Deadline Deals That Make Sense

We have reached the time of year when the rumor mill starts spinning fast enough to generate power for a small metropolis. Mid-July until the first of August lacks dramatic sporting drama, so we naturally fill in the gaps by posing as many what-ifs as we can generate. Aubrey Huff started trading season in earnest this week when the Devil Rays shipped the former-stud lefty to Houston for a 25 year-old SS prospect and a pitcher whose upside is as a fifth starter. It seems to me that the trade came about two years too late for both teams- sure the Astros get Huff at a diminished price, but he is a diminished player and the team was thisclose to a championship last year, lacking consistent offense. Still, the Huff trade was the type of deal that made sense for both teams. The D-Rays needed more organizational depth so they could start generating fallback plans in case their high-potential prospects do not pan out. Huff had no place left in St. Pete’s first rebuilding project of the ACL (after Chuck Lamar) era, but he made some sense for Houston, who desperately needed to find a way to make righty pitchers notice them. This is the type of trade that interests me: it is feasible, constructive, and simple. We will hear a lot about Bobby Abreu and Barry Zito in the next two weeks, and one or both may even change jerseys, but the hype for such a trade so far outweighs the combination of its likelihood and its utility for all parties that I do not feel that I need to add any more fuel to the fire. Instead, I am interested in the types of trades that make the difference at the margins for teams with a lot to lose or a lot to gain. Remember that Geoff Blum was an unheralded trade deadline pickup for the White Sox last year before hitting the homerun that won the World Series. The year before that, the Red Sox picked up Dave Roberts at the deadline, and all anyone wanted to talk about was losing Nomar- that is, of course, until The Steal. Good GM’s plan for these contingencies and fill their little holes that can make a big difference in the most important moments.

Sensible trades:

Detroit acquires Matt Stairs from Kansas City for a B prospect: Detroit looks like a very safe bet to find some place in October, but if they want to play any further, they will have to take a page out of division rival Chicago’s text book and plug some additional lefty hitting into a heavily right handed lineup. Dmitri Young switch hits, but his status with the team likely depends on his status with the law, which is probably not the best situation for a key player. Curtis Granderson bats lefty, but beyond him, the lineup is exclusively right-handed. Stairs keeps climbing in age, but he seems to always hit righties well enough to go at least .260/.350/.420, which definitely has plenty of value in a platoon situation. The Tigers may have arrived as contenders earlier than most expected, but with older players like Pudge Rodriguez, Todd Jones and Kenny Rogers, they may as well use a little piece of their solid farm system to make a strong push. Besides, the Royals will not hold out for a full-on mortgaging of the team’s future to pick up Matt Stairs. We have come to the point in the season when it starts to be relevant to point out that flags fly forever (FFF), which applies here.

Texas acquires Kip Wells from Pittsburgh for a B-C prospect: Texas caught Oakland at the break, positioning themselves for a dogfight between three teams who have very noticeable flaws. Before the season, I believed that Oakland looked like the best team in baseball, but injuries to a huge percentage of their core has brought them to a very beatable level. Texas has an offense that has yet to hit its stride, but has stayed in the race with better pitching than most expected. Adam Eaton will rejoin the team at some point in the second half, function as a rotational upgrade coming off of the DL, but why stop there? Supposedly Wells can be had pretty cheaply, especially after his disastrous four start stint before the ASB. He has given up 23 ER in only 16.1 IP while walking 10 and striking out 7. Nonetheless, he is only 29, working his way back from an injury, and does not have a spot in Pittsburgh once one accounts for all of the kids. The Buccos would probably help with what is left on Wells’ contract if they can get anything in return, and Kip’s career tendency to throw 3 groundballs for every 2 flyballs will play would at the Bandbox at Arlington. Once again, without much risk involved, the Rangers have a lot to gain by winning the division, and Koronka and Rheinecker are not the names I would want to call when filling out an ALDS lineup card.

Los Angeles Dodgers acquire Joe Randa from Pittsburgh for a B prospect
OR
LAD acquire Aaron Boone and Todd Hollandsworth from Cleveland for a B prospect: Perhaps neither swag is quite so tasty for the Dodgers, but they really cannot afford to flop into a playoff race as the wildcard leader and expect that Cesar Izturis’ bat will play at third. Izturis was a glove-first, bat-last type of player at SS, and that kind of equation does not work on the corners. Randa and Boone are not particularly desirable, but either would be a meaningful upgrade over Izturis, especially if they can find some ABs for someone else against tough righty pitchers. Ned Colletti seems to understand that he can trade his prospects for immediate reinforcements, even if the Dioner Navarro-Jae Seo for Toby Hall-Mark Hendrickson trade indicates that he does not know exactly how to do so effectively. As long as Aaron Sele stays in the rotation, chalk that up as another position of need for a team relying on plenty of rickety veterans for a couple of more months- Sele, Garciaparra, Drew, Lofton, Penny.