Deadline Discounts
July 31st 2009 19:46
Its trade deadline day in Major League Baseball, and Blackberries and email inboxes are on overload throughout the league. Potential blockbusters are on the proposal table, including the likes of Indians C Victor Martinez, Toronto ace Roy Halladay, and Padre 1B Adrian Gonzalez. All three have astronomical asking prices, which makes their trades (especially Halladay and Gonzalez) increasingly unrealistic.
I'm here to discuss deals done, not any prospective deals between now and the 1 PM Pacific time deadline. Specifically, I want to comment on how discounted the bigger names have been in the trades of the last 7 days. Exhibit A is...
Reigning AL Cy Young winner Cliff Lee and OF Ben Francisco to Philadelphia for P Carlos Carrasco, SS Jason Donald, P Jason Knapp, and C Lou Marson
The Phillies made out like jewel thieves in this deal. They get an ace lefty to pair with Cole Hamels. The two of them will make 4 out of 7 starts in any playoff series, and 3 of 5 games in the first round. Just for the sake of comparison, let's examine the price the team would have had to pay for Blue Jay Roy Halladay. Toronto would accept no less than Philly's top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek, top outfield prospect Dominic Brown, major leaguer J.A. Happ, and possibly one more prospect. Toronto had several suitors for Halladay, and was asking for a ridiculous price of each club's top 5 major league prospects in return. I think that price is WAY high for Halladay, and Toronto knew it the whole time. They wanted to be sure they didn't lose Halladay for one penny less than what he's worth. Back to Lee. The Phillies acquired Lee, who is a bona-fide rotation anchor, for maybe 60 cents on the dollar of the Halladay price. They kept Drabek, Brown, AND Happ while getting their coveted top of the rotation starter. The Indians basically gave away their best pitcher and got barely anything in return. Deplorable job by Cleveland in using the leverage that Toronto created in the trade offers. How can you trade last year's best pitcher in the AL and not get ANY of the prospects that Toronto was asking for Halladay?
2007 NL batting champion Freddy Sanchez to the Giants for AA pitcher Tim Alderson
I'm wondering what the fire selling Pirates are thinking on this one. I get the picture that they are trying to shed salary, reduce cost, and stockpile prospects for the future, but they virtually gave away their best player and a former batting champ. I guess the silver lining is that the Pirates weren't going anywhere with or without Sanchez. Why not bolster that AA rotation for next year, right?
Just off the wire, the Red Sox acquire All-Star C Victor Martinez from the Genius Indians in exchange for P Justin Masterson, #3 ranked prospect Nick Hagadone, and another prospect.
Really? You trade your best hitter (a switch hitting catcher, no less) for a disappointing reliever, an overlooked pitching prospect, and another prospect who hasn't even been named?
You didn't manage to grab everyone's man crush Clay Buchholz or the very promising Daniel Bard? Once again, I understand the need to shed payroll and cut costs given this economy, but these teams are giving away their best players. Giving them away. I'm going into a coma.
All these payroll shedders have something in common: when you have the opportunity to trade your best players and get back no major league talent and several no-guarantee prospects, you have to do it. Hey, at least the owners will be a little happier when they have to cut salary checks.
I'm here to discuss deals done, not any prospective deals between now and the 1 PM Pacific time deadline. Specifically, I want to comment on how discounted the bigger names have been in the trades of the last 7 days. Exhibit A is...
Reigning AL Cy Young winner Cliff Lee and OF Ben Francisco to Philadelphia for P Carlos Carrasco, SS Jason Donald, P Jason Knapp, and C Lou Marson
The Phillies made out like jewel thieves in this deal. They get an ace lefty to pair with Cole Hamels. The two of them will make 4 out of 7 starts in any playoff series, and 3 of 5 games in the first round. Just for the sake of comparison, let's examine the price the team would have had to pay for Blue Jay Roy Halladay. Toronto would accept no less than Philly's top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek, top outfield prospect Dominic Brown, major leaguer J.A. Happ, and possibly one more prospect. Toronto had several suitors for Halladay, and was asking for a ridiculous price of each club's top 5 major league prospects in return. I think that price is WAY high for Halladay, and Toronto knew it the whole time. They wanted to be sure they didn't lose Halladay for one penny less than what he's worth. Back to Lee. The Phillies acquired Lee, who is a bona-fide rotation anchor, for maybe 60 cents on the dollar of the Halladay price. They kept Drabek, Brown, AND Happ while getting their coveted top of the rotation starter. The Indians basically gave away their best pitcher and got barely anything in return. Deplorable job by Cleveland in using the leverage that Toronto created in the trade offers. How can you trade last year's best pitcher in the AL and not get ANY of the prospects that Toronto was asking for Halladay?
2007 NL batting champion Freddy Sanchez to the Giants for AA pitcher Tim Alderson
I'm wondering what the fire selling Pirates are thinking on this one. I get the picture that they are trying to shed salary, reduce cost, and stockpile prospects for the future, but they virtually gave away their best player and a former batting champ. I guess the silver lining is that the Pirates weren't going anywhere with or without Sanchez. Why not bolster that AA rotation for next year, right?
Just off the wire, the Red Sox acquire All-Star C Victor Martinez from the Genius Indians in exchange for P Justin Masterson, #3 ranked prospect Nick Hagadone, and another prospect.
Really? You trade your best hitter (a switch hitting catcher, no less) for a disappointing reliever, an overlooked pitching prospect, and another prospect who hasn't even been named?
All these payroll shedders have something in common: when you have the opportunity to trade your best players and get back no major league talent and several no-guarantee prospects, you have to do it. Hey, at least the owners will be a little happier when they have to cut salary checks.
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