Another July 31st MLB trade deadline has come and gone. A couple of moves were made with the San Diego Padres acquiring RHP Ian Kennedy from the Arizona Diamondbacks for LHP Joe Thatcher, Baltimore adding RHP Bud Norris, the Royals adding OF Justin Maxwell. Yesterday, the Boston Red Sox added RHP Jake Peavy in a deal that sent SS Jose Iglesias to the Tigers and OF Avasial Garcia to the White Sox and the Oakland Athletics got infielder Alberto Callaspo in a separate deal with the Angels. Over the past several seasons, the trade deadline has been a busy affair, since more teams consider themselves in a race for a potential playoff berth. In spite of three top starting pitchers being moved, it was has to be a deadline that has to be considered slow in regards to trades.
Perhaps a bigger issue could be the deals that were not made. The Phillies still have 3B Michael Young, the Giants still have OF Hunter Pence, the White Sox still have OF Alex Rios and 2B Gordon Beckham and the Mets still have OF Marlon Byrd. And, as expected pitchers Cliff Lee and Tim Lincecum are exacty where they expected to be: in Philadelphia and San Francisco, respectively. Potential moves regarding these players did not happen for a number of reasons. While we look ahead to the month of August, where players can be traded once they clear waivers, here is a little excerpt from a post I made at last year's trading deadline.
July 31st has only been a landmark day since really 1989; prior to that, many deals were completed before that. The trading deadline was started by Kenesaw Landis after a late season 1922 trade brought Joe Dugan to the Yankees which allowed them to win the AL Pennant. The deadline was originally June 15th and it stayed that way from 1923-1985. It became July 31st for the 1986 season.
The first major July 31st trade was when the New York Mets acquired LHP Frank Viola from the Minnesota Twins for five players, including RHP Rick Aguilera and Kevin Tapani. While the Mets were making a push to return to the postseason, it was the Twins who reaped the benefits of this trade, winning the World Series just two years later.
Just five years ago, one of the more significant trades was made with time winding down. The Atlanta Braves added 1B Mark Teixeira from the Texas Rangers, giving up SS Elvis Andrus, LHP Matt Harrison, RHP Neftali Feliz and C Jarrod Saltalamacchia in a 5 for 1 trade. The Rangers owe part of the credit for their consecutive World Series appearances to that trade. In 1997, the Boston Red Sox acquired RHP Heathcliff Slocomb from the Mariners for C Jason Varitek and RHP Derek Lowe. It is possible the Red Sox do not have their success for the next 10 + seasons without that trade, among other things.
While the last trade gave the Red Sox two important pieces for their championship runs, it was the 2004 trade of star SS Nomar Garciaparra to the Cubs; the four team deal that brought the Red Sox SS Orlando Cabrera and 1B Doug Mientkiewicz, that may have been the turning point of the Red Sox fortune.
Several sluggers have been moved on July 31st. The Yankees acquired Cecil Fielder from the Tigers in 1996, and Greg Vaughn was moved from the Brewers to the Padres on the same day. Mark McGwire was moved from Oakland to St Louis exactly one year later. 2008 saw Ken Griffey, Jr move from the Reds to the White Sox and Manny Ramirez move from the Red Sox to the Dodgers. And for good measure, Seattle traded future HOF LHP Randy Johnson to the Astros for INF Carlos Guillen, RHP Freddy Garcia and LHP John Halama on July 31st of 1998.
Another interesting trade was made in 1997, when the Chicago White Sox threw up the white flag when they traded LHP Wilson Alvarez, RHP Roberto Hernandez and RHP Danny Darwin to the San Francisco Giants for six players, including Bob Howry and Keith Foulke. This resulted in 3B and current White Sox manager Robin Ventura to say, "I didn't know the season ended August 1st!"
Many teams have made minor tweaks on the last day before players have to clear waivers before they can be traded. This works until August 31, afterwards no player added can be part of a team's postseason roster. As the time runs down today, it will be interesting to see what deals, if any will be made today.
Perhaps a bigger issue could be the deals that were not made. The Phillies still have 3B Michael Young, the Giants still have OF Hunter Pence, the White Sox still have OF Alex Rios and 2B Gordon Beckham and the Mets still have OF Marlon Byrd. And, as expected pitchers Cliff Lee and Tim Lincecum are exacty where they expected to be: in Philadelphia and San Francisco, respectively. Potential moves regarding these players did not happen for a number of reasons. While we look ahead to the month of August, where players can be traded once they clear waivers, here is a little excerpt from a post I made at last year's trading deadline.
July 31st has only been a landmark day since really 1989; prior to that, many deals were completed before that. The trading deadline was started by Kenesaw Landis after a late season 1922 trade brought Joe Dugan to the Yankees which allowed them to win the AL Pennant. The deadline was originally June 15th and it stayed that way from 1923-1985. It became July 31st for the 1986 season.
The first major July 31st trade was when the New York Mets acquired LHP Frank Viola from the Minnesota Twins for five players, including RHP Rick Aguilera and Kevin Tapani. While the Mets were making a push to return to the postseason, it was the Twins who reaped the benefits of this trade, winning the World Series just two years later.
Just five years ago, one of the more significant trades was made with time winding down. The Atlanta Braves added 1B Mark Teixeira from the Texas Rangers, giving up SS Elvis Andrus, LHP Matt Harrison, RHP Neftali Feliz and C Jarrod Saltalamacchia in a 5 for 1 trade. The Rangers owe part of the credit for their consecutive World Series appearances to that trade. In 1997, the Boston Red Sox acquired RHP Heathcliff Slocomb from the Mariners for C Jason Varitek and RHP Derek Lowe. It is possible the Red Sox do not have their success for the next 10 + seasons without that trade, among other things.
While the last trade gave the Red Sox two important pieces for their championship runs, it was the 2004 trade of star SS Nomar Garciaparra to the Cubs; the four team deal that brought the Red Sox SS Orlando Cabrera and 1B Doug Mientkiewicz, that may have been the turning point of the Red Sox fortune.
Several sluggers have been moved on July 31st. The Yankees acquired Cecil Fielder from the Tigers in 1996, and Greg Vaughn was moved from the Brewers to the Padres on the same day. Mark McGwire was moved from Oakland to St Louis exactly one year later. 2008 saw Ken Griffey, Jr move from the Reds to the White Sox and Manny Ramirez move from the Red Sox to the Dodgers. And for good measure, Seattle traded future HOF LHP Randy Johnson to the Astros for INF Carlos Guillen, RHP Freddy Garcia and LHP John Halama on July 31st of 1998.
Another interesting trade was made in 1997, when the Chicago White Sox threw up the white flag when they traded LHP Wilson Alvarez, RHP Roberto Hernandez and RHP Danny Darwin to the San Francisco Giants for six players, including Bob Howry and Keith Foulke. This resulted in 3B and current White Sox manager Robin Ventura to say, "I didn't know the season ended August 1st!"
Many teams have made minor tweaks on the last day before players have to clear waivers before they can be traded. This works until August 31, afterwards no player added can be part of a team's postseason roster. As the time runs down today, it will be interesting to see what deals, if any will be made today.
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