The other day I offered my opinion on the moves made (or, in some cases, not made) at the trade deadline by the various American League contenders. All of the headline-making transactions seemed to involve National League clubs, though. For the most part, it seemed like those NL teams that did make moves were the ones doing the selling. With a few exceptions, the main playoff contenders pretty much stood pat. This could make for an interesting month of September.
The bottom-dwelling team that was the most active at the trade deadline was the Philadelphia Phillies. After four straight NL East titles, this has been a lost year for the Phillies. They've acknowledged that, and they pretty much waived the white flag on July 31. In the span of a few hours on deadline day, the Phillies traded 2/3 of their starting outfield. And as a result of those deals, the NL West race is going to be a lot more interesting.
Hunter Pence, who was Philadelphia's big trade deadline prize just a year ago, is now a member of the San Francisco Giants. As usual, the Giants have been offensively challenged so far this season. Swapping Nate Schierholtz for Pence, who can at least provide some power behind Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval, should help a little. San Francisco also added Marco Scutaro, formerly of the division-rival Rockies, who's been on a tear since he joined the Giants. Of course, that whole Melky Cabrera failed drug test, fake website, 50-game suspension thing really screwed up any master plans the Giants might've had. I wouldn't be surprised if they made another move before rosters freeze on September 1.
I think the big winners in the Phillies-to-NL West fire sale was the Dodgers, though. Their big push was for Ryan Dempster, who ended up going to Texas. But the LA rotation is good enough to hold its own, and the pitching staff was also bolstered by the addition of a former Phillie--Joe Blanton. But Victorino was the big prize. The Dodgers needed a leadoff hitter. Problem solved. Their outfield defense was also incredibly improved by adding a third Gold Glover to go along with Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier (their two best players). Of course, the addition of Victorino meant Bobby Abreu was jettisoned by his second LA-based club this season, but Abreu's not the player he once was. It also means less playing time for another former Angel, Juan Rivera. I'll take Shane Victorino over either of those guys any day.
The Dodgers actually struck first a couple days before the deadline by picking up Hanley Ramirez and Randy Choate from the Marlins. You knew that Ramirez and Jose Reyes weren't going to coexist in Miami for very long, and with the investment the Marlins made in Reyes, it certainly looked like Hanley was going to be the one to go. He needed a change of scenery, and the Dodgers are a perfect fit. Choate was a nice throw-in, giving them a veteran lefty in the bullpen. The bigger bullpen move they made, though, was getting former Mariners closer Brandon League. With League setting up for Chad Billingsley, that Dodgers bullpen is formidable. I think these moves made the Dodgers a legitimate World Series contender.
Another surprising buyer, and it's great to see them adding rather than subtracting at the deadline, was the Pittsburgh Pirates. They got Travis Snider from the Blue Jays, which doesn't make much sense since they already had Andrew McCutchen, Garrett Jones and Jose Tabata in the outfield, and Gaby Sanchez from the Marlins. I like the Sanchez move. Pittsburgh can plug him in at first base, a position that opened up when Casey McGehee was traded to the Yankees, who seem to be the Pirates' new favorite trading partner. Perhaps their biggest move, though, was the addition of Wandy Rodriguez. Rodriguez was the most coveted guy at the dedline last year, but ended up staying in Houston. He finally got out of that purgatory and bolstered a Pittsburgh rotation that might actually be good enough for the Pirates to play in October.
Aside from the Phillies, the biggest seller in the National League was the Cubs. Dempster and Geovany Soto both went to Texas, and their other big move was sending Paul Maholm and Reed Johnson to the Braves. Atlanta's leading the wild card race (just like they were at this time last year) and is looking to avoid another September collapse. The rotation's going to be a key in making sure that doesn't happen, and Maholm's a good back of the rotation guy. I don't quite get the appeal of Reed Johnson. He's a veteran who can play almost anywhere, but I've never thought he was that good.
Cincinnati didn't do much and didn't need to. The Reds, amazingly, have used only five starters all year, and they have perhaps the most dominant closer in baseball in Aroldis Chapman. Even without Chapman, the bullpen is very, very good, and they only made it better by picking up Jonathan Broxton from the Royals. Making Broxton, the former Dodgers closer, Chapman's setup guy could shorten games the way the Yankees used to during their 1998-2000 dynasty (or like the Nasty Boys did on Cincinnati's last championship team in 1990). And we all know they can hit.
The next team worth mentioning made some very confusing moves at the deadline. I'm talking about the Miami Marlins. I'm among those who thought the Marlins would be a contender at the start of the season. But, like the Phillies, they've disappointed. For some reason, they picked up 65-year-old Carlos Lee from Houston (the Astros no longer have a DH on the roster for that move to the American League next season), but then took on the role of sellers. First they traded Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante to Detroit, then they made that aforementioned Ramirez and Choate to the Dodgers trade. Finally, Gaby Sanchez, who lost his first base job to Lee, was sent to the Pirates. The Marlins certainly look like they gave up on this season. But what makes these trades even more confusing is that Miami didn't get much in return, so has some major holes to fill next season. However, they've still got Jose Reyes, Giancarlo Stanton, Logan Morrison and a good pitching staff, so they probably don't need to do much in the offseason.
Finally we have the Washington Nationals. Washington, which has the best record in baseball, was surprisingly quiet. The Nationals, probably wisely, believed that the lineup that's been taking the field all season wasn't going to get any better at the trade deadline. I still would've done something, though. The Nationals' starting lineup is very good. The bench isn't. It also wouldn't have hurt if they'd bolstered their bullpen. But Washington's biggest problem is that no one has any clue how this whole shutting down Strasburg this is going to work out. If that backfires, it doesn't matter how good the Nationals' lineup is. Because they might not be around that long come October.
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