As I made this post last season, we had four deals take place. So far this season we have had four agreed upon and processed. What will happen before our sim deadline on Thursday, as of now here are the deals with a little note on each; they are as follow: ================================ Detroit and Chicago Cubs Trade The Cubs strengthened their bullpen and didn't give up much at all to get a top 10 reliever in Ken Smith. Detroit received a smokescreen top 100 prospect and a decent P in Burgess. Detroit Sends: CL Ken Smith 2.5/2.5 ML (DFA) Cubs Send: 2B Kojiro Oshita 1.5/4 AAA MR Paul Burgess .5/.5 AAA ================================ Rays and Rangers Trade Rangers pick up a very good pitcher from the Rays loaded staff, as Tampa receives three prospects. Rays trade: SP Scott McCall (ML) Rangers trade: SP Doug Coull (AA) OF Brennan Hamilton (AA) SP Cal McIntosh (R) ================================ Yankees and White Sox Trade New York picks up some of the White Sox fire sale as they send their best pitching prospect back to the Sox. New York Sends: SP Joseph Mitchell - .5* / 5* - 20 y/o - A Tampa Yankees CL Kerry Oliver - .5* / .5* - 21 y/o - SA Staten Island Yankees Chicago Sends: SP Shane Thomas - 4* / 4* - 28 y/o - ML Chicago White Sox ================================ Astros and Yankees Trade Yankees continue to build their rotation through trades as they take Mendoza as he winds down his career, the Astros take on some prospects in which he will probably flip down the road. Houston Sends: SP Mauro Mendoza - 2.5* / 2.5* - 33 y/o - ML Houston Astros New York Sends: RF Ricardo Pacheco - 1* / 1* - 21 y/o - SA Staten Island Yankees SP Craig Nicholson - .5* / 1* - 20 y/o - A Tampa Yankees SP Horace Jones - .5* / 3* - 22 y/o - A Tampa Yankees ================================ The Tribe are looking to make some small deals at the deadline, they are looking to just improve depth and add a 5th starter; "nothing to heavy." There are swirls of a three team deal looking to get done, one that would send two veteran pitchers to two different clubs with the return of a lot of prospects. What will St. Louis, Boston, Miami, Atlanta, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, and Los Angeles Angels do as we come down to the deadline? How will the Chicago White Sox execute their plan in flipping some of the best players for prospects in order to reload? How many or how much will the Angels trade away their stud prospects in order to get either Marcos 'Spooks' Romero or David Taylor? What kind of offers will Tampa Bay see for David Taylor and what will they end up doing with Rafael Cruz, Gabriel Carrión, and Mike MacColman?
Boston is looking to make some small moves, and potentially move a little of our extra depth for some future pieces.
SP Wallace can be had for free. 1B/DH Gabe Mcpherson can be had for free (willing to send a mid-tier prospect with him) 1B Romo available (not for free) SS Marrerro available for free 2B Holt available (not for free)
http://ootp.traditionsportsonline.com/the_dugout/reports/html/players/player_30862.html Richie Francis, a former top 100 spec, is available cheap (A couple decent young specs). A good 4th OF/platoon vs lefty bat, who can run and play all 3 OF spots quite well.
I'm fielding offers today for Taylor, Banda and Cruz. Not definite that any go unless I get a deal that I really like but they are out there to try and help swing the race this season. Akula can be had for pretty cheap, he really needs a change of scenery. We've got some young ML guys that can also be had (Saldana, Bird, Zapata) for varying prices.
Also looking to trade Tim Rivers for specs. http://ootp.traditionsportsonline.com/the_dugout/reports/html/players/player_33086.html No decline in ratings. He just needs out of Chicago for a nice revival. Us getting Joe Quate pissed him off.
The A's and Rockies exchange former first round picks, hoping that they will be able to find their groove. Bob Lewis http://ootp.traditionsportsonline.com/the_dugout/reports/html/players/player_24863.html Blake Porter http://ootp.traditionsportsonline.com/the_dugout/reports/html/players/player_34769.html Oakland Sends Santiago Hernandez http://ootp.traditionsportsonline.com/the_dugout/reports/html/players/player_33157.html Dave Johnston http://ootp.traditionsportsonline.com/the_dugout/reports/html/players/player_32162.html Stanley Arnette http://ootp.traditionsportsonline.com/the_dugout/reports/html/players/player_33879.html
I found him to be one of the more fair people I've traded with when we did the Mackeachan and Gausman trade.
To give my side of my three deals yesterday: The big name one: Tim Rivers had worn out his welcome in Chicago. Back to back years of replacement level ball has proven that. He still has all the ability that he has always had. He should hit well in a platoon role in Texas. We got back a couple of prospects that we like. Looney Tunes is a former high ceiling starting prospect who never figured out a 3rd pitch and should be a standout setup man in a few years. Luis Vasquez is a very good defender at 2nd base who has a chance to be well enough offensively to make a roster in the future. Former top 100 spec one: I've lost all faith in Richie Francis. He's been AWFUL whenever he's been given a shot in the majors for me. He has talent and should be able to at least be a platoon vs lefties and a defensive substitution/pinch runner. Jim Watkins was a former 2nd round pick who lost stamina and mph on his fastball, and the organization has lost faith in him becoming what we thought he could. Watkins could easily turn it around and develop into a solid #5. We got back a guy in Donald St. George who instantly becomes the top starting prospect in our organization. If he can find a little more stuff or movement, he's going to be another outstanding Cubs starter. The mediocrity one: The Rays needed a defensive 3B. We are lacking in any sort of catching prospects. So we sent off Ramos, who was signed as injury depth after having a very good season last year in Pittsburgh (but had never gotten to play ML ball this year with us) for a catching prospect who has a chance to be a decent platoon someday.
The Texas Rangers were again active at the trade deadline, although the moves were not as eye-catching as they were last season when they acquired 2B Marcos Hidalgo, SS Sergio Trevino, and CL Luis Pena in separate deals. The first move sent 3 specs, including 2029 first-round pick SP Doug Coull, to the Rays for SP Scott McCall. Coull has been a bitter disappointment for the Rangers organization. After coming in as one of the more ready SP specs in last years draft and having very high intelligence and work ethic according to most scouts, Coull regressed horribly on an almost monthly basis. He was mediocre in AA ball, and with the Rangers pursuit of a winning record this season they had seen enough and wanted to deal him for immediate help. In comes McCall, a pitcher who has struggled mightily for the Rays this year. Still, the Rangers see him as a good 4th or 5th starter, and with the injury to "Extreme" Dixon until September, Texas needed another viable option to shore up the back of the rotation. McCall has already provided immediate results, winning his first two starts with the team after going winless with Tampa. The second deal involved 2 specs for former NL MVP Tim Rivers. Although Rivers is 35 years old, he brings with him a very high work ethic which should slow his eventual regression and a manageable contract that goes down each season. With Jose Costa serving a platoon role against right-handed pitchers, Rivers was brought in to replace 1B Graviel Cea, who struggled in the platoon role versus lefties. And with "Electric" Langley, "Shrimp" Campbell, Jim Morgan, etc in the AL West and eventually Joseph Keller on the way, the Rangers know they are going to need batters who excel against lefty pitchers. Rivers is an instant upgrade over Cea and will serve a valuable role as platoon bat and a pinch hitter off the bench when right-handed pitchers start against Texas.
I like the move for McCall. I think you need to probably make 1 or 2 big deals in the next year or two and you should be in good shape to hit .500
The Angels pulled off the Marcos "Spooks" Romero deal, acquiring one of the best arms in dugout history. Just absolute madness behind the scenes to get a last minute deal done with soxandgators KnightNoles (who later pulled out, justifiably so) and eventually redwings8831. After all hope was lost, the Angels made one more push to find a partner for the three-way deal. I really like the move for all teams - Miami gets an arm that immediately makes them East contenders as they try to keep pace with the Nats, and Chicago gets a slew of specs as they look to rebuild. Despite what the peanut gallery says, I feel like I gave up some really promising specs, al-Sanussi most of all - a guy with the potential for 6 elite pitches. His pitch potentials and stuff/mov/con have been climbing steadily, and I'd expect that to continue. I really believe this guy could be a monster. The good news for the Angels is this in no way precludes them from being competitive next year. As a matter of fact, this move coincides with the 'sweet spot' of talent I have coming together, as I look to give ryalaman and his Orioles a run for their money. Given how the O's have been playing of late, that looks like a tall task this season. The acquisition of Spooks and return of John Preston and Chris Walls should make things interesting. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My deadline analysis: Winners KnightNoles (Nationals): Really impressed with the job Noles did, and I think he was wise to do it now. Pagan was a great piece, but being able to get Horace Youngs whilst strengthening their pen with the acquisitions of Ralston and Cloarac is really well done. HAL9100 (Padres): Hal's quietly stockpiling a great group of specs. The deal to take Woody and snag a 4* catcher for free was tremendous, and I think he got fair value out of Youngs. 3 very good specs added to an already emerging system = win. Hal's got a plan, and I look forward to seeing it unfold. Losers ty5oke I loved the value for Cavallaro, until Ty revealed he's just a one year loaner. With the Stros slipping further and further out of contention, this deal looks pretty bad. ZCar352 (Rockies). With OOTP, you never really know who won/lost a deal right away. Having said that, I think the Rockies overpaid for Stuart Brown, who basically is a platoon that can't play defense. Additionally, I don't like the move to ship Bob Lewis off to Oakland - I'm not fond of any particular piece Colorado got back. I guess we'll have to wait and see how ZCar did here. TBD NeuroticTruth (Yankees): Shane Thomas is a nice piece, and I like the push to acquire talent asap as some of the Yanks' best players are in the twilight of their careers. What makes this a TBD is the fact that Joseph Mitchell could emerge as a truly elite arm, and Thomas immediately regressed after the deal. I also question whether or not they did enough to catch up to the O's. soxandgators (White Sox): As mentioned above, I don't think the moves by Chicago were bad at all. He got a ton of specs, some of whom are bound to blow up. Too soon to judge these moves made, but for now I'm tempted to give him a win. Stays in the black and gets tons of prospects.
