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.
