“But again, he’s the guy we want out there in that situation”. An hour before Monday’s 4 p.m. non-waiver trade deadline, Cashman had successfully parted ways with four major players and, in the process, ushered in a new era of Yankees baseball.
Advertisement
Now that the August 1 non-waiver trade deadline has passed, which teams came out on top and which did the least to improve?
Cleveland’s attempt to acquire Lucroy fell apart when he refused to waive the no-trade provision in his contract, but the Indians did make one major move, adding reliever Andrew Miller in a deal with the Yankees.
The Rangers’ domination of the short-term is frustrating enough for Astros fans, but the message the Feldman move sends (again, put Feldman’s failure last night aside for a moment), at least on the surface, is some true emotional kindling. The Rangers also picked up stalwart catcher Jonathan Lucroy from Milwaukee for touted Double-A outfielder Lewis Brinson. He can really get it done. Beltran, a switch-hitter, was hitting.279 with 16 home runs and 65 RBIs.
The manager also likes the idea of having Lucroy working with the Rangers pitchers.
Daniels discussed the catcher with Brewers officials last winter and spring and thought the chance to get him was done when the Indians had an agreement with Milwaukee. On top of that, he has a very reasonable $5.25 million team option for 2017. They gave up a lot and got back a lot too. It would also make sense that continued success in short work could build Tate’s confidence more quickly than if he were to show flashes of improvement in the rotation.
Beltran, the top player in the Yankees’ lackluster offense, was sent to Texas on Monday for right-hander Dillon Tate, the fourth overall pick in the 2015 amateur draft, and two other pitching prospects: right-handers Nick Green and Erik Swanson.
“I believe that you can win with the players in that room”, Girardi insisted. For Beltran, trade talks are not his thing, he just lets his agent and the team do what needs to be done. He was also a first-round pick (#30 overall) in the 2014 draft, taken with the pick the Rangers received when Nelson Cruz declined the Rangers’ qualifying offer and signed with the Baltimore Orioles in free agency. Beltran is the team’s best hitter and letting him go for three minor league pitchers indicates a rebuild than a title run. This bullpen does not have a guy like Chapman or Miller that can blow you away quickly, but contains guys that can go out there in a close game and hold the lead which is exactly what Texas needs from them.
“I don’t know if we necessarily pick out finite milestones”, Stearns said when asked if the latest deals moved the Brewers closer to the next phase of rebuilding.
The Cubs previously got lefties Chapman and Mike Montgomery for their bullpen.
The New York Mets landed All-Star outfielder Bruce from the Cincinnati Reds for young infielder Dilson Herrera and minor league left-hander Max Wotell.
– The Giants acquired left-handed reliever Will Smith from the Milwaukee Brewers.
Advertisement
The contending Los Angeles Dodgers fortified their rotation by getting Hill along with outfielder Josh Reddick from Oakland for three pitching prospects. The Dodgers are patching together what they can while Kershaw recovers from a herniated disk in his lower back. For only 17 outings in Class A, Tate recorded a WHIP of 1.62, a 5.40 ERA with only 55 strikeouts in 65 innings. But the leaders in the NL East wound up with Pittsburgh’s Mark Melancon, who had 130 saves and a 1.80 ERA in 3 1/2 seasons for the Pirates, at a reduced price, trading Felipe Rivero and a mid-level prospect.
