Baker gives his take on the Mariners’ deadline day.
- Braves: Mark Kotsay, Will Ohman. Wouldn’t be surprising to see Kotsay moved this month. Ohman we discussed here.
- Nationals: Austin Kearns, Dmitri Young, Cristian Guzman, Luis Ayala, Ron Belliard, Tim Redding, Odalis Perez. Some of these players have little trade value, while the Nationals prefer to keep others for ’09.
- Reds: Adam Dunn, Bronson Arroyo, Jeremy Affeldt, David Weathers, David Ross, Josh Fogg, Paul Bako. It seems that the offers just weren’t there for Dunn, who should net a pair of draft picks unless the Reds are gunshy about offering arbitration. I’m surprised Weathers and Fogg weren’t moved.
- Astros: Miguel Tejada, Randy Wolf, Jose Valverde, Ty Wigginton, Mark Loretta, Doug Brocail, Geoff Geary. The ’Stros are acting like contenders. The worst outcome for fans would be if Wolf and LaTroy Hawkins add a few wins and worsen the team’s ’09 draft position.
- Pirates: Jack Wilson, John Grabow, Doug Mientkiewicz. The Pirates were quite active, and could still trade Wilson and Grabow this winter.
- Giants: Randy Winn, Dave Roberts, Bengie Molina, Rich Aurilia, Tyler Walker, Jack Taschner. Winn and Roberts are August trade candidates. The others might’ve made sense to trade.
- Padres: Greg Maddux, Brian Giles, Khalil Greene, Josh Bard. Maddux, with just one possible suitor, couldn’t be moved. Keeping Giles and Bard around makes sense for ’09, while trading Greene now would be selling low. The Padres did talk to seven different teams in the last few days.
