Cubs Acquire Cameron Maybin
The Cubs have acquired outfielder Cameron Maybin from the Tigers, tweets ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The Cubs will send infielder Zack Short to the Tigers in return, according to Chris McCosky of The Detroit News.
Maybin, 33, has been about league average in his brief 45 plate appearances for the Tigers this year after signing as a free agent in February. He missed time early in the month with a quad strain. The Tigers’ 10th overall pick way back in 2005, Maybin has created value in a utility role in recent years. He posted a 127 wRC+ for the Yankees in 2019, and is able to handle all three outfield positions. A 14-year veteran, Maybin is owed about $225K on the season.
Maybin is the Cubs’ second bench bat addition in two days, as they picked up Jose Martinez from the Rays yesterday. The Cubs’ depth was a bit compromised with Steven Souza Jr. on the IL for a hamstring strain and Kris Bryant out with a sprained finger and sore wrist. The first-place Cubs have been otherwise focused on the bullpen today, adding lefties Andrew Chafin and Josh Osich in trades.
Short, 25, reached Triple-A in 2019 as a middle infielder. Prior to the season, Baseball America ranked Short 28th among Cubs prospects, citing “a consistent blend of strong defensive skills and sneaky impact at the plate.”
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Reds Acquire Brian Goodwin
In a trade snuck in just under the deadline wire, the Reds have picked up outfielder Brian Goodwin from the Angels, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (via Twitter). The Angels officially announced the deal, revealing that the return is left-hander Packy Naughton, as well as either cash or a player to be named later.
Goodwin can play all three outfield positions, though his likeliest deployment in Cincinnati is left field or center field, giving the Reds an upgrade over Shogo Akiyama and rookie Mark Payton. Once Nick Senzel returns from the injured list, the Reds will be able to juggle some combination of Senzel, Goodwin, Jesse Winker, and Nick Castellanos between the three outfield spots and the DH position.
Over 109 PA with the Angels this season, Goodwin has hit .242/.330/.463 (113 wRC+, 114 OPS+) with four home runs. It marks Goodwin’s second straight year of good production in Anaheim, after being claimed off waivers from the Royals in March 2019 and originally slated as a fill-in for an injured Justin Upton. The 34th overall pick in the 2011 draft, Goodwin was a well-regarded prospect coming up in the Nationals’ farm system but became expendable since Washington had several other outfielders in the pipeline. He is already 29, so is perhaps something of a post-hype breakout player, but Goodwin has shown that he can contribute as an everyday player.
This gives the Reds extra outfield depth going forward, as Goodwin is controlled via arbitration through the 2022 season. Senzel and Winker don’t appear to be going anywhere and Akiyama is signed through 2022, plus Castellanos’ $64MM contract runs through the 2023 season. Goodwin’s presence could give the Reds a plan B if Castellanos exercises either of the opt-out clauses in his contract (after this season or after the 2021 season).
Naughton was a last-second addition to the Reds’ 60-man player pool, which allowed him to be dealt to L.A. now rather than officially traded in a few months time as a player to be named later. A ninth-round pick out of Virginia Tech in the 2017 draft, Naughton has a 3.59 ERA, 3.72 K/BB rate, and 8.0 K/9 over 371 career minor league innings, starting 68 of his 70 games. MLB Pipeline ranked Naughton 14th in their list of the top 30 Cincinnati prospects, describing him as a “cerebral pitcher” whose “stuff doesn’t wow people, but it’s still considered a good enough three-pitch mix where he has the feel for his fastball (87-94 mph), slider and changeup.”
Dodgers, Rangers Fail To Reach Lance Lynn Deal
3:00pm: The Dodgers and Rangers were ultimately unable to come together on a Lynn trade, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
2:40pm: The two sides are still far apart, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets. That said, MLB.com’s Jon Morosi also hears that the Dodgers have intensified their pursuit. There’s room for both of those things to be true, of course, and it’s not uncommon for major deals to come together in the final 15 to 20 minutes running up to the trade deadline.
2:34pm: The Dodgers have “stepped up” their efforts to pry right-hander Lance Lynn away from the Rangers in the past hour, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports (via Twitter). MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan, however, hears that the likeliest scenario is still that Lynn stays put, barring a last-minute increase in the offer from an interested suitor (Twitter link).
The 33-year-old Lynn, signed through the 2021 season, is regarded as arguably the best starting pitcher available on the trade market. Since signing in Texas, he’s pitched to a 3.33 ERA with 10.5 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 259 2/3 innings of work while averaging 6 1/3 frames per outing.
Adding Lynn would be a luxury for a Dodgers club that can already has the likes of Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, Julio Urias, Ross Stripling and Tony Gonsolin on its depth chart. That said, Buehler is currently sidelined by a blister on his hand, and the Dodgers typically thrive in large part due to their largely unrivaled depth. It’s also possible that a younger arm like Gonsolin could go back to Texas in that type of arrangement, though that’s only my own speculation.
Cubs Acquire Josh Osich
The Cubs have acquired left-handed reliever Josh Osich from the Red Sox for a player to be named later, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first suggested Osich would likely end up as a Cub.
This is the second lefty pickup of the day for Chicago’s bullpen, which previously grabbed Andrew Chafin from the Diamondbacks. Osich, whom the Red Sox claimed from the White Sox last fall, has posted 11.87 K/9, 2.87 BB/9 and a 50 percent groundball rate over 15 2/3 innings this season, but he has still struggled to prevent runs despite those impressive figures. The 31-year-old owns a 5.74 ERA and has seen his average fastball velocity drop from the 94-95 mph range to 92.4.
In 2019, Osich was one of the game’s more effective relievers against left-handed hitters. Among those with at least 100 left-handed batters faced, Osich allowed a .229 wOBA, punching out 30 against four walks. That success hasn’t continued in the brief 2020 sample, as Osich has allowed homers to lefty batters Chance Sisco and Michael Conforto.
Blue Jays Acquire Jonathan Villar
The Blue Jays have acquired infielder Jonathan Villar from the Marlins, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Villar was pulled from this afternoon’s game against the Mets at Citi Field. In return, the Marlins will receive right fielder Griffin Conine from Toronto, according to Craig Mish. Given that Conine is not part of the Jays’ 60-man player pool, he’s considered a player to be named later in this deal, according to Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. The move comes on the heels of the Marlins acquiring Starling Marte from the Diamondbacks as the Miami club attempts to return to the playoffs for the first time since their 2003 championship.
Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette was placed on the IL on August 16th with a knee sprain, which is expected to keep him out until at least mid-September. Rosenthal had previously reported the Jays’ interest in the versatile Villar, and Toronto was also said to have checked in on the Angels’ Andrelton Simmons. The Blue Jays have already stocked up with trades for Robbie Ray, Taijuan Walker, and Dan Vogelbach. Should Bichette return within a few weeks, Villar can help out around the diamond.
Villar, 29, had an excellent 2019 season for the Orioles. But with the infielder headed for an $8.2MM salary through arbitration (of which about $1.2MM is still owed this season), the O’s saw fit to ship him to Miami in a December trade. Due to the shortened season, Villar wound up playing just 29 games for the Marlins. According to Craig Mish, the Marlins “felt Villar is still an extremely talented player but played reckless at times, and never fully bought in to what they are trying to do.” According to Mish, Villar was expendable due to Isan Diaz‘s return to the club. Diaz had opted out and is awaiting approval on returning, according to Rosenthal.
The speedy Villar has a few above-average offensive seasons on his record, most recently with a 107 wRC+ last year. He’s generally not been lauded for his infield defense, however. He’ll be eligible for free agency after the season, with the Jays serving as his fifth organization.
Griffin Conine, the son of Mr. Marlin Jeff Conine, chose not to sign after the Marlins drafted him in the 31st round out of high school. He then went to Duke and was drafted by the Jays in the second round, most recently playing A ball in the Midwest League. Part of the Jays’ run on sons of popular Major Leaguers, Conine was ranked as the club’s #15 prospect prior to the 2019 season by Baseball America. BA praised his plus power and arm, though Conine did serve a 50-game suspension for testing positive for ritalinic acid.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Rockies To Acquire Kevin Pillar
The Rockies will acquire outfielder Kevin Pillar and cash from the Red Sox for a player to be named later and 2019-20 international slot money, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.
This season has been a major letdown for the Red Sox, but Pillar proved to be a good investment during his month-plus in their uniform. After signing a one-year, $4.25MM contract in the offseason, the former Blue Jay and Giant slashed a respectable .274/.325/.470 with four home runs over 126 plate appearances. Pillar also lined up at all three outfield positions as a member of the Red Sox, though he primarily played right field.
In Colorado, which will enter Monday 17-17 and as a surprising playoff contender, Pillar will hand the club another proven outfielder to join a group highlighted by Charlie Blackmon, Raimel Tapia and David Dahl.
Blackmon has been great this year, Tapia has provided solid production in his own right, and Sam Hilliard has given the club passable numbers. However, the oft-injured Dahl – who has been on the IL for about two weeks – has stumbled, as have the rest of the Rockies’ outfield options. Beyond this year, though, it remains to be seen whether Pillar will stay in Colorado, as he’s slated to reach free agency again over the winter.
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Cubs Acquire Andrew Chafin
2:27pm: Arizona’s getting a player to be named later, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The D-backs could also include money in the swap, per Nightengale.
2:16pm: The Cubs have acquired Chafin, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets.
2:10pm: The Cubs are working to acquire Diamondbacks left-hander Andrew Chafin, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports.
To this point in his career, the 30-year-old Chafin has only been a member of the Diamondbacks, who drafted him 43rd overall in 2011 and who has largely pitched well in their uniform since he made his debut in 2014. Chafin owns a 3.68 ERA/3.20 FIP with 9.54 K/9, 3.88 BB/9 and a 52.2 percent groundball rate in 271 2/3 innings, but keeping offenses at bay has been a problem this season. He has already given up six earned runs on nine hits and four walks (10 strikeouts) through 6 2/3 frames in 2020. Chafin has also been on the injured list for about two weeks because of a left finger sprain.
If he returns to health soon, Chafin’s history suggests he’ll give the NL Central-leading Cubs another credible reliever – which they certainly need. They’ll enter Monday’s action with a replacement-level bullpen that has recorded a 5.42 ERA/5.10 FIP over a month into the season. Chafin may not be long for the Cubs organization, though, as he’s due to reach free agency after the season. In the meantime, he’s earning a prorated $3.045MM.
Athletics Acquire Mike Minor
2:26pm: Both teams have announced the trade. Texas will also land $133K in international slot compensation in the deal, and it will pay half of Minor’s remaining salary, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets.
1:05pm: Texas will receive outfielder Marcus Smith and third baseman Dustin Harris, Levi Weaver of The Athletic reports. Both players were 2019 draft picks for the Athletics, who took Smith in the third round and Harris in the 11th. MLB.com ranked Smith as the A’s 22nd-best prospect before the trade.
11:32am: The Athletics have acquired left-hander Mike Minor from the division-rival Rangers for two players to be named later, Jeff Passan of ESPN reports. The two players are prospects, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
The 32-year-old Minor is only a season removed from serving as one of the American League’s most effective starters (he finished eighth in Cy Young voting), but 2020 hasn’t worked out according to plan. Minor has made seven starts this year and managed a dismal 5.60 ERA/4.83 FIP with 8.92 K/9 and 3.31 BB/9 through 35 1/3 innings, all while experiencing a 2 mph drop in average fastball velocity compared to last season. His disappointing production is among the reasons the Rangers are just 12-21 and among the few teams in baseball that look to be completely out of the playoff race.
Now, considering the Rangers’ status as non-contenders, Minor’s prorated $9.83MM salary and his pending free agency, the team’s moving on from him. He wouldn’t have been in line for a qualifying offer because of this year’s poor output, so Texas took what it deemed as the best offer for Minor. We may not know the identities of the players the Rangers are getting for Minor for a while, as only those in teams’ 60-man pools are eligible to be dealt right now.
Meanwhile, the Athletics – owners of the AL’s second-best record (22-12) – are no doubt hoping Minor will return to his previous form in their uniform. He encouraged in his final Rangers start Friday with six shutout innings against the high-powered Dodgers, and will now join an A’s staff that has produced middle-of-the-road results thus far. Jesus Luzardo and Chris Bassitt have logged sub-4.00 ERAs this year; Sean Manaea has registered far better peripherals than run prevention numbers; and Frankie Montas, Mike Fiers and Daniel Mengden have struggled across a combined 15 starts.
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Blue Jays To Acquire Robbie Ray
The Blue Jays have acquired lefty Robbie Ray from the Diamondbacks, tweets Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun. The D’Backs will receive southpaw Travis Bergen in return, according to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca. Arizona will also be sending over $300K in cash, according to Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic. Ray has approximately $1.42MM left on his contract this year.
Ray, 29 in October, has pitched the vast majority of his career for Arizona after they acquired him in a December 2014 three-team trade. He’s long been one of the game’s top strikeout pitchers, with an 11.9 K/9 mark that ranks third in MLB for qualified starters from 2016-19. Never known for his control, walks have become problematic at times for Ray. The issue has been particularly bad in this brief 2020 season, as Ray has issued free passes to more than a fifth of the batters he’s faced, easily the highest rate in MLB this year. The result has been an unsightly 7.84 ERA, through seven starts, well out of line with his career work. Ray will be eligible for free agency after the season, and in light of his performance this year, it’s unlikely the Diamondbacks would have been willing to issue a qualifying offer.
At present, the 18-14 Blue Jays are in line to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Ray marks the second addition to Toronto’s rotation in five days, as Executive Vice President, Baseball Operations & General Manager Ross Atkins added Taijuan Walker from the Mariners last Thursday. Atkins has assembled a veteran group, which also includes offseason pickups Hyun-Jin Ryu, Tanner Roark, and Chase Anderson. Matt Shoemaker went down last week due to a lat strain, while uber-prospect Nate Pearson went on the shelf on August 19th for a flexor strain. That pair hopes to return this year, while Trent Thornton is out for the season with an elbow injury. The club will hope pitching coach Pete Walker can diagnose Rays’ control issues and help him bounce back over the season’s final month.
Today will mark the third time in Ray’s career he’s received that life-changing phone call from his GM informing him of a trade. After being drafted by the Nationals in the 12th round in 2010, Ray was the centerpiece of the deal that sent Doug Fister from the Tigers to the Nats in 2013. Just a year later, Ray landed with the Diamondbacks in a deal that sent Didi Gregorius to the Yankees and Shane Greene to the Tigers. Ray blossomed into a fine pitcher for the D’Backs, putting together four separate seasons of at least 2.3 WAR and snagging an All-Star nod and seventh-place Cy Young finish in 2017. By the 2018-19 offseason, Ray was a regular on the rumor circuit, but Executive Vice President & General Manager Mike Hazen didn’t pull the trigger until today, with most of the lefty’s trade value lost.
Bergen, 27 in October, was drafted by the Jays in the seventh round in 2015 out of Kennesaw State and has been used mostly in relief in his pro career. Though the Giants picked up Bergen in the 2018 Rule 5 draft, they wound up designating him for assignment and returning him in August of last year after he returned from an IL stint for a shoulder injury. His fastball ticked up to 93.7 mph this year for the Jays, more than three miles per hour than he showed in his rookie campaign. But with all due respect to Bergen, it would appear this trade was mainly about salary relief from Arizona’s standpoint.
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Padres Acquire Mike Clevinger, Greg Allen In Nine-Player Trade With Indians
Four trades in 48 hours wasn’t enough for Padres general manager A.J. Preller. The Padres announced Monday the acquisition of right-hander Mike Clevinger, outfielder Greg Allen and a player to be named later from the Indians in exchange for a six-player package of outfielder/first baseman Josh Naylor, catcher Austin Hedges, right-hander Cal Quantrill, minor league shortstop Gabriel Arias, minor league left-hands Joey Cantillo and minor league infielder Owen Miller.
When Summer Camp was booting back up, a trade sending Clevinger out of Cleveland at a time when the Indians sat atop the AL Central standings would’ve seemed far-fetched. The club had already dealt away Trevor Bauer and Corey Kluber in the past 12 months, setting Clevinger up as a front-of-the-rotation workhorse.
Much has changed since that time, however. Clevinger drew ire from organizational higher-ups not only for breaking Covid-19 protocols but then taking a flight with the team rather than being forthcoming about his actions. That led to Clevinger being optioned to team’s alternate training site alongside Zach Plesac, who also violated protocols but was found to have done so before traveling with the club. Reports after the pair was optioned indicated that some teammates were so furious with the pair that they threatened to opt out of the season if Clevinger and Plesac were permitted to rejoin the club right away.
All the while, the Indians were receiving better-than-expected performances from other arms. Shane Bieber had already established himself as an above-average starter, but he’s ascended to bona fide Cy Young and MVP-caliber performance in the first month of play. Righty Aaron Civale has become the latest Cleveland pitching prospect to rise from obscurity to what looks like a high-end arm (3.72 ERA, 3.07 FIP in 46 innings). Carlos Carrasco is rounding back into form after last year’s frightening battle with leukemia. Triston McKenzie punched out 10 hitters in an electric MLB debut. And the aforementioned Plesac turned heads himself prior to being optioned (1.29 ERA, 24-to-2 K/BB ratio in 21 innings).
That hardly makes Clevinger expendable, but the Indians do seemingly have the depth to field a strong rotation even when subtracting one of the most talented pieces. And while Clevinger may have fallen out of favor a bit with the organization and/or teammates, there’s little denying that he is indeed among the game’s more talented arms. Dating back to 2017, the 29-year-old has compiled a 2.97 ERA and 3.43 FIP with averages of 10.2 strikeouts, 3.4 walks and 0.94 home runs allowed per nine innings pitched.
Beyond Clevinger’s high-end performance on the mound, his remaining club control only added to his allure among other clubs. He’s earning $4.1MM in 2020 — which prorates to about $1.48MM (with $617K yet to be paid) — and is controlled for an additional two seasons beyond the current campaign. For the Padres, that means that their rotation over the next two-plus seasons will feature a blend of Clevinger, Chris Paddack, Dinelson Lamet, MacKenzie Gore, Luis Patino and Zach Davies (though Davies is controlled only through 2021). It’s an enviable stockpile of arms — one that doesn’t even acknowledge the likes of Joey Lucchesi, Michel Baez and Adrian Morejon. Of course, some from that trio could yet be shipped out in trades to address other areas of need.
While Clevinger is the clear headliner of this deal — and perhaps of the entire 2020 trade deadline — he’s not the only piece going to San Diego. The Friars will also pick up four-plus years of control over the 27-year-old Allen. He’s out to a rough start in 2020 and has yet to really hit much in parts of four big league seasons, but Allen is a switch-hitting speedster with an above-average glove and experience at all three outfield spots.
He’s unlikely to push for a starting job, but Allen is a nice bench piece who can provide a late-inning jolt on the basepaths, a defensive upgrade or a more advantageous platoon matchup. He’ll need to improve upon a tepid .239/.295/.344 career slash if he’s to stick with the club into his arbitration years, but he won’t be arb-eligible until after the 2021 season, so he can be a solid reserve option next year at just north of the league minimum.
If Waldron is indeed the third piece headed to San Diego in the deal, he’s more of a long-term play than anything else. The 23-year-old was the Indians’ 18th-round pick in 2019 and posted a strong 2.96 ERA with a 57-to-4 K/BB ratio in 45 2/3 innings last year in his lone pro season. However, he did so as a college arm pitching at Rookie ball and Short-Season Class-A, where he was comfortably older than the majority of his competition. It’ll be much more telling to see how he performs against more advanced competition in 2021, but the early results are still of some note. Waldron wasn’t in the Indians’ pool, hence his inclusion as a PTBNL.
Turning to the Indians, they’ll get a high-volume return — but one that does not contain any of the Padres’ top-ranked prospects. It always seemed likely that for the Indians to move Clevinger, they’d need to acquire MLB-ready talent that can step right onto the roster. They’ll receive just that in Naylor, Hedges and Quantrill at the very least, and Miller probably isn’t too far behind.
The 23-year-old Naylor was the No. 12 overall pick by the Marlins back in 2015 and was already traded once in the deal that sent Andrew Cashner from San Diego to Miami. He’s yet to cement himself as a big league regular but has fared quite well in the upper minors. The Padres haven’t exactly given Naylor an extended audition, but he’ll now presumably receive that in Cleveland. To this point in his career, Naylor is a .253/.315/.405 hitter in 317 MLB plate appearances. That’s not eye-catching production, but scouting reports have in the past credited him with plus-plus raw power and a potentially above-average hit tool. He hit .314/.389/.547 in Triple-A last year and .297/.383/.444 in a pitcher-friendly Double-A setting a year prior.
Naylor’s long-term home on defense could be either left field or first base, but with Carlos Santana and Franmil Reyes currently occupying first and the DH slot, respectively, Naylor seems likely ticketed for left field. In some ways, this is reminiscent of Cleveland’s bet on first baseman/outfielder Jake Bauers, but the club will hope for better results out of Naylor than they’ve received from Bauers so far. There’s certainly everyday upside present with Naylor, who can be controlled all the way through 2025, but it does seem a bit surprising that Cleveland brass didn’t focus on a more established young hitter.
Also going to Cleveland is Hedges, a 28-year-old defensive standout who has never provided much offense in the big leagues. The former top prospect has shown a bit of pop — career-high 18 homers in 2018 — but in total owns just a .199/.257/.359 slash through 1339 trips to the plate with San Diego. He’s obviously not a clear upgrade over Roberto Perez, but the Indians now possess two of the game’s very best defenders behind the dish.
Hedges, in fact, is widely regarded as MLB’s premier defensive catcher. Hedges was MLB’s best pitch framer in 2019, per Statcast, and has graded out at elite levels in that regard in each season of his career. He’s also thwarted 32 percent of stolen-base attempts against him while consistently drawing above-average marks for his pitch blocking abilities at Baseball Prospectus. Hedges is controlled through the 2022 season.
Quantrill, 25, brings another former first-round pick (eighth in 2016) and top prospect to the Indians organization. He’s shined in 17 1/3 frames as a multi-inning reliever in 2020 (five runs, 18-to-6 K/BB ratio), but he also struggled in a rotation role a year ago.
Quantrill has a low-spinning sinker (which is good for a sinker, as opposed to a four-seamer, where high spin is preferred) and has generally limited hard contact well, per Statcast. He may not have found his groove yet in the big leagues, but the Indians develop more quality arms than the vast majority of teams in the league. Getting their hands on a former top pick who was once a rather well-regarded prospect could yet yield some strong results, and Quantrill, like Naylor, is controllable through 2025.
Among the pure prospects headed to the Indians in this deal, Cantillo and Arias are regarded a bit more highly than Miller, though all three rank firmly in the middle ranks of an absolutely stacked farm system. Cantillo, 20, was a 16th-round pick in 2017 who has elevated his stock with a strong showing to this point in his pro career. He split last season between Class-A and Class-A Advanced, working to a combined 2.26 ERA with 11.6 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen writes that he’s currently tracking as a back-end starter but has a projectable frame that could allow for further growth and add some extra life to his pitches.
Arias, also 20, is regarded as an elite defender at short with some questions about his abilities at the plate. Baseball America ranked him ninth in the deep Padres system, praising his surprising raw power but noting that his current inability to lay off breaking balls out of the strike zone leads to untenable strikeout numbers. Arias is young, though, and he hit .302/.339/.470 in Class-A Advanced last year, so the tools are clearly there. Depending on how the bat progresses, he has everyday upside at shortstop.
Miller, 23, plays second base, shortstop and third base, and he turned in a solid .290/.355/.430 showing in a very tough Double-A setting last year. Miller has hit at every minor league stop and struck out at just a 15.4 percent rate in Double-A last season. MLB.com tabs him as a potential regular at second base, citing an arm that doesn’t quite play as a regular shortstop, or a utility man who can play three infield spots with a quality bat. He’s yet to make his big league debut, but Miller is the closest of the three minor leaguers in this deal.
We might not see a more franchise-altering deal than this at the 2020 deadline. For the Indians, it’s the type of trade fans are used to, painful as it might be. They’ll shed a player whose arbitration salary is on the rise and replace him with a bevy of young talent — a luxury that was possible due to the team’s superlative record in terms of developing starting pitching. They’re still in the driver’s seat as far as a potential postseason berth goes, but the club is quite likely weaker for the balance of the 2020 campaign. The long-term benefits should help the club sustain its long run of contending seasons in the AL Central, but that’ll be more of a challenge in and of itself as each of the White Sox, Tigers and Royals near the end of arduous rebuilding efforts.
The addition of Clevinger to an already formidable Padres rotation mix only further solidifies them as a win-now club for the foreseeable future, and they’re now a clear-cut postseason favorite in the NL. And unlike the last time the Padres went on an aggressive win-now tear, the Padres have the young foundation necessary — fronted by superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. — to support their recent wave of high-profile veteran acquisitions. They’ve completed a dizzying five trades since the weekend began — including a seven-player swap with Seattle last night — to remake an already strong club. The “Rock Star” GM is back, it seems, and the Padres certainly appear to be positioned better than they have been at any time in Preller’s tenure.
Ryan Spaeder reported last night that a deal sending Clevinger to Padres was in the works, though as of last evening he’d heard of some potential holdups in the deal. Robert Murray first reported that the deal was done (via Twitter). MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, ESPN’s Jeff Passan, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller all broke varying elements of the other players involved in the deal (all links to Twitter).