Whew. I'm still here. I didn't get traded. Although I am a little disappointed I didn't get any hugs. Also, it's my vow to you that this edition of MLB Bullets will be free of puns on David Price's name. That got old the ten-thousandth time.
- Most of you are already aware of all the trades made on a pretty wild trade deadline, but if you're not, here they all are.
- So what does Ken Rosenthal say about all this?
No trade can be fairly judged the day it happens. Think of all the deals over the years that appeared one way and turned out another.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2014
- Rosenthal used to raise his hand at the end of class and remind the teacher that she forgot to assign homework. Here are the trade deadline winners and losers!
- No! These are the trade deadline winners and losers!
- These are the actual trade deadline winners and losers!
- Here are the winners of the trade deadline awards show!
- Rob Neyer looks at
a first-grade art showthe David Price trade and says "Everybody is a winner!" - Grant Brisbee says the Mariners won the trade deadline!
- Oops. Sorry Grant. The Red Sox won the trade deadline! Quietly!
- Understandably, most of the focus has been on the David Price to Detroit trade. Jay Jaffe says the trade was the Tigers' bid to stay ahead of Oakland and win the World Series this season or next.
- Jonathan Bernhardt thinks the Rays did not get enough for Price. In fact, he calls it "a disaster."
- Yeah, they're pretty upset over at DRaysBay. I remember my discussions with them and how we agreed the Cubs couldn't get Price without giving up Javier Baez. And more. (I said that's why the Cubs wouldn't make the deal, to be clear.)
- Tony Blengino says don't be so quick to judge the Rays' return for Price. He thinks the deal could pay off for Tampa Bay in time.
- Richard Justice says the Tigers' deal and the Athletics getting Jon Lester (to go with Jeff Samardzija) is setting up the American League for a clash of titans in the postseason.
- Craig Calcaterra points out that the A's aren't just worried about Detroit--they have the Angels still snipping at their heels. And no one wants to play that one-game knockout game.
- Wendy Thurm thinks Billy Beane made a "gutsy and creative move."
- Jayson Stark sums up the bold arms race between Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski and A's GM Billy Beane.
- Dombrowski managed to sum up the arms race with one text message to Beane.
Re: Price to Tigers, Beane "had a feeling it was going to happen." Dombrowski jokingly texted, "You have 1 minute to acquire Chris Sale"
— Jane Lee (@JaneMLB) August 1, 2014
- Tigers outfielder Austin Jackson got pulled in the middle of an at-bat when the trade to Seattle went final. The fans in Detroit gave him a touching standing ovation as he left the field.
- So what are the A's going to do with all the Yoenis Cespedes T-Shirts they were going to give away on Saturday. They're giving them out anyway. I can tell you that the Sacramento River Cats are still giving out Addison Russell Garden Gnomes, although you can trade them in for credit at the team store. Those three games Russell played in Sacramento are three games we'll never forget.
- Gordon Edes thinks the Red Sox were dealing players like it was fantasy baseball.
- Except they're real people. Dustin Pedroia says that it "sucks" when a teammate gets traded and you have to say goodbye. Hugs, people. Hugs.
- One team that didn't make any deals, surprisingly, was the Phillies. GM Ruben Amaro seems to say it was everyone else's fault.
- So of course Cliff Lee, one pitcher rumored to be on the trading block, hurt his elbow last night and is probably out for the season.
- Matthew Kory says that while we all knew that the Ryan Howard contract extension was going to be a disaster, no one projected it to be this terrible. We all thought it would blow up like Mt. St. Helens and instead we got Krakatoa.
- Joe Posnanski writes that Amaro's loyalty to his players has turned the Phillies into a disaster.
- The Yankees made a few deals yesterday. Johnette Howard was not impressed.
- Mark Saxson explains why the Dodgers didn't make a deal.
- The Mets didn't do anything either.
- GM Sandy Alderson explains that the Mets were active at the trade deadline, they just didn't make any deals. So they were active, just not, you know, active.
- David Schoenfield likes the Justin Masterson trade for both the Cardinals and Indians, despite what the headline to that article says.
- Bob Nightengale says that the Cardinals will regret the John Lackey trade. Why? Don't they have fried chicken in St. Louis?
- You know those "waves and waves" that Theo Epstein talks about? Howard Megdal says that's the Cardinals. Do we want the Cubs to be like the Cardinals? Yeah, we probably do. But with more money.
- Calvin Watkins says the Rangers need to do more to keep up with the A's in the AL West. Maybe they ought to try keeping up with the Astros first.
- Speaking of the Astros, one of their broadcasts got a 0.0 rating again.
- Here's a trip down memory lane of some of the big deadline trades of years past. Ten years ago yesterday, Nomar Garciaparra became a Cub.
- Jonathan Bernhardt says despite the deals of major leaguers for major leaguers that took place yesterday, prospects are as valuable as ever on the trade market.
- Dave Cameron thinks that the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline doesn't make sense anymore. He'd like to move it back to mid-August.
- After the trades themselves, the big story yesterday were the Twitter Trolls, who on more than one occasion fooled major outlets into reporting false stories. The MLB Network reported on a fake Ken Rosenthal Tweet with Ken Rosenthal right in their studio. But you will note that fake Ken Rosenthal had David Price going to the Tigers hours before the real one did.
- Jim Bowden stole credit for a trade scoop from a fake account. That's bad enough, but then he tried to cover it up. Not realizing, of course, that you can't cover it up.
- ESPN got fooled by a fake Bob Nightengale account to report on a Ben Zobrist trade. Yeah, the racist follow-up Tweet should have been a dead giveaway.
- Colin McGowan says that this is all a reminder to slow down. It really doesn't matter if you get the news fifteen seconds faster. Especially if it's wrong.
- The Twins did not trade Kurt Suzuki. That's because they signed him to a contract extension just before the deadline. Unlike Aaron Gleeman, who knows the Twins a whole lot better than I do, I actually like this move for the Twins.
- The Twins also signed a 24 year old undrafted free agent with a 100 mph fastball. Tyler Mason explains how he fell through the scouting cracks.
- Russell Carleton writes about the search for the next Moneyball.
- Steven Goldman remembers Eric Chavez, one of the heroes of the original Moneyball, on the occasion of his retirement.
- The Royals Eric Hosmer is going to be on the disabled list for a month.
- The second opinion came back on Matt Cain. No, he won't need Tommy John surgery. His ligament is fine. But he likely needs season-ending surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow. At least he should be ready for opening day.
- Add Nate Jones to the list of pitchers who did have Tommy John surgery this year.
- Craig Calcaterra wants people to stop saying "Back when Gibson and Drysdale were pitching . . ."
- One of the Atlantic League's new rules for speeding up the game is meeting with some opposition.They've delayed implementation of the "automatic pinch-runner for the catcher" rule and it looks like that one will never be enforced.
- Brian Costa has the five strangest rules in baseball.
- Except he missed one, and it's one that every single team in MLB is in violation of. The direction that a major league park is supposed to face. OK, it's more of an official suggestion than a rule. Still, no one follows it.
- Phil Hughes tried to make a play on a liner back up the middle--on a double to left-center field. Did he get pitching tips from reading Dock Ellis' book? Seriously, what was he doing there?
- And finally, here's a play so bizarre and so inept that you won't believe the Cubs weren't involved in it. The Giants managed to turn a double play against the Pirates on a play in which Pirates catcher Chris Stewart walked. No, it wasn't a double steal, either. At least not at first.
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.