Come Sunday, postseason rosters are locked for contending teams. You need to be on the 40-man roster (or DL) by the end of the day today in order to qualify for the postseason. With that in mind, some teams took the July 31 trade deadline as merely a suggestion. Knowing that they could still make roster changes throughout the month of August, today was really the deadline they were looking at. And I think we can all agree that no team was more successful on the roster enhancement front during the month of August than the Pittsburgh Pirates.
It's been 20 years, but the Pirates are finally going to finish above .500! Everybody knows that, including them. They want more, though. They're in the heart of the NL Central race, and that division is likely going to produce three playoff teams. The Pirates aren't content with breaking the losing-seasons streak. Or even with just making the playoffs. They're going all-out to win the division. And, frankly, who can blame them? They're the best story in baseball.
Perhaps the most impressive part is that all of the Pirates' moves have come in the past few days. Here in New York, the rumors started swirling that somebody had put in a waiver claim for Marlon Byrd. Then came the rumor that it was the Pirates. This the same day the Mets learned Matt Harvey's done for the year and might need Tommy John surgery. A few hours later, it all became official, Marlon Byrd and John Buck to the Pirates. (The best part is that the Mets traded Marlon Byrd, who was probably their best position player with David Wright out, on Marlon Byrd T-Shirt Night.)
Pittsburgh wasn't done, though. Today they scored a major coup by completing a trade for Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, who had spent his entire 11-year career in Minnesota. Suddenly, Joey Votto isn't the only left-handed-hitting Canadian first baseman on a contending NL Central team. And suddenly Pittsburgh's lineup is even more formidable. One of the biggest knocks on the Pirates was that they had very few players with postseason experience. Well, they've taken care of that problem and made the lineup deeper in the process. The starting pitching is still a little bit of a question mark behind A.J. Burnett and Francisco Liriano, and who knows if they're going to get Jason Grilli back, but you've gotta love that the Pirates are going for it.
These two moves contradict everything the Pirates normally do in July/August, and I mean that in a good way. They're normally the team dumping people that contenders find value in so that they can load up on prospects. Not this year. In fact, they got stronger by taking advantage of two other teams doing what they normally do. The Twins and Mets waived the white flag. As any good Pirates do, Pittsburgh had no problem pillaging those rosters once they saw that flag go up.
The Pirates, of course, aren't the only contender that's improved its roster with an August waiver-wire acquisition. The Rangers didn't really have a backup plan when Nelson Cruz was suspended. Or at least that's how it seemed. At the end of July, most people thought the White Sox were going to put Alex Rios on waivers and see if there were any takers. The Rangers probably knew this, too, so they waited until Chicago did put him on waivers, then pounced. It didn't take very long for the White Sox and Rangers to complete a trade for Rios. And suddenly, Texas filled the Nelson Cruz void in right field and the lineup with an alternative that, frankly, is better.
Another one that might end up going unnoticed in the long run is the Yankees' picking up Mark Reynolds. Reynolds had played his way out of Cleveland, but the Yankees remembered him being a Yankee killer last year with the Orioles. At the very least, it was worth a shot. Well, Reynolds has been excellent since putting on the pinstripes. Most importantly, he finally gave the Yankees something they'd been looking for all season--a right-handed corner infielder. Suddenly, Lyle Overbay actually had a backup at first, and they've got somebody to play third when A-Rod DH's (this is what Kevin Youkilis was supposed to do this season). He even made a start at second earlier this week when Robinson Cano and Eduardo Nunez both had to miss a game due to injury.
I'm not saying that any of these acquisitions will result in a World Series title. The fact is the Pirates and Rangers were playoff-bound even without making these moves, and the Yankees still might not get in. But all three did get better. And maybe they will make the difference between winning and losing in October.
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