MLB Trade Deadline

The MLB trade deadline has come and gone, and many deals have been put together. I will go through and evaluate all the major deals that have happened in the last week or so.

Athletics trade OF Matt Holliday to Cardinals for minor leaguers, 3B Brett Wallace, OF Shane Patterson and RHP Clayton Mortensen

You have to love this trade for the Cards. Since coming to the Cardinals a week ago Holliday is batting nearly .400. Batting behind Puljols is every hitters dream, Holliday should fit into his new role perfectly. The 3-4-5 of Ludwick, Puljols and Holliday is by far the best in baseball. St.Louis has quite the team right now, they may be able to make a run. As for the A's its a deal that needed to be done, they got four quality prospects for a player that visibly did not want to be an Athletic, Billy Beane once again worked his magic here.

Indians trade 1B Ryan Garko to Giants for minor league LHP Scott Barnes

Great deal for the Giants, they needed a bat to complement Sandoval and Molina, Garko brings that bat to the middle of the Giants lineup.

Pirates trade RHP Ian Snell and SS Jack Wilson to Mariners for IF Ronny Cedeno and minor leaguers C/1B Jeff Clement, RHP Ben Pribanic, RHP Brett Lorin and RHP Nathan Adcock

Well.... this is the start to a new era for the Pittsburgh Pirates. After already giving up McLouth and Morgan then Pirates continued the fire sale by getting rid of Snell and Wilson... This team has brought in 21 prospects in total at the end of the deadline, it will be at least five years before we still this team can be competitive. I do give them credit for going all out, nothing is worse then only selling certain parts, the Pirates have not made the playoffs in 16 years, they might as well try and start over. Wilson's frustrations are finally over.

Indians trade LHP Cliff Lee and OF Ben Francisco to Phillies for minor league RHP Jason Knapp, RHP Carlos Carrasco, SS Jason Donald and C Lou Marson
One of this year's best deals so far. After hearing for the past month about the Phillies getting Roy Halladay they went out and got another Cy Young winner (at a much lower price). The Phillies not only got Francisco in return also, but they held onto both Kyle Drabeck and J.A. Happ, both of which Toronto was asking for in the Halladay deal. It almost seems as if the Phillies did a smokescreen sending out rumors they were going after Halladay, which made the Indians lower the price on Lee. This makes the Philles a legit World Series contender this year.

Pirates trade 2B Freddy Sanchez to Giants for minor league RHP Tim Alderson
Another Pirate deal, this one most likely the hardest for fans to swallow. Sanchez was the franchise player, fans loved him, he was the all-star. They get a prospect in Alderson who may be one of the best pitching prospects in the game right now. It just seems hard for me to understand why you would deal an all-star player, beloved by the fans, straight up for an unproven prospect.

Orioles trade LHP George Sherrill to Dodgers for minor league 3B Josh Bell and RHP Steve Johnson

Boy are the Dodgers good. This trade makes them that much better, the 8th-9th punch of Sherrill and Broxton is exactly what the Dodgers were looking for. The Dodgers, who currently have the best record in the bigs, were looking World Series bound even before this deal, this solidifies it that much more.

Mariners trade LHP Jarrod Washburn to Tigers for LHP Luke French and minor league LHP Mauricio Robles

This was a huge deal for the Tigers. Washburn was the missing piece to the Tiger rotation. Now with veterans Verlander, Washburn, Jackson, making up the front end of the rotation and the prospects Porcello and Galarraga bringing up the back end, you cant ask for a much better rotation. All 3 front end pitchers are all-stars followed by a guy in Porcello who may be rookie of the year in the AL and Galarraga who is arguably one of the best number 5's in the league.

Athletics trade SS Orlando Cabrera to the Twins for minor league SS Tyler Ladendorf

The Twins are very much in the AL Central race, and this is the exact deal they needed. Cabrera has been on fire in the month of July, batting .354 since June 14th, the Twins have struggled all year between Punto and Harris at short. Cabrera brings much needed middle infield help, to a team that could very well make a run.

Pirates trade LHP John Grabow and LHP Tom Gorzelanny to Cubs for RHP Kevin Hart, RHP Jose Ascanio and minor league IF Josh Harrison

More unloading for the Pirates.... I thought both Gorezlanny and Grabow were young and had a lot of potential, but the Pirates went for the quantity here.

Indians trade C/1B Victor Martinez to Red Sox for RHP Justin Masterson, minor league LHP Nick Hagadone and a player to be named later.

This to me seems like the biggest deal of them all, the slumping Red Sox were in need of some help. Martinez is a veteran with a big bat, he is also rumored to be one of the best teammates you could ask for according to his Indian teammates. Not only will Martinez bring his big bat to the middle of the Sox lineup, but he will give both Ortiz and Varitek days off at DH and Catcher. Masterson was a big name to give up and the Indians came away with some good prospects, but the Red Sox came away with a game changing player. VMart seemed pretty emotional leaving the only team he has ever been with, but that will all change once he gets a taste of bean town. It had to be hard for the Indians to get rid of the face of their franchise (especially the day before his bobble head night), it's not a good time to be an Indian fan right now.
Red Sox trade 1B Adam LaRoche to Braves for 1B Casey Kotchman

This trade does not make a whole lot of sense. LaRoche and Kotchman both seem like the same player, at the same level. After getting VMart the Red Sox I guess just tried to get the best possible player they could for LaRoche. Maybe they thought Kotchman would handle coming off the bench better? For the Braves, this trade makes sense, they are looking for power and Kotchman's 6 homers were not cutting it. Home sweet home for LaRoche, who had a long stint as a Brave before signing with the Pirates, I wonder how he is feeling getting traded twice in one week?

Blue Jays trade 3B Scott Rolen to Reds for 3B Edwin Encarnacion, RHP Josh Roenicke and minor league RHP Zach Stewart

Good for the Reds! Just a little word of advice, you don't have to sell if your not a winning team. The Reds, whole still have an outside chance at making a playoff run, bring in a veteran player with playoff experience, who can mentor the young guys and bring on a leadership role around the dugout. Rolen's .320 average and 43 rbi's this season is not too shabby either. For the Blue Jays, Encarnacion is a kid with a lot of talent, that he is wasting away, he should be a good project for them. The only thing that goes against the Reds in this trade is having to pay Rolen his 11 million dollar contract.

Reds trade UT Jerry Hairston Jr. to Yankees for minor league C Chase Weems.
Great small deal for the Yanks. Hairston can play any position but pitcher, catcher and first base. He will be a great UTL player, and for a team that spent half a billion dollars this off-season, this is a great money saving move for them. The Yanks gave up almost nothing for him, he is the kind of player that helps win championships, he will be utilized in many ways.
Nationals trade LHP Joe Beimel to Rockies for minor league RHP Ryan Mattheus and RHP Robinson Fabian

Great deal for the Rockies. Beimel was one of the best left handed relievers in free agency this off-season, how he landed on the Nats in February I don't know. The Rockies are in the middle of a tight wildcard race in the National League and Beimel is the kind of player they needed to help build a strong bullpen.

Nationals trade 1B Nick Johnson to Marlins for minor league RHP Aaron Thompson
I commend the Marlins for not giving up West or Miller. They held onto their big prospects while at the same time bringing in a guy like Johnson, who has a .408 OBP this season, and is another player who can get on base for Hanley. He does not have a ton of power (6 homers this year), but he should get a ton of base hits and help produce runs. This was a great move for the Marlins.

Padres trade RHP Jake Peavy to the White Sox for LHP Clayton Richard, LHP Aaron Poreda and minor league RHP Dexter Carter and RHP Adam Russell
Well this one was a shocker. Peavy is heading to the White Sox for the second time this year, but this time he has accepted the deal. Most likely Peavy agreed to move now because of the situation, the Padres are selling, and no where close to a championship, as oppose to back in May when the trade was first proposed when the Padres had a better record the White Sox did. This is a huge move for the White Sox, who were in need of a big time pitcher. Peavy should be back in August, and may help them make a run at the playoffs this year, if not he will be a franchise player for years to come. On the other side, it's a rough time to be a Padre fan, they did not get the type of value here that Peavy was worth.

This is all the major deals, I would just like to talk about one more deal that fell apart at the last second.

Via Twitter, Jon Heyman of SI.com, reported that the Padres almost dealt Heath Bell and Adrian Gonzalez to the Dodgers for James Loney, Russell Martin, Blake DeWitt, James McDonald and Ivan Dejesus.

WOW!! This would of been quite the blockbuster. You have to wonder what was going through the Dodgers mind on this one, if they were truly thinking about doing it. First off they already have a closer and setup man, why would they need Heath Bell? Next they were going to give away two of the better young players in the game for one player at a little higher of a level in Adrian Gonzalez. James Loney and Russell Martin alone are worth more than Gonzo and Bell are in my opinion. Beyond that just to make this deal even more lopsided to the Padres, Dewitt and McDonald are two of the better prospects in the Dodgers system, DeWitt is already MLB ready, starting much of last season for the team. I would hope that the Dodgers are the reason this deal did not go through, because the Padres would of got a huge steal.