The Tigers and Athletics made noise at the trade deadline when they acquired David Price and Jon Lester, respectively, but now they have little to show for it, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes. Instead, some of the most effective moves have been the quieter ones, like the Orioles acquiring dominant lefty reliever Andrew Miller or the Giants dealing for Jake Peavy. Nightengale also notes that the Dodgers made the best move of the trading season by not dealing Matt Kemp, who hit like crazy down the stretch and so far in the postseason. Here are more notes from around the big leagues.
- Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos, Mike Leake and Alfredo Simon can all become free agents after the 2015 season, putting the Reds in a tough spot, C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes. “As much as I think we’d like to be able to keep every single guy and pay them what they deserve, it’s impossible to do it here,” says manager Bryan Price. Rosecrans quotes Cueto, Latos and Leake all saying they would be happy staying in Cincinnati, but the Reds will have a tight budget, with plenty of money already committed to Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce and Homer Bailey.
- Victor Martinez doesn’t have a monetary goal in mind when it comes to the contract he’ll sign as a free agent this offseason, but he does know how many years he’d like to receive, writes Anthony Castrovince of Sports On Earth. Martinez won’t say how many years that is, but he does say he doesn’t want to still be playing at 40. He’ll open next season at 36, which might indicate he’s looking for a four-year deal. Martinez is poised to cash in after an outstanding .335/.409/.565 season in Detroit, although Castrovince notes that Martinez’s market will be constrained somewhat because he’s a DH and because the Tigers will almost certainly extend him a qualifying offer.
- Now with the Angels (who were just eliminated from the postseason by the Royals), Huston Street fondly remembers his time as the Padres‘ closer, writes Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “When you leave someplace, you want to miss it as much as I miss San Diego,“ says Street. “Just because that means the time you spent there was meaningful. It was a time in my career that really set me on a very successful path.“
- Not retaining Casey Janssen will probably be the correct decision for the Blue Jays, Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star writes. Teams frequently change closers, as a look at playoff teams’ rosters indicates — the only playoff closer who has been in that position with his team for three years is Kenley Jansen of the Dodgers. Instead of worrying about a closer, Griffin argues, the Jays should address second base and the outfield.
I think the interesting story about the trades Baltimore and Detroit made came into play during the ALDS. Detroit started 3 of the better pitchers in the game, all former Cy Young winners and yet Baltimore had the better bullpen and their hitters just ripped Detroit’s pen to shreds.
Very exciting ALCS, neither team has been to the WS since the mid-80s. I’m rooting for the Royals, but I also wouldn’t mind to see n AL East team take it all.
Detroit was in the 2006 edition, but it is interesting to see that this year’s playoffs had the 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, and 1985 champions.
Detroit has gone the route of the Rangers, they just don’t have the right mix like the Cards and Giants. They have the gamers.
That’s true aside from 2011, when Cruz’ glove ruined everything.
The Tigers fall apart very easily in the playoffs. When they lose, they get swept or almost swept. It’s never close.
I thought my “Orioles in 5” prediction was edgy, but I guess that was conservative! Bullpen strength is underrated, but super important when you look at so many recent playoff series.
I’m also cheering for the Royals, but I do feel good for Andrew Miller!
You can way over utilize your bullpen in a short series with the amount of off days built in. If you have a good bullpen you are fine if you get 5 solid innings from your starter, that would tear you apart during the regular season.
Pretty much this. A quality pen can let a playoff manager shorten the game by a lot.
Sometimes a better bullpen is more important than a better rotation in the postseason. Remember the 2011 ALCS/NLCS where both the Rangers and Cardinals won? What was significant about that? Both team’s bullpens threw more innings than their starters in that series.
Let’s be honest, who was the last WS team to win it all that had a terrible bullpen? Because I can name many that did not have a great rotation. And there’s a 50/50 chance one of them will be this year if KC or Baltimore wins the WS. I’m not saying either has a terrible rotation for the record, but it’s certainly not among the best (even though it has been thusfar).
Yeah. I just think it’s an interesting lesson to be repeated. Detroit had a good starting staff and a bullpen issue at the deadline and their response was to add David Price. Baltimore had a good bullpen and an average rotation and their response was to add a bullpen arm. They end up playing each other and Baltimore’s pen trumped Detroit’s rotation.
You can’t just be winning after 6 or 7. You have to keep the lead.
Said it before the series and it turned out to be true, Detroit’s starters have to go 8 or 9 to stand a chance. Their bullpen blew it last year against the Sox and it certainly did this year against the O’s.
The KC win is a shocker to me though. As of now I can see Baltimore/KC going either way. But KC’s bullpen >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Detroit’s, and 2 out of Baltimore’s 3 wins were against the bullpen for the most part. Should be a great series.
The interesting factor X’s for KC so far are their bullpen can hold a lead or a tie into extra innings when necessary and their defense. I think it could very well come down to another battle of the bullpens.
I’d say their offense is more of an X factor. The O’s are going to be able to score runs off KC’s starters, especially in a seven game series. If KC’s offense can counter, they have a tremendous advantage.
Random post – In 2011, the O’s finished with 69 wins and the Royals finished with 71 wins. 3 years later……well……yeah.
I love to rip on DD, but the Price trade is hardly lost. Smyly hurts and Price hasn’t been great, but they have another year of him plus a draft pick. Jackson’s increasing salary is going to start to hurting his value.
DD knew the bullpen was their weakness and didn’t do enough to fix it. But Price was a good move all things considered.
It was a good deal.. Especially with Sherzer being a FA.
It was a good short term move. Smyly is looking like the cost effective starter they desperately need. Win now mentalities only work when you win now. They’ve got next year to decide how this deal worked out.
Bullpens are tough fixes…so many of the best arms are young team controlled and unavailable. It’s just a volatile position… even week to week month to month.
It shouldn’t be year to year though. DD’s bullpen is always broken. Is it all his fault? No, but it doesn’t change the fact that he continually cannot fix his team’s biggest problem.
Totally agree. For a team that is looking at a post season run..it must be addressed. The fact that it hasn’t been makes me ask why? Dombrowski is certainly a competent gm. I think Detroit’s drafts are suspicious. The knock on Dayton Moore was he couldn’t draft starters…. well… those arms ended up in the pen.
Dombrowski has a really bad year aside from getting out from under Fielder. He gave away Doug Fister, failed to adequately address the bullpen, and signed Cabrera to a ridiculous unnecessary extension. I would fire him in about two seconds if I were Illitch. Of course he’s not going anywhere.
He had managed to get them to the postseason 4 seasons…roll of the playoff dice and they are multi world series winners. Trading Fielder was less about clearing contract than clearing a clubhouse presence I believe. Dombrowski has side stepped a lot of trouble and masked it with some big stars…. that’s not going to work going forward.
Hard to really say roll of the dice for the past 4 seasons. EVery time they lost they were clearly outplayed. He’s constructed a roster that’s way too top heavy and the AL Central is only going to get better. He had plenty of years where the Central was a surefire win for them and failed to capitalize.
True, I just don’t think they’ve been built for the small game that always is necessary to lock down the postseason…and they always run into a team that does those things well. They wouldn’t have even won the central in 14 or maybe even made the playoffs if Ned Yost in KC hadn’t managed the Royals out of the title
All things considered yes. The Price trade ultimately answered the question (In the short run), how do we deal with Scherzer in the offseason. But if DD meant for Price to help carry the Tigers into the playoffs ignoring the fact they had a bad bullpen then the trade can be considered short sighted.
That’s why they play the game, but it is interesting how some players are successful in the playoffs. I think Jeter gave us a hint in his retirement speech, he said he tricked himself into thinking it wasn’t a big game.
Jeter had an absolute 6th sense at anticipating the game during the playoffs… he was a joy to watch. People can hate on the Yankees, but it was hard to root against that core group with Paul O’Neill
“Win now” moves frustrate me–they’re way too big a gamble. I can’t understand how teams operate like that. You never know what’s going to happen in the playoffs (see ROYALS)–if I were a GM, and my team had a strong chance of making the playoffs, I’d go with that team rather than reconstruct my team and give away young talent to make some moves that might not pay off anyway.
Over relying on prospects is a gamble too. It’s situational. That’s become harder since the second WC has affected the trade deadline.
Not just prospects, but in the A’s case, trading Cespedes seemed like a big mistake. I think it’s hardly a coincidence that the offense suffered a lot after he was traded.
I don’t buy into that as much as other people, but I accept that it’s a common sentiment.
Injuries also played a role. Lester delivered on his end. If the offense hadn’t completely fallen apart, they would have been fine. That can’t be credited entirely to Cespedes.
Everyone blames the Cespedes trade, but seems to forget, the offense was already struggling for a few weeks before the trade even happened.
Plus Cespedes wasn’t exactly tearing it up himself. He was impressive with the long ball, but not much else.
Exactly! People act like the guy was a 300 hitter, who walked a ton and didn’t strike out. That just isn’t the case.
As a padres fan thanks for being excellent street. You really netted us some impressive assests. Angels overpaid for your services but again thanks to you we have impressive cost controlled pieces.