What happened?
In the pre-season, I wrote an article where I described each teams’ acknowledged needs and went over what they did during the off-season to address those needs. As I did that, I noticed that many teams did not address all their needs in the off-season and was interested to see which unmet needs have re-arisen and gotten resolved (or not) at the trade deadline. Plus, what new needs arise.
Today, I focus on what major league talent each team acquired, without a lot of time spent evaluating the prospects that went the other way. There are lots of people with way more knowledge of this arena that will provide that depth. Even if they don’t, it will be years before the full impact of these trades is known.
Suffice to say that the Cardinals entered a “sell” mode more aggressively than some feared, and less than some hoped. This will warrant a longer look this winter, but my first impression from the draft and trading action is they have decided a somewhat more aggressive organizational rebuild/restock is going to be needed. While many hoped a couple of strategic shifts here and there (say, a RF will good OPS and a strong starting pitcher) could lead them back to being competitive as soon as 2026, I’m thinking they have become a little bit more sanguine in their expectations for the current group of 40-man occupants. The trade deadline approach seems to be setting them up for a very active off-season.
For now, let’s go around the rest of the league to size up the totality of the changes. Forewarning: It is a lot!
Amendments to the original article are in italics.
• 21 of the 30 teams indicated a priority for the off-season was to acquire one or more arms for the starting rotation. All but the Mariners, Twins, Rays, Cubs, Pirates, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Marlins, Nationals. I kind of wondered about the Rockies and Twins self-assessment, but I bought the others.
I’m not sure the Cubs correctly assessed their pitching during the off-season. The Dbacks didn’t publicly foretell a pitching need, but they acquired pitching, which turned out to be accurate (but ill-fated). Sometimes actions speak louder than words.
• 13 teams needed outfield help, the vast majority of it at corner OF, preferring RH hitting with a bit of power. Sound familiar? There is a dearth of what the Cardinals need most.
Everyone needs this. The same few guys recycle around. Grichuk has become the new Don Baylor. Bader remains a hot commodity. I wonder how many teams he will play for? The Cardinals will introduce Ivan Herrera to the outfield, since the market won’t yield one of these types at their price point.
• 12 teams indicated a need for bullpen help. I suspect this number is more like 30, but I’m guessing everyone just assumes they always need to bolster the bullpen, so they don’t put it in the priority list. Bullpen seems to be one of those things teams focus on when they think they are ready to compete.
Indeed, it seems the majority of trade action was of the reliever variety at the MLB level. Pretty much everyone either sent one (or more) away or brough one (or more) in. They could almost rename this from the Trade Deadline to the Role Player and Reliever Shifting Period.
• Apparently, there is good depth in the game at catcher and middle infielder as only a few teams indicated needs in this area.
Apparently, the Twins acquired a pretty good catching prospect from the Phillies for their closer. I wonder how he compares to the Cardinals prospects at C.
Who came into the season thinking they addressed their needs?
Yankees – Lost out on Juan Soto. Acquired Goldy (1b), Bellinger (CF), Fried (SP) and Williams (RP). To me, even without Soto, they seem more well-rounded.
Unlisted in their pre-season priorities, they needed a third baseman and briefly kicked the tires on Nolan Arenado. The Williams deal hasn’t worked out as well as envisioned and trading away Cortes has left them short in the rotation, especially with Cole hurt. They never really solved their 3rd base challenge. So, they were looking for a third quality starter and a third baseman. They picked up a utility infielder (Rosario) and Arenado replacement, Ryan McMahon, plus Caballero from the Rays. They obtained the obligatory reliever upgrades with Bednar from the Pirates, Jake Bird from the Rockies and Camilo Doval from the Giants.
Dodgers – Re-signed Teoscar Hernandez (OF) and Blake Treinen (RP) and signed Snell (SP) and Sasaki (SP) to address their top 3 needs, along with Yates and Scott (RP). They also added Korean import Kim to help with the middle infield, even though the middle infield didn’t appear to need a lot of help.
Injuries have decimated their pitching. Both Sasaki and Snell have missed significant time. Ohtani is back pitching and Kershaw returned, so that helped. They preferred to add an arm but carried an alternate strategy to make their line-up bulletproof if they couldn’t find a pitcher. They added an underrated reliever from Minnesota, Stewart. They added an outfielder (Call) from the Nats. The Dodgers and Rays traded prospects. They do this with some frequency, with these two teams being the most frequent trade partners over the last decade, by far.
Brewers – This team only listed two primary needs. A starter and some infield help, in recognition of their pending loss of Adames. They got Durbin and Cortes from the Yankees to fill those needs. For Devin Williams. So, the Brewers ostensibly join the other 29 teams needing to bolster the back-end. However, mission accomplished. They will undoubtedly still want to pick off some below-radar talent late in the cycle, as they always do.
Megill has filled William’s role admirably. Cortes got hurt early and Durbin did not play well, so the Brewers continue to seek a third baseman. Woodruff coming back and Misiorowski emerging has solidified their rotation. They continue to win even as premier talent leaks away. Amazing.
It turns out the Brewers felt they needed to shore up catching, acquiring Jansen from the Rays. William Contreras’ hand injury concerns may ultimately end up with season ending surgery. They obtained Shelby Miller from Arizona, along with injured (TJ) Jordan Montgomery. This last deal seemed a bit out-of-character for them. They took on some of the dead money owed Montgomery in order to acquire reliever Miller without having to part with their precious prospects. They moved Cortes on to the Padres.
In the original article, I inadvertently omitted the Nationals, so user districtofcardinals was kind enough to provide a write-up in comments.
Nationals – Needs: Bullpen (including closer), power, 1B, 3B, right handed starter.
Acquisitions: re-signed RHSP Trevor Williams, signed RHSP Michael Soroka, traded for 1B Nathaniel Lowe, signed 1B/DH Josh Bell, signed UTIL Amed Rosario, signed RHRP Jorge Lopez, signed LHSP Shinnosuke Ogasawara (their first ever signing out of Japan).
The general feeling is that they fulfilled their needs, but in largely underwhelming ways and are moreso banking on their young players developing, especially James Woods and Dylan Crews.
Spot on analysis. This team has floundered, even though Woods emerges as a premium talent. Crews has not. None of the pre-season acquisitions have been impactful. The signed starters have indeed underwhelmed. The management team was let go a few weeks ago. Rosario was moved (to the Yanks). Soroka was dealt to the Cubs. Finnegan to the Tigers. Garcia and Chafin to the Angels. Late bloomer Alex Call was moved to the Dodgers.
White Sox – Peculiarly, the White Sox really couldn’t identify a priority need – they need everything. And in one form – young prospects. Their assessment was refreshingly honest. But then again, the whole team performed below replacement level, so perhaps the PR types just decided they couldn’t put that much lipstick on the pig. They accomplished their goal of prospect depth just with the Crochet trade.
They aren’t as putrid as last year on the field and they continue to look to develop the prospect pipeline. I gather they’d love to dump Robert, although declining his 2 options at season’s end will accomplish that (but not guaranteed they will do that). They didn’t do much, sending Houser to the Rays.
Who went out and made moves that seemed to mis-match their stated needs?
Caveat: These cases are where I really wonder if the stated, reported needs are always a valid reflection of what was going on internally in these organizations. These “mismatches” may reflect the quality of the reporting more than a true gap between needs and actions by the front-office.
Diamondbacks – Needing a DH, 1B and bullpen help, they filled one gap with the Josh Naylor trade. But the blockbuster Corbin Burnes signing made a seeming strength stronger (?) and leaves the gaps unfilled. I found this peculiar. In trying to find a rationale for this, I wondered if the medicals on some of their stalwart starters aren’t great, and if starting pitcher emerged as a need after the off-season got underway. For certain, Corbin Burnes is not a bad insurance policy. But he can’t DH.
Indeed, their read of pitching medicals was spot on, as their seemingly solid staff has underperformed. Burnes was lost for the season early on and they floundered. They have a number of pending free agents and are selling them off. They moved Suarez and Naylor along (to the Mariners) and Kelly to the Rangers. Grichuk to the Royals. They moved Miller and Montgomery to the Brewers. It may well be that next off-season; their needs will be exactly the same as this past one.
Mets – They didn’t appear to really feel like outfield was a key need and yet they broke the bank to sign Juan Soto. A generational talent for sure, but their main needs remain. They prioritized a starter and a corner IF with some pop to replace Pete Alonso (turns out it was Alonso himself), but even if that resolves they seem unsure about 3B. They did re-sign Manaea and brought in Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes along with a flyer on Griffin Canning to bolster their rotation. I’m using “bolster” in the most optimistic sense here.
Their unique pitching acquisitions mostly paid off. Holmes started out well but seems to have run out of gas. Montas got hurt early. Their main concern at the deadline was bullpen help. They acquired a reliever prior to the deadline, a different Soto. And another in Tyler Rogers. They added outfield depth with Mullens.
Reds – Needing offense (from anywhere), outfield help and catching help were their indicated priorities. They acquired catcher Trevino from the Yanks and pitcher Martinez took the QO for $21m (odd move for a small market team). They traded Jonathen India (their best OBP guy?) for a pitcher (Singer). Then they traded a Competitive Round A pick and a prospect for Gavin Lux. I can’t wait to see how the beat writer summarizes this Fisherman’s Stew. Do we consider Austin Hays outfield help? They picked up one of the Rogers twins for their bullpen.
The catcher Trevino has turned out to be an outstanding acquisition. The Reds have built a solid, steady rotation that includes Singer and some home-grown guys like Greene and Abbott. They still need offense, particularly a heavy-hitting third baseman. They acquired Ke’Bryan Hayes who is a really good third baseman (Gold Glover), but not sure about the offensive upside there. Perhaps hitting at GABP with a better line-up around him will help. They acquired SP Zach Littel from the Rays (3-way deal, specifics lower down). They also brough in Andujar from the A’s. Suddenly, the Reds have gained religion on pitching and defense. They must see a competitive window open for them to climb through. Gotta appreciate their creativity and aggressiveness, though.
Who made quality in-roads but couldn’t quite complete the assignment?
Astros – The Astros went into the off-season needing at least one corner IF, anticipating the potential loss of Bregman and the failed Abreau experiment. They also wanted another starter and…drumroll…more bullpen help. They acquired Paredes and Walker to nail down their corner IF spots and close the door on Bregman (slam!) and Arenado (click!). Somehow their beat writer missed the small matter that the Astros were going to need OF help after trading one Kyle Tucker. Altuve to leftfield? They still need a pitcher. Some boxes get checked, some remain unchecked.
The Astros went into the deadline looking for either a LFer or a second baseman, with Altuve getting the unfilled spot. They acquired Urias from Baltimore to aid with that. They trumped that when they acquired Correa from the Twins.
Athletics – Their beat writer indicated they wanted two starting pitchers and a third baseman. Springs and Luis Severino would seem to close the deal on starters, leaving an opening at third. Somehow, the writer missed that what they really needed was to get to a $105m payroll to avoid a union grievance if they don’t spend 150% of their revenue sharing $$ ($70m) on payroll. So, the Rooker extension was important to them, too. The A’s have some young talent and if this spending results in an infusion of new talent, Sacramento fans might have something to cheer.
The trade deadline is a wide-open field for the A’s, who are continually churning talent for controllable talent and this off-season is no different. They brought in no major leaguers, but that doesn’t mean they stood pat.
Blue Jays – Needing bullpen help, a starter and a RH OFer, they looked like they were going to get shut out as they prepared for their final go-around with their soon-to-be free-agents core. They did accomplish getting an OFer with the signing of Santander and a starter with the Scherzer. The bullpen remains unfinished business.
The Blue Jays find themselves in first place at the deadline. With the best record in baseball, it’s not immediately clear what they really need to change. Beneath the surface, it appears they are looking to acquire controllable players, given the number of players they will be losing to free agency this coming off-season (Bassitt, Scherzer, Bichette). They acquired Dominguez for their bullpen. In what looks more like a move for the future, they acquired Bieber from Cleveland. The particulars of that deal left me wondering. I believe he has a player-option. Last minute, they acquired Varland (reliever) and France.
Cubs – Going in, their priorities indicated some additional offense particularly of the ISO variety, bullpen help (who doesn’t?), and someone to man third. I believe they saw themselves as pretty solid but maybe had a desire to move Suzuki to DH and shave a few bucks off the payroll on top of the talent needs. They outdid themselves, acquiring Tucker from Houston and letting Cody Bellinger skate off to New York for a reliever, little BoPeep or something like that. Right now, all they have to do to complete the assignment is find a competent third baseman. Any idea where one might be available? Ryan Pressly deepens the bullpen, but he can’t play third. Perhaps they improved enough elsewhere that third can be left to a prospect.
Indeed, they out did themselves with offensive improvements. Mission accomplished. They find their pitching, both starting and relieving, in need of some upgrades. They wouldn’t mind finding a third baseman, but that doesn’t seem like a top priority. Shaw has struggled a lot. They did pick up Will Castro from the Twins. Perhaps he will get time at third. They picked up Kittredge to aid the bullpen. They added Soroka to the rotation. The Cubs defense should make his outcomes a bit better. I think it would be hard to over-state the burden the Nats defense puts on their pitchers.
Kind of a side comment on the Cubs because they are part of the main competition. Notable in all this trade deadline hoopla is the lack of resolution regarding Tucker. They are good, no doubt, but will look very different next season without him.
Giants – The Giants started the off-season in search of Shortstop, Starting help and a boost to their outfield. Signing Willy Adames and Justin Verlander helped with the first two goals, but they have yet to accomplish outfitting their outfield. Worse for them, they are chasing the Diamondbacks, Dodgers and Padres. A Padre meltdown looms, so there is that.
The Giants pitching is their strong suit. It is possible they acquired their deadline deal early, with the blockbuster acquisition of Devers. He doesn’t play outfield, but I doubt anyone will care. The Giants sent a reliever (Rogers) to the Mets and got one back (Butto) plus two prospects. An interesting buy/sell move. They sent another reliever to the Yankees in Doval. And they sent Yaz to the Royals. The earlier transaction (Devers) read “buy”. The later transactions say “sell”. So, it appears they bought more for the long-term but in a non-traditional, non-prospect kind of way. Interesting.
Guardians – I put them in the done/mostly done category. Their first two priorities were SP1 and SP2, followed by some offense from a corner OF spot (a recurring theme this winter). Then they dealt their CF (Straw) and didn’t do much else with the OF. They did add Sewald to the BP. In a series of swaps, they dealt away their 2B (Gimenez), 1B (Horowitz) and ended up with like 6 pitchers. With the Twins and White Sox struggling and Tigers having trouble taking the next step, this is probably the right year for the Guardians to reload.
They need to retool their offense, but they didn’t really look to the trade deadline to accomplish that. The Tigers managed to make that next step, making their pursuit of future value easier to stomach. With Clase and Ortiz ensnarled in gambling-related investigation(s), there was little they could do at the deadline to help. Acquiring a good lawyer for the players, maybe?
They shipped Bieber off to Toronto just as he is coming back from TJ. He has a player option for next year and I’m gathering he intended to NOT exercise it with Cleveland. Sewald goes to the Tigers.
Orioles – The Orioles approached their off-season needs as starting help (to offset the significant loss of Burnes), outfield help (to offset the loss of Santander) and a need to beef up their bullpen. They got Morton for the rotation and O’Neill for the outfield. Assuredly, they’ll pick some arms out of the reliever bargain bin, so while they are not quite done at time of writing, they will undoubtedly do this and declare success. Are they a better team?
They were right. They needed pitching and outfield help. They didn’t get it. Neither of O’Neill or Morton ended up being positive solutions. A last place finish and a fired manager is their reward. Their deadline strategy has been to sell at the edges. Mullens, O’Hearn, Laureano, Kittredge, Baker, Soto, Morton.
Phillies – Coming into the off-season needing bullpen help foremost, plus outfield help and a starter if they could find one, they acquired Jordan Romano (RP) and Max Kepler (OF) to fill the first two holes. The starting pitching market evaded them, unless they view Joe Ross as a solution.
Turns out they really didn’t need a starter for the reasons they thought. Nola having an off-year hasn’t helped, but their rotation has been more than solid. Alvarado’s suspension didn’t help either. They sought a closer and obtained Duran from the Twins. They still need some outfield help, preferably with a bit of power and end up with Bader.
Rangers – The Rangers, as everyone does, needed bullpen help, plus they sought a corner IF bat and a starter. They re-signed Eovaldi and acquired Burger from the Marlins to complete the last two needs. Relievers are often the last to get addressed, so they may yet complete the task, although it appears that they have missed out on the premium relievers in both the trade and FA markets.
The Rangers have the best pitching staff in baseball, and it isn’t even that close. deGrom being deGrom helps a lot. They underestimated their offensive needs. Burger was not a solution. A strong run approaching the deadline puts them in Wild Card contention. They did add Kelly from Arizona to an already good rotation and Maton to the bullpen, along with Coulombe from the Twins and Sanchez from Miami to finally complete their unfinished business from the off-season.
Rays – They started out with two main needs – a catcher and some offense (they were like 29th in baseball offensively). They acquired Danny Jansen to fill the need at C and seemed content to rely on internal options for the offense and the unwritten but probably needed bullpen help. A late signing of Kim was interesting. Subtly, they have reduced K’s up the middle (Siri was dealt away) and added some offense without sacrificing defense. The sum of their changes may be greater than the parts. They are also still trying to deal with the loss of the SS Wander Franco. They are counting on improved health of their starting pitchers, too.
Their offense, indeed, improved with internal options. The whole stadium thing is unfixable, at least this year. They are getting a new owner, finally. On the periphery of the wild card chase, like the Cardinals, they also are in modified sell mode. Sometimes it seems like they operate on a different level at the trading deadline than anyone else. Most teams try to fill needs. The Rays appear to try to create some combination of churn and future value. Some say it is they have a cheap owner trying save a buck in payroll. I dunno. Jansen, one of their winter solutions was moved to Milwaukee (another churn team) and then they acquired a defense-first catcher in Fortes. They moved Caballero to the Yankees. They brought in Houser from the White Sox. They sent Bradley to the Twins and got a premium reliever in Jax back. They got Baker from the O’s. They ended up with another prospect catcher in a 3-way trade with the Reds and Dodgers (again). They sent Littel (SP) to the Reds. Apparently you can have too much pitching. Who knew? Catchers in, catchers out. Prospects in, prospects out.
Royals – The Royals stated needs were more offense, in both OBP and ISO forms and some starting pitching. They re-upped Michael Wacha and added Lorenzen to flesh out their rotation, continuing the MLB trend of investing in older, established pitching. They acquired India from the Reds, which should help their OBP situation. Adding power has proved more elusive for them. A late add of Estevez to their bullpen serves to confirm the suspicion that most teams need bullpen help, even if they don’t list it as a priority.
At the 2/3 point, more offense is still their need. They picked up Grichuk, Frazier. Both should be improvements, if that tells you how low the bar is. Facing a challenge common to draft-develop teams, the hoped-for Caglianone ascendance has yet to occur. Kolek (SP) is acquired as Fermin (C) is sent to the Padres.
Tigers – Came into the off-season needing at least one starter and a RH bat. They signed Alex Cobb (SP) and T. Kahnle (RP) to help with the pitching side. They re-signed Jack Flaherty.
They’ve had a nice season. Their young hitters have emerged to power a good offense. The pitching has been cromulent. The competition within the AL Central is absent, so it’s hard to get a good read on this team. In that division, even the Cardinals might be a 60-win team at this point. At the deadline, they added a pitcher, Paddack, from the Twins and two relievers, Finnegan from the Nats and Sewald from the Guardians. They also acquired Morton from the O’s.
Who achieved one of their goals?
Braves – Just when I thought I was going to add the Braves to the list of teams that did mostly nothing in the off-season (like our Cardinals), they went and signed J. Profar to solve their need for a corner OFer. I’m using “solve” in the broadest sense here. Talk about a guy cashing in off a peak year. They still need pitching help both of the starter and reliever variety.
Beset by injuries all around, the Braves find themselves scrambling for pitching at the deadline. Kinley, Carasco, Fedde, and Dunning (in a swap of relievers) have all been brought in. Not sure these are win-now moves, perhaps more patching up holes to keep the ship afloat. Innings matter.
Pirates – The Pirates teeter on the brink of being a team without a plan, except they really do have a plan – one made by cheap ownership, so the plan doesn’t really involve being particularly competitive. Their listed needs were 1B, corner OF and relievers. They traded away pitching (primarily Luis Ortiz) for Horowitz to fill their 1B need and appear to have called it a day.
Boy, was trading away Luiz Ortiz this winter a prescient move, or what? They moved Ke’Bryan Hayes contract (to the Reds!) for a nice low-A prospect. He should arrive about the time O’Neill Cruz moves on. They also traded away lefty reliever Caleb Ferguson and righty reliever Bednar. Some plan they have.
Red Sox – They also started with two main needs – a starter and RH hitting OF with some pop. They unloaded prospects to get Crochet (SP) but let O’Neill skate away. Most of the hot-stove talk has been Bregman/Arenado, which seems a mismatch to their identified needs. None of those guys play the outfield. Rumors, being what they are, haven’t translated into transactions.
They signed Bregman very late in the cycle to a 1 or 2- or 3-year contract, depending on how the opt-outs shake out. Starting pitcher injuries have weakened their rotation. Buehler has not been great. Resolving the Devers situation ahead of the deadline was probably a good move on their part. They are right on the edge of being a wild card team and look to enhance their pitching to get over that hump. To that end, they took a flyer on the Dodger’s Dustin May. It’s not clear that the return from Devers to SFG will be impactful in the 2025 season.
Who stood on the side of the road and watched the bus go by?
Padres – They went into the off-season needing a catcher (or two), another starter and perhaps a corner OFer with a little bit of pop. I’m not sure where the Rizzo acquisition fits in this equation. They see themselves as a complete team, from what I read, so perhaps none of these needs were particularly urgent. Their emerging ownership drama isn’t exactly a Betty Crocker recipe for off-season success, either. What an ugly mess. And just when that organization started getting things together. I suspect this won’t end well.
Well, the Padres didn’t sit on the side of the road for this trade period. The Padres are fascinating. In one measure they are becoming a “churn” team, all the while they have multiple long (and I mean LONG) term contract players. The Anti-Churn if you will. They indicate a need to reduce, or at least “manage” payroll due to CBT concerns. They also seem to want to “churn” some of their expiring contracts/players into similar talents with more control. Thus, in comes Miller (RP) and Sears (SP) from Oakland, out goes Cease. O’Hearn and Laureano come in from the Orioles. Fermin is acquired to help finally fill that hole at C, with Kolek going the other way. They also brought in IL pitcher Nestor Cortes, in hopes he can return and contribute.
Mariners – The Mariners came into the off-season seeking help around the infield. They do have a plethora of Top 100 positional prospects but ended up doing practically nothing. They did discover that their stadium suppresses offenses even more drastically than Coors Field enhances it. When you find yourself longing for one of their pitchers, remember that T-Mobile is to pitching what Coors is to hitting. But they can’t trade stadiums. A totally quiet off-season for Jerry DiPoto. A bit weird, but I’m guessing they are evaluating that the Astros will come back to them a bit and banking on a break-through rookie (or two) to fill the positional hole(s). They did re-sign Polanco late in the off-season. I’m wondering if signing a guy they let go out of disappointment is an accomplishment, or an acknowledgement of defeat.
Oops. The Mariners under-estimated the Astros, who really haven’t fallen back to the pack. They still have 8 top-100 prospects, but none of them has really stepped forward. They finally get a first baseman when AZ dumped Naylor. They still needed a third baseman, with their own rookie (Williamson) not producing much offense. Their pitching has stepped back a bit, particularly on the bullpen side. A lefty reliever from the Pirates, Ferguson, may help with that. The bigger acquisition was the bat, Suarez to fill that third base spot. Little did anyone know that the Tacoma AAA team was Arizona’s AAA for this year only.
What about the teams that don’t have a discernible plan?
This is a Cardinal blog, right? For all the anger and angst over Cardinal management philosophies (and related choices), this group below represents a sanity check on those strong emotions. I would definitely NOT want to be a fan of these franchises.
Teams in this group are always in sell mode at this time of year, looking to gain value from players that don’t figure into their longer-term plan (if they really have such a plan).
Angels – Coming off a 99-loss season, they have needs. Probably difficult to prioritize, but they came up with starting and relief pitching and infield help. So, they signed Jorge Soler. DH. For pitching, they went the quantity road with Kikuchi, Hendricks and got Kevin Newman and Yoan Moncada on the infield front. The acquisitions match the needs, right? OMG.
They acquired Garcia and Chafin, both pitchers from the Nats. They needed pitching, they acquired pitching from a team that needs pitching, and they still need pitching. Go figure. They acquired Peraza from the Yanks, who in turn was going to get pushed off the roster by other Yankee acquisitions.
Marlins – They are more than a year removed from a playoff appearance and have undergone serious player and management turnover since. Their only identified need was OFFENSE. Which is fair, they have none. Their opening tactic was to trade away Burger. Not sure how that helped. They traded Luzardo, so the implied strength in pitching is weakened. I’m not sure what they are trying to do.
Miami’s offense hasn’t been great, but better than expected. Thanks in large part to a guy named Stowers. Their pitching has not been great. They were mostly quiet at the deadline, dealing away a reliever (Sanchez).
Rockies – To be fair, they seem to have a bit of a plan of focusing on their young prospects. They seem to feel that they have young pitching that is close. Apparently, they have not yet discovered TINSTAAPP. They had identified needs for second base, plus any OFFENSE, plus the usual bullpen bolstering. Then the Rockies non-tendered second baseman Brendan Rodgers and pitcher Cal Quantrill. After non-tendering Rodgers, they signed Thairo Estrada to man the keystone. OK. It’s hard to parse the jumble here, except to note that what they are doing is getting younger and cheaper.
The Rockies dumped McMahon and Bird to the Yanks. Kinley to the Braves. Really, not much else. Are they so bereft of talent that they have nothing to trade for future value?
Twins – It may seem awkward to lump the Twins into a group that represents some of the most poorly managed franchises in baseball. It’s not the Twins lack a plan, per se, they are merely in limbo awaiting an ownership change (which may be complete by Opening Day), which then will result in plans, directions and front office changes. From a baseball standpoint, they need some right-handed hitters (along with everyone else). But, being in limbo, they haven’t done much. They have the look of complete tear-down and rebuild in their near future.
The whole ownership change thing fell through. They remain in ownership limbo. Their debt load is enormous. The tear down occurred. More than a third of their roster was moved. At the deadline, they moved Paddack, Duran, Stewart, Correa, Bader, Jax, Castro, Coulombe, France, Varland. Going to be a tough few years in Minneapolis.
Notes and Observations
At first blush, this seems to have been an unusually active trading season. Lots of movement to and from.
As we draw to mid-February, we begin to recognize that the traditional off-season doesn’t quite have an ending anymore. Players such as Alex Bregman are still out on the market even as Spring Training sites start opening their gates to in-bound players.
The trade deadline is not an amorphous as the off-season is. 1800 hours on July 31. After that, each team has the roster they are going to have, except for waiver wire transactions, which rarely move the needle.
On top of that, both the Padres and Twins seem poised to unload some players, as each has their own emerging ownership (and broadcast revenue) issues. How the market reacts to these conditions will be interesting to watch. Who has roster and payroll space to take on such players? A lot of GM/POBO types aim to have a plan in place by now and work to get to the end of Spring Training and see what they have before adjusting. Early to mid-Spring Training moves are avoided by this crowd because of how disruptive they can be to everyone.
Both the Twins and Padres did indeed send away a good number of players, although with a very different approach. I’m curious how the Padres approach works out.
And who will trust that players acquired very late in the cycle will be ready to go on/near Opening Day? Recent experiences with guys like Montgomery and Snell, along with the original (Greg Holland, remember him?) suggest that missing even parts of Spring Training result in significant performance degradation early in the season.
Interestingly, Phil Maton emerges as a rare pitcher who succeeded early in the season in spite of a very short Spring Training.
The Trade Deadline is certainly a unique animal. All the unexpected twists and turns of the season … unexpected performance (both good and bad), injury, prospect fall-out all come to a head at the Trade Deadline as front-offices make their last shot a patching holes and getting to the finish line. Meanwhile, second-division teams try to take advantage of this to acquire future value for their own system.
Off-season planning starts today. The Cardinals will now have 8 weeks or so to close down the currently active runway and finalize an assessment of the state and direction of the franchise. I think we have all learned that the reset / transition (pick your word) is going to be more than one year.
