Bold moves by BoSox and Braves
Posted: Thursday, August 02, 2007 1:34 PM
The overarching story in baseball leading up to the July 31 trade deadline was which teams with young prospects were willing to deal. The answer turned out to be Atlanta and Boston. Those teams that elected not to part with promising younger players included both New York clubs.
Atlanta got the gold medal by filling two huge holes and placing itself back in contention in the NL East. As much of an admirer of the John Schuerholz-Bobby Cox era as I have been, the instant analogy of the Braves' trade for Mark Teixeira to their deal for Fred McGriff in 1993 is a reach. This Braves team isn't as good as the 1993 team, thus these Braves will need Andruw Jones to awaken from a season-long slumber and the Chipper Jones-John Smoltz combination to stay healthy.
Boston is playing the 21st-century game of depth in the bullpen. Adding Eric Gagne -- it took financial incentives (bribery?) to seal the deal -- to the Hideki Okajima-Jonathan Papelbon tandem gives the Red Sox every reason to believe they can close games better than Mariano Rivera and anyone else in the Yankees' world. When was the last time Boston could make that claim?
To make a deadline deal a team must have prospects and be willing to move them. The Schuerholz-Cox run is nearing its end thus the Braves saw a Mets team that is not the juggernaut which stampeded through the NL last year, and so Atlanta made a bold play. As for Boston, starting with the successful winning bid for Daisuke Matsuzaka on, the Red Sox have targeted this year as one in which they can win the World Series, and they are continuing to go for it all.
Interestingly, the New York teams sat out the late proceedings leading up to the trade deadline -- save the Mets' wise acquisition of Luis Castillo (no top-tier prospects lost), and the Yankees' move of Scott Proctor to the Dodgers, clearing the deck for the impending arrival of Joba Chamberlain from the minors to help the bullpen.
Both New York teams are using their homegrown talent in key spots, and their limited activity prior to the trade deadline signals they will remain in that mode.
Biggest shock: No deals for Jermaine Dye and Mike Piazza. Word leaking on Dye, who is a free agent after the season, is that the White Sox are talking to him about a new deal. Question: Does that help Chicago?
Piazza seemed to be a bat that could help a contender (Minnesota?), but he stayed put with Oakland, a team that is out of contention. The A's claim that waiver trades will be possible in August, but we have seen many waiver deals blocked in the past.
The fallout in Minnesota is stark. Without adding any help and with offloading Castillo, the Twins' players are upset. And the big name is Johan Santana, a free agent after 2008 whose future in Minnesota was likely harmed by the contract Barry Zito got from the Giants last winter. Problem is how can the Twins trade their best pitcher when they have finally landed their long-sought new stadium? Yet how can they possibly sign him after San Francisco exploded the market for pitchers?
Explain this: Pittsburgh traded with the Giants for Matt Morris and absorbed his contract for next year ($9 million). San Francisco general manager Brian Sabean must have done handstands when he got this deal done. Morris has been eminently hittable, even while working in a pitcher's ballpark. Great escape for the Giants, who were otherwise dealt a reality check when they saw the lack of interest in their players. The San Francisco front office likes to say this team has underachieved while the actions of others in the game clearly show the Giants have overestimated the value of their players.
