The non-waiver trade deadline hit at 4PM EDT today. It was pretty uneventful compared to years past, with lots of chatter but very few deals. Here’s what we had go down today before the non-waiver trade deadline:
- The Dodgers acquired Drew Butera from the Twins for a player to be named;
- The Orioles receive Bud Norris in exchange for outfielder L.J. Hoes and pitcher Josh Hader;
- The Royals acquired outfielder Justin Maxwell from the Astros in exchange for right-hander Kyle Smith;
- The Padres acquired starter Ian Kennedy from the Diamondbacks in exchange for reliever Joe Thatcher, right-hander Matt Stiles and the Padres’ post-second round competitive balance pick in the 2014 draft.
Before today, we had the following in the two weeks leading up to the deadline:
- Jake Peavy going from the White Sox to the Red Sox, Jose Iglesias going from the Red Sox to the Tigers and Avisail Garcia going from the Tigers to the White Sox;
- The Cardinals trading Marc Rzepczynski to the Indians for minor league infielder Juan Herrera;
- The Angels traded infielder Alberto Callaspo from the Angels for second base prospect Grant Green;
- The Astros traded Jose Veras to Detroit for outfield prospect Danry Vasquez and a player to be named later;
- The Braves acquired reliever Scott Downs from the Angels for Cory Rasmus;
- The Rays acquired reliever Jesse Crain from the White Sox for future considerations;
- Alfonso Soriano traded from the Cubs to the Yankees for pitching prospect Corey Black;
- The Brewers sent reliever Francisco “K-Rod” Rodriguez to the Orioles for infielder Nick Delmonico;
- The Cubs sent Matt Garza to the Rangers for Triple-A third base prospect Mike Olt, Single-A pitching prospect C.J. Edwards, MLB right-hander Justin Grimm, and a player to be named later;
Not the most active deadline in recent memory. There are reasons for this. The second wild card and greater overall parity in baseball puts more teams in the mindset of contenders, leading to a profound lack of teams selling off parts wholesale. The Cubs did it. The Astros. That’s pretty much it.
Also limiting trades: the lack of teams unloading players who are poised for free agency in cost-savings moves. Teams are locking up their talent earlier and earlier these days, meaning fewer cost-avoidance deals. Teams also have more money thanks to escalating TV contracts. All of this makes for a much less liquid trading market than we’re used to seeing.
That doesn’t mean the deals are done, of course. Between now and the end of August teams can still complete trades of players who have cleared waivers. Trades of any kind which are completed before August 31 will allow the player in question to appear on a team’s postseason roster.
No matter how the trades come, however, keep a tab open with HBT at all times, as we’ll give you everything you need to know of the comings and goings of players along with our usual wall-to-wall baseball coverage.