This year’s MLB Trade Deadline concluded with a slew of tactical and electrifying moves leaving obvious winners and losers in its wake. While the MLB Trade Deadline can be exciting, it also has the potential to disappoint as fans await the news—did their favorite franchise add to their arsenal of players for a late season playoff run or, is their already struggling franchise packing it in and cleaning house? No matter the outcome–one thing is certain—the 2011 MLB Trade Deadline brought about some serious game changers.
The San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers were among this year’s winners in the MLB Trade Deadline. San Francisco made all the right moves and added pieces to their already stacked lineup with outfielder Carlos Beltran from the New York Mets, and infielders Orlando Cabrera from the Cincinnati Reds and Jeff Keppinger form the Houston Astros. Reigning American League Champs, the Texas Rangers, shored up their bullpen with former San Diego Padres’ relief pitcher Mike Adams and Koji Uehara from the Baltimore Orioles.
High profile losers? The New York Yankees, who are usually making down-to-the-wire deals failed to land starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez who went to the Cleveland Indians instead. And finally, the Cincinnati Reds, who are in the thick of the National League Central race, failed to make a difference to their up and coming team.
There you have it—the MLB Trade Deadline of 2011. Sure—only time will tell the impact these trades bring their respective teams but one thing is certain; this year’s MLB provided fans with a flurry of activity, clock-busting moves and excitement.
If you want to score your MLB apparel for your team’s latest lineup addition, then head into our MLB Fan Shop where you can find a great selection of MLB jerseys, including stitched player jerseys, special edition jerseys, MLB hats and more.
Agonizing. That’s how I’d describe the New York Mets 2009 season.
They didn’t excel in many areas last season. One category the Mets dominated? Injuries.
Down goes Reyes. Down goes Beltran. Down goes Delgado. 7…8…9… The Metropolitans dropped harder, and more repeatedly, than someone on the receiving end of Muhammed Ali’s right hand.
Fans had great expectations for a team celebrating its inaugural season in Citi Field. Unfortunately, the on-field product had as much success in 2009 as the company for which its field is named.
At least their two biggest rivals didn’t square off in the World Series or anything…
Enough about the past. The year is 2010. Time for a fresh start. A new beginning. A….no…it can’t be…more injuries?
Carlos Beltran is out until at least May following “minor” knee surgery (against team doctor’s orders – no less).
And, just days ago, doctors diagnosed Jose Reyes with an overactive thyroid. Healing instructions include refraining from athletic activity for two to eight weeks – is swinging a bat considered an athletic activity? Reyes will surely begin the season alongside Beltran – on the disabled list.
What about players on the field? Everyday Lineup…eventually:
C – Rod Barajas
1B – Daniel Murphy
2B – Luis Castillo
3B – David Wright
SS – Jose Reyes
LF – Jason Bay
CF – Carlos Beltran
RF – Jeff Francoeur
SP – Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, John Maine, Oliver Perez, Fernando Nieve
RP – Kelvim Escobar, Ryota Igarashi, Pedro Feliciano, Sean Green, Tobi Stoner
CL – Francisco Rodriguez
The Mets entered the offseason with one significant hole, starting pitching. Free agent possibilities included John Lackey, Rich Harden, Randy Wolf and Joel Piniero. So who did the Mets sign? You guessed it, Josh Fogg.
But let’s talk about what they’ve done right.
The Mets made one major free agent splash, signing OF Jason Bay to a high-priced contract. They will lean on his power bat to make up for other lineup shortcomings (Murphy’s lack of power, Francoeur’s lack of contact, etc).
Speaking of shortcomings, the Mets front office heeded their player’s advice and lowered the outfield fences. Sorry pitchers.
Since we’re on the subject of pitching…
Everyone knows about Johan Santana (and if you don’t, read below). The jury is still out on the likes of John Maine, Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez. Do they have talent? Sure. Are they consistent? No. All three recorded double-digit victories in 2008. Last season? 20 wins – combined. Time for a renaissance.
Enough with the jokes. No one can argue this team is devoid of talent. Add David Wright, Luis Castillo, a (rejuvenated?) Gary Matthews Jr. and K-Rod to the aforementioned list – and you have the makings of a winning team.
And they’ll have to prove it – immediately. The Mets face one of the toughest opening months in baseball. Four of their first eight series are against 2009 National League playoff participants – three of which are on the road. In a division with the back-to-back World Series participant Philadelphia Phillies, a young and improving Florida Marlins and an always steady Atlanta Braves, the Mets will have their work cut out for them.
Can they win the division? No. But at least they’ll have a chance to get off the mat.
Team MVP: Johan Santana…because if he’s not…this team is in BIG TROUBLE. The staff ace must live up to his billing to hide other rotational deficiencies. The 2-time Cy Young Award winner recorded only 13 wins last season. He’ll need a lot more than that for this team to contend.
X-Factor: Can I pick health? Fine…I’ll take David Wright. Why choose a 2-time Silver Slugger and Gold Glove winner? Wright hit only 10 home runs last season. A baffling number for someone who hadn’t hit less than 26 in his previous four full seasons. He blamed his spacious home park. Was it the truth or is he the boy who cried Citi Field?
Here’s another post from newly minted writer Brent. His sports knowledge is vastly impressive and to be frank, a little worrisome. Below you’ll find a reference to Bo Jackson, someone named Charlie something and a Techmo Super Bowl video among other items. It’s quite the creation. We’ll try to get both new guys set up with accounts this week and cut out this bloviating middleman…
My fellow copywriter Ariel is giving you a taste of what you’ll see in the playoffs this fall, but there is a lot you won’t see again until Spring Training.
I love Spring Training. I love that it gives every team a brand new start so they can suck and fall well short of expectations (New York Mets, Chicago Cubs), be awesome (Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees), or just experience more fledgling mediocrity (Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays). But for me, it doesn’t get much better than post-season baseball. I’m a Minnesota Twins fan and while the Twins haven’t had much success in October in the last decade, they have at least been in the playoffs in four of the last seven seasons, including a Game 163 in 2008 that they lost to the Chicago White Sox. John Danks shut the Twins out in that game but could not deliver the same result in his regular season finale this year against the Detroit Tigers when he walked three in the first inning, including one with the bases loaded. Now the Twins and Tigers will square off in Game 163. 2009 is the third season in a row to require a 163rd game. Two years ago the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 9-8 in 13 innings.
But it is always fun to see your favorite players on the biggest stage come October. I loved getting to see Johan Santana toe the rubber for the Twins in meaningful October games, not that he will ever do that again playing for the New York Minaya Mets. Torii Hunter, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Joe Nathan, and Cristian Guzman all cut their playoff teeth with the Twins. It sucks that they haven’t been to the World Series since Kirby Puckett wanted to “see you tomorrow night” in 1991 (Thank you very much, Jack Buck), but I feel better about being a Twins fan than had I grown up falling in love with a team like the Kansas City Royals, who haven’t been to the post-season since 1985 when they had George Brett, Bret Saberhagen, and Charlie Leibrandt, who gave up Kirby Puckett’s 11th inning homer in Game 6 in 1991 when he was an Atlanta Brave.
But there are guys who had phenomenal seasons who won’t see stadium lights after October 4th. Zack Greinke led the majors in ERA at 2.16, led the AL in WHIP at 1.07 and finished 3rd in strikeouts in all of baseball. And he won 16 games on a team that won 65 all season.
Albert Pujols got all the press this year in the NL, but what about Prince Fielder’smonster season? Prince set a Brewer record for RBI’s at 141, he hit 46 home runs, behind only 47 by Albert Pujols, and he hit .299 with an on-base percentage of .412.
Roy Halladay’s reputation speaks for itself and because Toronto couldn’t get a deadline deal worked out (other than sending Alex Rios to the Chicago White Sox), he too will miss the playoffs, just as he has in every season of his career. The Toronto Blue Jays haven’t seen the post-season since they won back-to-back World Series Championships in 1992 and 1993. Remember Joe Carter jumping around first base? That team also had Minnesota natives Paul Molitor, Jack Morris, and former Minnesota Golden Gopher basketball stand out Dave Winfield (yes, basketball, he was also drafted by the Minnesota Vikings without ever having played a down of football in his life) on the roster.
Two Sports Ramblings
In 1990, the San Diego Padres traded Carter and Robbie Alomar to the Blue Jays for Tony Fernandez and Fred McGriff. In 1993 Carter, Alomar, and Fernandez all won a championship together in Toronto.
Fernandez went from the Pads to the Mets in 1992 in a deal involving former outfielder/running back D.J. Dozier and then the Mets traded Fernandez back to the Blue Jays in June of 1993. The Padres received McGriff, Dozier, and Wally Whitehurst in exchange for a World Series… (more or less, I’m blowing it out of proportion. But I can’t help but be reminded of when the Vikings traded for now MMA fighter Herschel Walker and gave the Cowboys a dynasty. I think Hershal Walker also tried out to be an Olympic bobsledder at some point, too. He dabbles.).
Besides Dozier and Winfield, the Padres and Blue Jays have other dual sport athlete connections. Tony Gwynn was drafted by the San Diego Clippers the same day the Padres drafted him, but he chose to be a Hall of Fame hitter over a rotund basketball player. Danny Ainge was a Blue Jay farmhand and a Boston Celtics point guard before he became the GM and ripped Kevin Garnett out of Minnesota, along with the hearts of many Minnesota nice hoop fans.
Our old friend Charlie Leibrandt from a few paragraphs ago played with a couple of two-sport athletes. He was a teammate of Bo Jackson on the Royals, who of course was an Oakland Raider and legendary Tecmo Super Bowl player.
Then Ol’ Charlie pitched with Tom Glavine on the Braves. Glavine was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL. Glavine played with Kenny Lofton in 1997, who was an Arizona Wildcat point guard in college. And of course Deion Sanders was a Brave and Atlanta Falcon simultaneously. If you watch the 1991 World Series DVD that MLB put out, you will see Deion sitting in the front row near the Braves dugout sporting some huge bling and sweet hair.
Besides getting ready to vacation in warm climates, what else do these guys have in common with Greinke, Fielder, and Halladay? In the next few years, they’ll each probably receive ginormous contract offers from teams you will see in the playoffs this year: Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, and The Los Angeles, California Angels of Aneheim, USA. Or other big market teams, like the New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, and Chicago White Sox.
Small market teams find it difficult to hold on to their best young talent, even through the players’ arbitration years, after all, Ryan Howard was awarded $10 million in arbitration after striking out 199 times. I wonder what Mark Reynolds of the Arizona Diamondbacks will get after striking out over 400 times over the last two seasons?
There are pitfalls to rooting for both small market and big market teams, however. Small market teams, like my Twins, have to wave good-bye to guys like Johan Santana and Torii Hunter because they cannot afford to keep them. The Tampa Bay Rays will find out the same thing when they try to hold on to Carl Crawford and others. The Florida Marlins know this reality well and will face it again when it comes time to pay Josh Johnson, Dan Uggla, and Ramirez.
Big market teams throw money at players like they are Pacman Jones making it rain. But that comes with great risk sometimes, too. San Francisco gave Barry Zito $126 million over seven years and they got a #3 starter at best. The Cubs are locked in to Alfonso Soriano for more than any club would like to be. Mike Hampton signed a monster deal once upon a time and then spent much of that time on the DL. The same can be said about Carl Pavano, Kevin Brown, Jason Schmidt and others.
Snippets
Things you should know that have happened sort of under-the-radar and may be of help to you in future fantasy drafts or baseball nerd conversations:
Jair Jurrjens had a 2.61 ERA for the Braves this year, good for 6th best in baseball.
Of all pitchers who threw more than 160 IP, only 10 struck out more than 1 hitter per inning, including Colorado RockieJorge De La Rosa.
Only three teams had more complete games this year than Roy Halladay.
Adam Dunn’s streak of 40+ home runs in a season ended at six as he finished with 38 for the Washington Natinals, err… Nationals.
The New York Mets hit 95 homers as a team, last in the league and 149 behind the league leading New York Yankess. The Mets could combine home run totals with seven other teams and still have fewer than the Yankees did. Handfuls of players could combine their home run totals to have the greater than sign in their favor when compared with the Mets.
Fielder, Braun, and Mike Cameron > 2009 Mets.
Mauer, Morneau, and Michael Cuddyer > 2009 Mets.
The second baseman of the AL East* > 2009 Mets.
Pujols, Fielder, and Carlos Zambrano > 2009 Mets.
