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Dodgers Designate Bobby Abreu For Assignment

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The Dodgers announced that they designated Bobby Abreu for assignment. The move creates room for Shane Victorino on Los Angeles' active roster.

The Angels released Abreu in April after a disappointing opening month, and the Dodgers signed him to a minor league deal a week later. Though Abreu's power has disappeared, he continues to get on base at an above-average rate. The 38-year-old has posted a .246/.347/.340 batting line in 236 total plate appearances this year. The 17-year MLB veteran earns a $9MM salary, but any team can sign him for a pro-rated portion of the MLB minimum if he reaches free agency.

Deadline Reaction: Dodgers, Angels, Mets, Phillies

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After last year’s non-waiver trade deadline passed I was asked on various radio shows to break down the day’s winners and losers. I listed the Braves as big winners, citing the Michael Bourn trade as a particularly promising move. Little did I know, the Braves would go 26-27 in August and September and miss the playoffs. Meanwhile, Doug Fister, would go 8-1 with a 1.79 ERA and a 57K/5BB ratio in 70 1/3 innings for the Tigers after being acquired from Seattle in a trade that got relatively little fanfare. Detroit pulled away from the rest of the AL Central on the way to an ALCS appearance thanks, in part, to Fister’s tremendous finish. In retrospect the Tigers were definitely trade deadline winners, even though it wasn’t apparent on August 1st, 2011. 

Assessing a flurry of trades so soon after they happen isn’t always easy, but it’s still fun to check out reaction to the trade deadline. Here’s what’s being said about the recent MLB moves…

  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the White Sox, Angels, Dodgers, Yankees and Astros can be considered trade deadline winners. But as Sherman points out, we tend to declare teams winners if they spend money and acquire big names, even though that’s hardly a surefire predictor of success. Sherman isn't so high on moves made by teams such as the Mets, Tigers and Phillies.
  • The Pirates, Rangers and White Sox are among this year's deadline winners, Yahoo's Jeff Passan writes. Passan breaks down each team's deadline moves (or non-moves), writing that the Phillies, Twins and Indians were among the year's losers.
  • Jayson Stark of ESPN.com likes what both L.A. teams did, but he's not impressed by the moves the Marlins and Phillies made. Stark groups the Cubs with Miami and Philadelphia in his 'losers' division.
  • The Nationals would have done well to add some experienced players, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports writes. The Blue Jays, Orioles, Indians and Red Sox came up short at this year's deadline, while the Phillies and Angels did well, Morosi writes.
  • The Dodgers, White Sox and Astros are among this year's winners, Dave Cameron of FanGraphs writes. The Nationals and Rockies didn't do so well in Cameron's estimation.
  • Ken Davidoff of the New York Post reacts to the deadline without providing a definitive list of winners and losers. Instead, he explains the role of the new collective bargaining agreement and examines the role of ownership in midseason trades.
  • Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus ranks the 43 prospects traded in an article at ESPN.com. Jacob Turner and Jean Segura top his list.
  • Matt Eddy of Baseball America recaps this year's trade action with an easy-to-follow guide.
  • Trade season isn’t over yet, and Jed Lowrie and Cliff Lee are among the players who could be traded in August, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney writes. Here’s MLBTR’s primer on trading in August.

Poll: Which Team Should Have Made A Trade?

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The last ten days have featured dozens of trades, and most of baseball’s 30 teams were responsible for a share of the action. But four clubs — the Orioles, Nationals, Mets and Padres — decided not to make trades. The Orioles (starting pitching, third base), Nationals (bench depth, starting pitching) and Mets (bullpen help) considered upgrades with 2012 in mind, while the Padres considered trading established players such as Chase Headley. In each case the clubs ultimately decided against making major trades. 

Which of these teams, if any, should have made a move?

Which team needed to make a trade?
Orioles 41.50% (5,570 votes)
Nationals 29.13% (3,910 votes)
Mets 15.30% (2,053 votes)
Padres 7.35% (987 votes)
None 6.71% (901 votes)
Total Votes: 13,421

August Trades

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Teams can still deal after the July 31st trade deadline passes. This MLBTR Glossary entry explains how trading in August works:

  • Teams have to pass players through revocable waivers to trade them after the July 31st deadline.
  • Players acquired after August 31st can't play in the postseason.
  • Teams will often put most of their players on waivers to determine interest, since they don't have to give up every player who's claimed.
  • Unclaimed players can be traded to any club in August (or even September).
  • Teams don't have to trade players who are claimed. They can hand the player and his salary over for nothing.
  • If a team places a player on waivers after he is claimed, but not traded, the team loses the right to pull its player back. In other words, the waivers are revocable at first, but not revocable afterwards.
  • Clubs have two days (48.5 hours) to deal claimed players, but they can only negotiate a trade with one team. Teams have two days to complete a deal regardless of which day of the week the claim takes place on.
  • If only one team claims a player, he can only be dealt to that team.
  • If more than one team claims a player, he can only be traded to the claiming team in his league with the worst record.
  • If a player's only claimed by teams in the other league, he can only be dealt to the claiming team with the worst record.
  • Teams cannot pass players on the disabled list through waivers.

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts and this article by ESPN.com's Jayson Stark. This post was first published on June 25th, 2009.

Red Sox, Rangers Talked Beckett, Ellsbury, Shoppach

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The Red Sox and Rangers discussed a trade that would have sent Josh Beckett, Jacoby Ellsbury and Kelly Shoppach to Texas, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports. It’s unclear what the Red Sox would have obtained in the potential trade, which was discussed in the days leading up to yesterday’s non-waiver trade deadline.  

Bradford’s sources are divided on how serious talks were before the Rangers moved on and acquired Geovany Soto and Ryan Dempster from the Cubs in a pair of trades. GM Ben Cherington said the Red Sox explored a lot of options before deciding to complete one low-profile deadline deal.

"We did feel empowered to do something bold, we just didn't find something bold that made sense for us," Cherington said.

Trade talks never advanced to the point where the Red Sox asked Beckett about the possibility of waiving his ten and five rights. Beckett would have provided the Rangers with some rotation depth and Texas could have paired Shoppach with Mike Napoli behind the plate. Ellsbury, who’s under team control for 2013, would have represented insurance for the Rangers in case they don’t re-sign Josh Hamilton when he’s eligible for free agency this coming offseason.

NL East Notes: Pence, Victorino, Johnson

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The Phillies traded Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino this morning and the Marlins followed up those moves by trading Gaby Sanchez and Edward Mujica later in the day. The Braves welcomed new acquisitions Paul Maholm and Reed Johnson to Atlanta, but deadline day was relatively quiet for the Mets and Nationals. Here are the latest notes from the NL East…

  • The Phillies are slightly under the luxury tax limit following today’s trades, GM Ruben Amaro told reporters, including Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). The Phillies opened the season with a $172MM payroll, and the MLB luxury tax affects teams that spend more than $178MM.
  • At one point the Phillies considered trading Hunter Pence, obtaining a center fielder, and re-signing Shane Victorino for right field, Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter). Instead, the Dodgers acquired Victorino, and the Giants traded for Pence.
  • Marlins right-hander Josh Johnson drew interest from the Rangers, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Reds and others, but Miami kept him, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports writes (on Twitter).
  • GM Mike Rizzo said the Nationals made all their splashy moves this past winter, Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post reports. "We like who we are, and we like where we’re at and we like the composition of the roster,” Rizzo said.

AL East Notes: Qualls, Blanton, Blue Jays, Beckett

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The Yankees acquired Casey McGehee and the Red Sox acquired Craig Breslow, but the Blue Jays, Orioles and Rays remained relatively quiet on trade deadline day. Here’s the latest from the AL East…

  • The Yankees had planned to designate Chad Qualls for assignment to create roster space for Joba Chamberlain, so trading him to Pittsburgh wasn't a problem for the club, Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News reports (on Twitter).
  • The Yankees were in on Ryan Dempster, but talks "never got to crunch time," Marc Carig of the Star Ledger reports (on Twitter).
  • The Orioles continued general discussions about a possible Joe Blanton trade, but never took the next step, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports (on Twitter). "We would have liked to have done a deal or two today, but I don't think we're done adding to the team," executive VP Dan Duquette said, according to Eduardo A. Encina of the Sun (on Twitter).
  • The Blue Jays were discussing a trade late Monday, only to see the deal fall apart, GM Alex Anthopoulos said, according to Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star (on Twitter). Griffin suggests the deal was with the Cubs, who were discussing trades involving Matt Garza last night.
  • Red Sox GM Ben Cherington said he didn’t ask Josh Beckett if he’d waive his ten and five rights, according to Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal (on Twitter).

Trade Candidates Who Stayed Put

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Shane Victorino, Hunter Pence, Ryan Dempster and Jonathan Broxton were all traded on a busy July 31st. But many others weren’t moved despite considerable speculation. The fate of these players will be closely tied to their contract status, as is often the case in MLB. 

Josh Johnson, Matt Garza, Justin Upton, Justin Masterson, Josh Willingham, James Shields, Chase Headley, Shin-Soo Choo and Jason Vargas are under contract or team control for 2013 (and in some cases beyond). These players probably won’t clear waivers, so it’d be a surprise if they’re traded in August or September. But teams could revisit trades involving these players in the offseason. It won’t be surprising if Garza, Upton, Shields and Headley are available this winter. 

Cliff Lee, Josh Beckett and Alfonso Soriano are all under contract for at least two years after 2012 at no less than $15.75MM per season. Lee ($25MM per season through ’15), Beckett ($15.75MM per season through ’14) and Soriano ($18MM per season thorough ’14) could all clear waivers. So could Justin Morneau, who will earn $14MM in 2013. If these players do clear waivers, they’d be available in August trades. 

Joe Blanton and Stephen Drew are nearing free agency, but they could be dealt before they hit the open market. It's not hard to envision Drew's $7.75MM salary clearing waivers, but some team might claim Blanton, who earns $8.5MM.

Twins Notes: Perkins, Span

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Justin Morneau, Denard Span, Jared Burton and the rest of the Twins can breathe easy. No Twins were traded today. Here are the details…

  • Glen Perkins was in high demand today, but it's not like GM Terry Ryan to extend a player and trade him that same season, ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick writes (Twitter links). The Twins would have had to be overwhelmed to trade the left-hander. The Dodgers made a late push for Perkins, but nothing materialized, Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times reports (on Twitter).
  • Ryan said he wasn't close to trading Denard Span, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports (on Twitter). The Reds and Twins discussed a swap involving the center fielder.
  • The Twins and Rangers discussed a deal involving Jared Burton.

Reds Designate Andrew Brackman For Assignment

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The Reds have designated Andrew Brackman for assignment, Tom Groeschen of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports (on Twitter). In related moves, the Reds acquired Jonathan Broxton, placed Bill Bray on the disabled list, and called up Todd Redmond.

Brackman has spent the 2012 season in the Reds' minor league system, posting a combined 6.80 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 6.1 BB/9 in 49 innings at Class A and Triple-A. Cincinnati signed Brackman to a Major League deal in January.

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