Another MLB Trade Deadline has come and gone, and as always there are winners and losers. Last July, the Dodgers acquired Manny Ramirez at mid-season and the Halos corralled Mark Texiera. By those standards, this is a highly uneventful deadline for Southern California.
Nobody got Roy Halladay, which winds up being good news for both the Dodgers and Angels (the Rangers, Phillies and Cardinals were all pushing hard). Nobody was willing to pay Blue Jay GM JP Ricciardi's ridiculous asking price for his ace. He will live to regret it. As the Twins found out with Johan Santana, the value of a premiere starting pitcher plummets the closer he gets to free agency. Billy Beane in Oakland set the standard by trading big-time starters early. The Padres would have been better off moving Jake Peavy during the offseason (before he got hurt), instead of dealing him for a lesser package to the Chicago White Sox today.
Next year, Toronto is asured of a 4th-place finish in the AL East, and what purpose does Halladay serve. Plus every time he steps on the mound between now and then, his 30+ stud could damage his multimillion dollar arm. The packages he sees for Halladay during the offseason or at next year's deadline will be even more underwhelming than those offered in the last couple of weeks.
I think Dodger fans should be happy. Although GM Ned Colletti didn't reel in Halladay or Padres 1B Adrian Gonzalez, they did land an All-Star closer George Sherrill from the Orioles for 22yo 3B prospect Josh Bell (maybe their 9th-best prospect) and middling pitching prospect Steve Johnson while hanging onto premium talents like Andrew Lambo, Ivan DeJesus, Jr., Scott Elbert, Ethan Martin, Josh Lindblom and Austin Gallagher.
Joe Torre now has a righty with 20+ saves and a lefty with 20+ saves to call on late in games with Broxton as closer and Sherrill has his 8th inning guy. Now Torre can ease of of Ramon Troncoso (who's thrown a ton of innings) and Guillermo Mota (who gave up his first run in a long time last night).
As for the Angels, what can you say? With a starting rotation that is scuffling and a bullpen that, aside from Brian Fuentes, has been bad all year, Tony Regins makes no move? Zero? Seiously? The first place Tigers get Jarod Washburn, the contending Twins get Orlando Cabrera, the White Sox roll the dice with Jake Peavy and the Red Sox grab Victor Martinez, and the Angels organization pulls a "Stoneman?"
Bottom line: The Dodgers are one of the 2 best teams in the National League while the Angels seem like no match for the Yankees or Red Sox and maybe even the Tiger.
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