MLB's non-waiver trade deadline has come and gone (4:00 PM eastern today), but that doesn't mean the trading is over. In order to be eligible for the postseason, you have to be on a team by September 1, meaning players can still get traded to playoff contenders through waivers up through August 31. Usually the waiver deadline is more active then the non waiver deadline because a lot of teams that are the fence today (Toronto, Cleveland, St. Louis) about whether to go for a playoff push or reload will have a better idea where they stand 30 days from now. But I'm just rating what teams have done up until today.
3 best:
Los Angeles Dodgers. After going through an offensive drought in June when MVP candidate Matt Kemp was on the DL, they now look like one of the NL's best teams as they ransacked two struggling NL East team's getting power hitting SS Hanley Ramirez and LHP Randy Choate from the Miami Marlins last week, and late this morning trading for Phillies CF Shane Victorino, as well as strengthening the bullpen with the aquisistion of Mariners closer Brandon League. They could have gotten Carlos Lee to get more production at 1b, or Ryan Dempster to get the starting rotation another pitcher, but all in all, they did great
Chicago Cubs. It's too bad the Braves pulled their first offer for Ryan Dempster because they could have gotten Braves prospect Wilson Delgado, but that didn't stop them for dealing with each other. The Braves got Cubs starter Paul Maholm & outfielder Reed Johnson and the Cubs strengthen their minor league team with pitchers Jaye Chapman & Arolydis Vizcaino. Cubs are still trying to shed salary/dead weight under the Jed Hoyer/Theo Epstein reign, and this trade and Ryan Dempster to Texas was a start. Outfielder Alfonso Soriano will definitely clear waivers and I'd look for him to possibly get traded in August.
New York Yankees. Not that they needed to do anything, because they have the 3rd best record in baseball and largest division lead in baseball, but they had 2 holes to fill: An OF to replace Brett Gardner, and a corner infielder. The OF they turned into future hall of famer Ichiro Suzuki and the corner infield spot turned into Pittsburgh Pirates 1b/3b Casey McGhee. He's not great, but he'll fill in the next couple of days at 1b for Mark Teixeira, and then he'll platoon with Eric Chavez the remainder of the month and then a couple weeks into September at 3b to fill in for Alex Rodriguez. Once Rodriguez comes back, he'll give the Yankees a decent bat off the bench.
Honorable mentions: Detroit Tigers who fleeced the Marlins for Annibal Sanchez & Omar Infante, and the Phillies who desperately needed to dump salary before the start of next year.
3 worst:
Florida Marlins. After being cheap the first 19 years of their existance (the 2 years after they won the WS [97 & 03] they dismantled the team the following winter) they actually spend like a big market team last winter moving into a new park in downtown Milwaukee. Spending big money for White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen & pitcher Mark Buehrle, Mets SS Jose Reyes, and San Diego Padres closer Heath Bell, and the result has been disasterous this year: they had the worst record in the June & April, but looked like a World Series contender like most people pegged them in May. To help right the ship after they fell flat in June, they traded for Houston Astros 1b Carlos Lee (after he first declined a trade to the Dodgers). When that fell, the started their annual firesale last week; they got fleeced in that Tigers trade, and 3 weeks after trading for Lee, desperately wanted to get rid of him which failed to happen.
Toronto Blue Jays. Their stuck in that neutral posistion; 9 back of the Yankees in the division (who they won't catch) but only 4.5 back of the second wild card spot (but have to jump 5 times) so that might not be possible either, but the trades they made, made absolutely no sense. They got rid of 2 of their 3 LF's (the other one is playing RF while that starter is out with a wrist injury) and got like 6 relief pitchers who pretty much grow on trees. Last year they made a questionable trade of Edwin Jackson, but a couple hours later traded him to St Louis for Colby Rasmus which has turned out great, so was hoping the Blue Jays GM would pull something like that out of his hat, but did nothing Tuesday. I hope he doesn't wake up Wednesday morning, and look at the transaction page and think "oh crap, what the hell did I do Monday night??"
Oakland A's. They have a tight budget and their leading the wildcard, but they needed to get a SS/middle infield type player. They also have a lot of walk off wins (12- leads baseball), 1 run wins, and the pitchers have carried the team in July. A lot of the offensive guys have been having career years, and not sure they hold up for another 9 weeks
Incomplete:
Los Angeles Angels. Traded for Zach Greinke, the best pitcher on the trade market. However, this is a guy with known psychological problems, and I don't think pitching in a big market is going to help him very much. In 1.5 season in Milwaukee, he lost a grand total of 0 home games...so far in an Angels uniform he's made 1 home start and has 1 loss, meaning he has more home losses then he did in Milwaukee and he's only had 1 start.
Washington Nationals. Nitpicking at best with baseball's best record, but Stephen Strasburg is going to be shut down at some point this year, so they should've gone out an gotten a SP to fill in for him when he does get shut down. Luckily, there will be SP's on the waiver wire availble in August for them to pick up.
