The winners and losers of the 2016 MLB trade deadline
The 2016 Major League Baseball trade deadline has passed. For a while, it looked as though the deadline might be quiet this season, but all hell broke loose in the final minutes. The Milwaukee Brewers found a taker for Jonathan Lucroy, the Chicago White Sox held on to Chris Sale and the New York Yankees continued to sell.
That was just a taste of the action. Overall, 18 deals were made on the final day. To read about every single one of them, go here.
If you would prefer the cliff notes version, you’ve come to the right place. We live in a society where everything is instantaneous. The MLB trade deadline is not exempt to that. So while many of these trades are still just hours old, we here at The Stew have already declared our winners and losers of the deadline.
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Keep in mind, none of the players involved in these trades have played a single game for their new clubs yet. Some won’t even make an impact until years down the road. That won’t stop us from bringing you the hot takes.
Without further ado, here are the winners and losers of the 2016 MLB trade deadline.
WINNER: TEXAS RANGERS
The Rangers were an obvious winner on deadline day. The 39-year-old Carlos Beltran is well past his prime, but he’s been effective this season. He owns a .304/.344/.546 slash line, with 22 home runs, over 387 plate appearances. By comparison, Rangers’ designated hitters have “hit” just .205/.285/.331, with nine home runs, this year.
On top of that, Texas succeeded where Cleveland could not, swinging a deal for Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy. The Rangers have been a logical landing spot for Lucroy for months now, and the deal makes sense. They also received reliever Jeremy Jeffress, who has a 2.22 ERA over 44 2/3 innings. He’s hardly a throw-in here.
The Rangers did surrender significant future talent to make both moves, but they are clearly in win-now mode. At 62-44, the Rangers came into the day with the best record in the American League. By 4 p.m. ET, they separated themselves from the pack.
LOSER: MIAMI MARLINS
Just a few days ago, you could have made the case the Marlins were winners. The team had just picked up both Andrew Cashner and Colin Rea from the Padres, and it looked like they were taking advantage of their wild card spot.
A few hours later, that was no longer the case. Rea injured his elbow a few innings into his first start with his new club, causing Marlins officials to complain they were given damaged. In a bizarre twist, the two clubs agreed to reverse part of the deal Monday. Rea went back to San Diego in exchange for Luis Castillo, who was in the original trade as well.
That leaves Cashner as the only major addition for Miami at the deadline. While a change of scenery might be all he needs to return to form, he hasn’t put up encouraging numbers lately.
WINNER: CLEVELAND INDIANS
The Indians may have missed out an acquiring Lucroy, but picking up Andrew Miller from the Yankees is significant. The 31-year-old lefty has been one of the best relievers in the majors for quite some time now. Over the past four seasons, he has a 1.98 ERA over 200 innings. During that period, he’s notched an incredible 328 strikeouts.
While this season is important, Miller is under team control through 2018. So even though the team gave up significant talent to pick up Miller, including outfield prospect Clint Frazier, it’s not like Miller is a rental player.
Picking up outfielder Brandon Guyer isn’t exciting, but he’s hit lefties well over his career. His .283/.383/.463 slash line against southpaws should make him at least a useful platoon piece, and insurance in case Michael Brantley struggles to return from his shoulder injury.
LOSER: KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Things didn’t go the Royals’ way at the deadline, and it’s not really their fault. When Wade Davis went down with an arm injury just a few days before the deadline, the club lost its biggest trade chip.
Despite the fact that the club is currently in fourth place, the Royals opted to stand pat. Other than the weird Brett Eibner for Billy Burns trade, Kansas City didn’t do anything else. Edinson Volquez stayed despite the fact that there weren’t many starters available.
Sure, it’s possible the Royals could still make a second half run, but it seems like they should have traded any piece that wasn’t going to help moving forward and try to retool for next season. They mostly just stood pat.
WINNER: NEW YORK YANKEES
For the first time in what seems like forever, the Yankees decided to sell. While general manager Brian Cashman has rarely been in that position, he found it suits him pretty well.
The Yankees did a great job selling off spare parts while picking up significant future talent. Both Aroldis Chapman and Carlos Beltran were going to be free agents in a few months, and the Yankees managed to turn them into a promising shortstop prospect in Gleyber Torres, an interesting outfielder in Billy McKinney and last year’s No. 4 overall draft pick Dillon Tate.
Reliever Andrew Miller may have been under contract past 2016, but the Yankees were able to use that to pluck outfielder Clint Frazier from the Cleveland Indians.
All in all, the Yankees managed to sell off mostly spare parts while greatly upgrading their farm system. Given the team’s monetary resources, the club should be able to make significant additions to their major-league roster as all their new youngsters reach the majors.
LOSER: CHICAGO WHITE SOX
The White Sox could have dominated the trade deadline had they chose to finally tear things down. Instead, they did more of the same. The White Sox dealt away reliever Zach Duke, but otherwise stood pat.
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Things haven’t gone well on the South Side this season, and the club once again finds itself in an odd position. Sure, their core is strong, but finding the right pieces to build around it has been a challenge. That’s been the club’s story for years now. They’ve continued to make half-hearted attempts at contention, but failed to go all-in. A rebuild has been needed for quite some time, but the franchise refuses to go that far.
They had a chance to do it at the deadline. Chris Sale and Jose Quintana were drawing significant interest, and it was possible David Robertson could have been flipped to a team desperate for bullpen help. The team decided to keep all three, ensuring they’ll remain in baseball limbo for at least the next couple months.
WINNER: LOS ANGELES DODGERS
The Dodgers made two significant additions, picking up both Rich Hill and Josh Reddick from the Oakland Athletics. While the club gave up significant young talent to make the move, both players should greatly improve their roster.
Hill may currently be dealing with a blister, but he’s been fantastic when healthy. The 36-year-old has a 2.25 ERA over 76 innings. Reddick has been quietly fantastic this year. He missed time due to a thumb injury, but has hit .296/.368/.449 in 272 plate appearances. Formerly a low-average, high strikeout hitter, Reddick has worked hard to cut whiffs out of his approach in recent seasons. Combine that with his strong walk rate and power potential, and the Dodgers got a pretty solid contributor.
The only question now is how the club will find playing time in an already crowded outfield. That kinda worked itself out shortly after the deadline passed.
LOSER: YASIEL PUIG
The Dodgers celebrated the trade deadline by telling 25-year-old outfielder Yasiel Puig that they didn’t really want him anymore. The team tried to deal him before the deadline, but failed to find the right trade. When he was still on the roster at 4 p.m. ET, the club opted to send him to the minors.
While the move isn’t official just yet, it’s expected to happen Tuesday. Puig was not on the team’s flight to Colorado, meaning he’s not traveling with the major-league club. Puig had been hitting well since returning from the disabled list, which makes the move even more puzzling. Perhaps it’s meant to be a wakeup call. Either do what the Dodgers need you to do, or you’ll find yourself with another club soon. How Puig responds to the demotion will determine how long he remains in the organization.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
